Starfruit! The Most Underrated Fruit Tree That's Easy to Grow in Your Backyard
Check out this starfruit tree that's loaded with fruits ready to pick, and learn more on how to grow one yourself.
Today we venture to my neighbor's yard who has a 5 year old starfruit tree that puts on ~100 fruit a year. This tree is unique and the flavor of the fruit is a mix between pear, apple, and citrus - with the texture of a grape. If you've never tried it before, you're in for a treat!
This particular tree is a Maher Starfruit that is planted in the ground. Starfruit is also a good tree to consider for large pots, as it does well potted and can be trimmed to a smaller size (my Kari Starfruit is in a pot).
Here are some of the top reasons I love this tree:
1. Fruit has a unique flavor.
2. Fruit comes to maturity at its own unique time in early spring (right after citrus are cleared, but before mulberries are ready).
3. Reasonably cold hardy (down to 25F).
4. Can take our summer heat (120F) with a bit of afternoon shade.
5. Evergreen, with beautiful flowers and leaves.
One final note is that this tree doesn't like strong winds. So if you have an open backyard with lots of wind, consider planting it in a pot closer to your house.
Do you have a starfruit in your yard already? Please let me know the variety you have and what you think of the taste. There are so many varieties of starfruit, and I want to plant more - now to decide which variety!
#touchgrassgardening #starfruit #starfruits #Carambola #MaherStarFruit #KariStarFruit #backyardgardening #arizonagarden #zone9b #gardening #fruittrees #backyardoasis #tropicalgarden #tropicalgardening #rareplants #rarefruits #containergardening #growingincontainers
Пікірлер: 28
Excellent video! i like the fact that you told us exactly what temps it needs to survive. that's so cool that you can harvest them in April!! I'm totally wishing i had one now!
Nice video. Tropical pink guava most definitely ripens in the Phoenix area in March-April too once you have an established happy tree that sets two crops. The spring crop tends to be lighter than summer but large fruits
@TouchGrassGardening
3 ай бұрын
Thank you, I've really enjoyed your videos too. What's your favorite guava variety? I have Mexican Cream and Beaumont Red, but may have room for one more!
@EnlightenmentGarden
3 ай бұрын
@@TouchGrassGardening I appreciate it! Those are great varieties but there is always room for more guavas :) I really like Barbie Pink. It produces abundant large sweet fruit and there are very few seeds (soft). It's similar to other pink varieties but I find they ripen a little earlier than my other pink varieties and extend the harvest window
@TouchGrassGardening
3 ай бұрын
@@EnlightenmentGarden I've been to several nurseries and the only pink guava they have is simply "tropical pink" -- is Barbie pink a sub-variety, or how to be certain to get this one you mentioned?
@EnlightenmentGarden
3 ай бұрын
@@TouchGrassGardening Barbie Pink is a named cultivar of tropical pink guavas. I personally bought mine as a tiny thing from Wellsping Gardens (online) for a few dollars years back. I was shocked at how fast it grew in just 2 years (from 4" to 7'). Local nurseries don't tend to carry all the various cultivars and for that reason, I have gotten quite a few of my plants online. I'm sure you'll be able to find a nursery online that sells the variety and if they have a good reputation, it should be true to type. I'd try to air layer one for you off my tree but I've never had success doing that with guavas
@TouchGrassGardening
3 ай бұрын
@@EnlightenmentGarden Thank you! It says they are out of stock right now, but I'll keep my eye on the page.
Malaysian here 🙋 i have more than a dozen of those trees here. The only issue i have is that fruitlies are rampant here. The fruits set all year round. I definitely need to take more good care of em
I’ve always enjoyed eating these and would love to add it to my fruit orchard, unfortunately I’m in North Dakota Zone 4a so we are really restricted as to what we can grow here. Maybe someday if I have a greenhouse. I did successfully grow 2 orange trees indoors, of course they would never fruit but they made it up to about 12ft tall before I donated them to a school greenhouse.
@TouchGrassGardening
4 ай бұрын
I grew up in Grand Forks, so I personally know the weather struggle you've described. I'm quite impressed with hearing you've grown oranges indoors - keep it up!
@operator1192
4 ай бұрын
@@TouchGrassGardening oh that’s awesome. Yeah I live between Fargo and Grand Forks. Small world haha
Very nice looking tree. What a fruit set! We have 2, Kari and Bell. Coming up on 3 years in ground. Nothing significant yet but the trees are healthy.
👍
In the Caribbean we call this fruit 7 fingers
I have 2 seedlings but the leaves fell of. I moved them out of direct sun
@TouchGrassGardening
Ай бұрын
Shade them in afternoon for the first year or two. I think they do best in morning sun and filtered afternoon sun (at least in Phoenix AZ where I live).
Any chance if growing those in zone 5/6?
@imsleepy96
4 ай бұрын
nope im in zone 7b and im missing out...only for 9-11 zones....
@justinskeans3342
3 ай бұрын
In a pot, maybe bring it inside for winter.
How do you protect the trees from wind?
@TouchGrassGardening
3 ай бұрын
It's really about planting location. Try to put it in a microclimate surrounded by other trees or wind breaks like the large shed to the west of the tree shown in the video. It's hard in Arizona because of monsoons, but my neighbor shows it can be done!
Star fruit is delicious. Unfortunately it also contains a large amount of toxic oxalate, so I don't eat them 😢
@shellexpedition2013
4 ай бұрын
Not real
@biggreenblob
4 ай бұрын
@@shellexpedition2013 are you claiming oxalate isn't a thing? 😂
@48512
4 ай бұрын
Many fruits contain some oxalates, like avocados, oranges, and grapefruit, but raspberries are considered a high-oxalate food with 48 milligrams per cup.
@biggreenblob
4 ай бұрын
@@shellexpedition2013 you can literally eat enough star fruit to be lethal. Look up "star fruit toxicity"
@SuburbicultureAZ
3 ай бұрын
If the fruit is left to fully ripen and fall off the tree oxalate content will be low and only left in the ribs/edges.
Not in MY zone.