How to grow an Acerola Cherries?

THE common name of this Acerola Chery is Barbados cherry, West Indian Cherry or wild Crepe myrtle. The botanical name is Malpighia emarginatai.

I have planted a few for bonsai and ornamental value. Only recently have I replanted two more in my new site–fruit gardens for beauty – and propagation later.

This shrub can be made into a bonsai plant as I had done so many years back. The fruit is exactly like the temperate cherry we, at times, see on top of a birthday cake.

I also recalled the experiences ofpickingcherriesinChristchurch sometime in the early 2000s.

We were told this Acerola cherry is a tropical fruit, bearing on small trees, popular in the west, at first. It is, actually, native to South America, and part of warm climate countries in Central America and has now spread to all the tropical and sub-tropical regions in the world.

We first met this plant in the bonsai market.

The fruit is very rich in vitamin C but also contains Vitamins A, B1, B2 and B3 together as carotenoids, bioflavonoids and other antioxidants.

I planted it down to one metre tall for ease of maintenance, ornamental purpose and as a bonsai plant – without thinking of the advantages at all until recently.

My bigger plant was also pot-planted previously until it was replanted on the ground and suddenly blossomed with beautiful small flowers and green berries that matured or ripened very rapidly into some miraculous bright red cherries.

Botanically, this plant has a shallow root system suitable for bonsai and still bears the red cherries on the miniature plant.

The fruit is slightly sour but can be processed in other ways for juices, pulps, baby food as well as Vitamin C concentrate.

It is also used as a component of a proprietary herbal medicine for allergic rhinitis. The fruit can be taken right from the tree.

The leaves are light to dark green glossy with minute hairs somewhat irritating to some. The tree can be kept low through constant pruning into a low shrub for easy maintenance.

Propagation and growth techniques

Propagation is by seeds or cuttings for cultivation in the field without much adjustment of the soil except its pH is preferably at 6.5. Add lime to keep this pH for good growth.

The potting soil can be added with compost, gravels and mineral fertilisers NPK. So far, I have given only 12+12+12 + FTE for good growth and fruiting. With enough fertilisers, it is said to get sweet fruits.

Water requirement is moderate but during drought, the plant may suffer from temporary leaf-dropping and can recover after enough water is available.

This is exactly what happened during the recent drought when I removed the pot-plant to the ground.

The fruit is a drupe with a one-inch diameter and a mass of 5g each. Drupes are produced in pairs or groups with yellowishcoated triangular black seeds. These seeds are good enough to be sown for seedlings and some new offspring are sometimes seen near the mother plant.

The seedlings can now be planted in pots or polybags for nursery till they are one foot tall for field planting.

Food value of Barbados cherries

The fruit tree has the following advantages to plant in our garden:

l Attractive ornamental shrub in our pots and garden.

l High quantities of juicy bright red coloured cherries.

l High vitamin C content.l Highly adaptive to growing anywhere in the garden and in large pots.

Further information can be readily available from us if anyone is interested in growing it as a bonsai and maintaining the bonsai.

It will take some time for the stem to be stout and strong planted in the right container. I have it under severe pruning for the first few times until the plant is kept low – about one and half feet tall – with spread out branches until the width is kept to about one foot plus.

This time, the plant might have a basalstemoftwoinchesindiameter – and the canopy of less soil for the bonsai is kept with a one-foot spreading.

The same might be achieved by first growing the plant in a large pot or on the ground and then transplanted into the bonsai pot –usually a shallow and longish tray-type rocky material or dark brown rocky-sand material.

These pots are imported mainly from China and somewhat expensive too.

Happy Gardening!