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I bought a Black Pearl Wax Apple tree to grow in the Bay Area in California. This fruit is popular in tropical areas of Asia, but it virtually impossible to find in supermarkets outside of Asia. I've scoured Google for how to grow Wax Apple, but could not find any useful information.

  1. What kind of soil does it like?
  2. Is it self-fruitful or do I need to cross-pollinate?
  3. Does it like to be pruned?
  4. Is it deciduous and can it withstand winters of 45 degrees Fahrenheit at night?
  5. How much light does it prefer?
JoJo
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    Where did you buy it from? Did you ask them? – BRM Jan 20 '14 at 14:51
  • I got a response from the seller. The English is not very good and it is not detailed. "Hi no cross-pollinate. Winter need protect. Grown in 5g until 12 "high go the ground. Midday sun. Evergreen. any soil ok." – JoJo Jan 22 '14 at 02:43
  • Where is the seller? Assuming they grow the plant outside it would be pretty easy to look up the climate where the seller is located (and they suggest it needs some protection). They are apparently popular fruits in Taiwan. You could try to find out what portion of the country they are grown in and see what you can learn about the climate and the soil. As for self-fruitful, if you have only one, you may have to hope for the best there. As for light, its my experience that very few fruits don't like a lot of light. – BRM Jan 22 '14 at 15:48

5 Answers5

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I grow Wax Jambu in the Bay Area. They freeze outside in the winter, so I grow mine as a house plant in the sunniest window at my house. It does great. A big crop of fruit every year. You don't want to let it dry out too much. Down in Southern California, I've seen them thrive outdoors (in San Diego), but I don't think it will work so well outdoors in the Bay Area, unless you live in a microclimate that is especially warm. It doesn't get too big in the pot indoors. I think indoors, and in a 5 gallon, or so, container, it will stay smallish. Yet it has grown nearly to the ceiling in just a few years. We'll see what happens in the future.

Don
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  • I bought a 4'' tall seedling from a shop in LA. Brought it back to the Bay Area and it grew to 2' in just a year. Then last winter, it completely defoliated. Just last week, I cut into it's stems to check if it was alive. Nope. It was bone dry on the inside. I am sad that it died because it's hard to find this plant. I'm in Alviso, which is cooler during the day and hotter during the night since it is right by the water. It only dropped to 39 F one day out of the entire winter. That was enough to kill my little baby. – JoJo Apr 30 '15 at 14:55
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From what I can see from my online research, it looks like you will need to find a way to give your wax apple tree more heat than it probably will be getting outside in the Bay Area, given that it's a tropical fruit and the Bay Area is more of a cool maritime climate. Here is a gentleman in Southern California who, rather cleverly, warms his wax apple tree orchard by planting the trees in holes drilled into a cement or asphalt courtyard, which is also surrounded by buildings that trap the day's warmth and reflect it back.

If you could find or make a nice warm "micro-climate" for your tree, that would help a lot. Otherwise, you are probably looking at constructing a small "greenhouse" of sorts to hold it and raise the temperatures up to where the tree will be able to grow properly. The tree can grow to 50 feet tall, so the greenhouse option would only help it get started while young and small, and would not be practical after that. Luckily, larger trees are often more tolerant of less than perfect conditions. Overall, I think finding or creating a warmer microclimate, such as planting the tree in a south-facing courtyard, is your best bet.

As for hardiness, it can withstand temps to freezing, but not for long periods. So a low temp of 45 in the winter should not be a problem. The tree apparently can be pruned, but I would recommend against "bald cutting" or "pollarding" as it is harmful to the tree and unsightly as well. If you will scroll to the next page in the book page linked above, it actually has a fair bit of information on growing this species.

TeresaMcgH
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From the comment:

I got a response from the seller. The English is not very good and it is not detailed. "Hi no cross-pollinate. Winter need protect. Grown in 5g until 12 "high go the ground. Midday sun. Evergreen. any soil ok."

Trying to decipher this.

Hi

A greeting. :)

no cross-pollinate.

This species is self-pollinating.

Winter need protect.

It may need winter protection in your area.

Grown in 5g until 12 "high go the ground.

The plant should be in a five gallon pot until 12 inches tall, at which time it can be planted in the ground.

Midday sun.

The plant needs a full day of sun.

Evergreen.

This plant is evergreen. If the leaves fall, you have a problem.

any soil ok.

This plant does not have special soil requirements, and any healthy soil is fine.

I would trust this information, because, as a grower, they know the best methods of growing a healthy looking plant (so people will buy it).

Community
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J. Musser
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The grower that says any healthy soil is ok, is not familiar with some of the productive but alkaline soils in the USA such as in the Imperial Valley. The wax apple trees grow well in the mountains around Palm springs at about 3000 feet, BUT you must treat the soil to get it slightly acidic to acidic (5.5 is a good target).

L.Borton
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I live in the Caribbean where there is only a rainy and dry season. Temperatures range from low 60’s to 80’s. I was given 2 cuttings of the Java apple branch. I kept them in water and they grew roots after about 2 months. I planted one in a concrete pot out in a very windy but full Sun location and the other in a mostly shaded with afternoon speckled sun & almost no wind. The soil was from my compost. I have watered them once a week with tap water which is 9 PH, very alkaline. The one out in full Sun and high wind has not grown at even half the rate of the shaded one, which now (1 year from planting) is starting to bloom. In terms of soil and water PH this plant seems to be very adaptable. It definitely needs heat being a tropical plant. It seems to be able to grow well in full Sun or part shade but definitely does not like high winds. It can also be dwarfed as mine are both in 4 gallon pots and look healthy. I hope this helps.

MacroMicros
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