Friday, December 10, 2010

Are tropicals really worth it?

I am zone 8b so I cant grow tropicals in the yard unless I protect them. That is a big hassle and do you really get enough "bang for your buck" when doing it. The answer depends on what type of plant you are growing. Lemon trees do great in pots and always produce lots of fruit. You will have to bring them inside if you are zone 8a or less. Certain trees will never produce heavily in a pot so it will be unlikely that you will ever recoop your money or efforts in fruit production.

Here is a list of tropical/sub-tropical plants you can grow that you might be able to make your money back.

Most citrus
Jamaican Cherry "two crops a day in summer"
Guava "two or three crops a year"
Fig
Kei Apple "thorny"
Chilean Guava "berry, not a real guava, heat sensitive"
Passion fruit Edulis
Lychee

If you just dont care about the price and you want to grow a tropical in the ground, plant it on the south facing portion of your house. Plant it as close as possible without effecting your foundation if the tree has large roots. You can put up a plastic tent or small greenhouse that they sell at Lowes or Home Depot for around 70 bucks. If you place a 100-150 watt bulb inside the plastic, you can usually keep a 15 degree differential from the temperature outside if not greater. It really depends on how large and air tight the enclosure is going to be. Be reminded that leaves that touch the plastic can still get cold burned.

It is important to remember that this enclosure can get very warm during the day so you should add ventilation when the temps get back in the upper 30's. During the day, the temps could get over 80 even though it is still only 40 outside. This would be if the bulb was still running and it was being hit by direct sunlight. This dramatic shift up and down can really effect the plant negatively. I just have a flap on mine that I open up during the day.

I personally dont think that tropicals are worth the work and money but I still have quite a few. They allow you to get fruit in odd times of the year if you have a greenhouse or sunroom. They fill the gap and are really fun to experiment with when you get bored with the the regular fruits and veggies. If I were just living off the food I grew, I would stop buying them altogether.

Here is a sunroom that we build out of old windows that a church took to the dump.



This is an old picture and the Candlestick trees were removed and replaced with Goji Berries and Maypop Passion Fruit vines.

Maypop Passiflora: It will freeze to the ground and come back even in zone 7a.




Here is the inside. I have Lilly Pilly, Guava, Starfruit, Tropical Passion Fruit, Pummelo, White Sapote, Jamaican Cherry, Cape Gooseberry and Tomato all squished in there.


No comments:

Post a Comment