Tropical fruit thriving
It may have been a flop for broccoli and cabbages but the hot wet end to summer has Kiwi-grown tropical fruit flourishing.
The summer season was a flop for leafy green vegetable growers across the country, with many crops rotting, causing prices to spike.
But bananas and watermelons have soaked up the blistering temperatures and tropical rain.
Despite a lot of wet weather, New Zealand experienced the hottest summer on record.
And Tropical Fruit Growers New Zealand president Hugh Rose said he couldn’t have asked for better.
‘‘It has been an absolutely amazing season for growth.
‘‘We have what we call threeday-leaves, you see a shoot and three days later you have one and a half to two metre large leaves sitting where that shoot was.
‘‘That’s how fast bananas are growing.
‘‘Watermelon growth has been phenomenal, too.’’
Northland climates are best for growing tropical fruit, but Gisborne and warmer areas of South Auckland can work well too.
This year, Rose has even managed to grow a rare breed of banana, wiped out in Jamaica.
‘‘Majority of our members are home gardeners and this is where we get a lot of our exotic stock from.’’
Plentiful rain had been the icing on the cake, Rose said.
‘‘Bananas do like water. Humidity – that’s happiness for them, makes an extra happy banana.
‘‘I want to be selling in the Waikato but it’s probably about five years before we get [there].’’
Before autumn hit, Hamilton’s Magic Fresh in Dinsdale were selling big New Zealand grown watermelons for $3.99 each.
Owner Gurdej Singh said while imported bananas stayed the same price at around $2.49 per kg throughout the year, an abundant supply of watermelon meant they were sold much cheaper.
‘‘We sold about three or four bins a day, so probably about 200 to 300 watermelons,’’ Gurdej said. ‘‘Last year we didn’t have much because of the weather.
‘‘But this season was a very good season for the watermelon.’’