Northland
Tamarillos look like red or golden jewels beneath their lush leaf canopy from autumn through winter, and their taste is just as dramatic.
Wendy Laurenson on the best ways to grow – and eat! – tamarillos.
While aficionados drool over their tangy taste, I’m more drawn to their striking good looks, either in radiant red or bold gold. As well as having eye-catching fruit, tamarillo plants clothe themselves in big, heart-shaped leaves that speak of all things exotic, and their tiny pink flowers smell divine.
But tamarillos are becoming harder to find. They are tricky to grow, are limited to subtropical areas, and they’re part of the psyllid-prone potato family so the incursion of this pest means there are now fewer commercial growers.
Tamarillos ( Cyphomandra betacea) are from South and Central America, and have been grown in New Zealand since the late 1800s; the commercial industry developed in the 1960s. The baby boomers amongst us will remember the name change from tree tomato to the more alluring tamarillo around that time.
Tamarillos have become much better known since then, with fans keen on both their bold flavour and nutrition. The zingy taste of the traditional red ones appeals to fans who just cut them in half and scoop them out, or add them to smoothies and dessert toppings for dazzling colour. For others (like me) who love the look and nutrition more than the zing, gently cooking the fruit with a drizzle of honey or sugar is more appealing (or choose the less acid gold varieties). They’re also a great winter substitute for tomatoes in pasta sauces and salsa, and they make superb hearty chutney.
Tamarillos are a source of vitamins A, B6, C and E as well as thiamine, potassium, copper and manganese, and they’re low in fat and carbohydrates.
One way to ensure your tamarillo fix is to grow them yourself if you’re lucky enough to live in one of our warmer regions.
Tamarillos fruit after only 18-24 months from planting.
However, they are fussy about growing conditions and particularly hate wet feet. As a subtropical small tree, they need a warm sheltered, freedraining site and while the plant will recover from a light frost, heavier or consecutive frosts can ruin the fruit and kill the plant.
Shelter is essential too because wind can snap their brittle branches and, because they have shallow roots, can even topple a whole plant if it’s laden with fruit.
Garden centres usually have a selection of traditional rich red varieties such as ‘Ted’s Red’ or ‘Mulligan’, less acid red-orange options including ‘Tango’, and the sweeter gold varieties such as ‘Bold Gold’. While commercial varieties are selected for timehonoured quality and consistency, tamarillos are one of the few fruit trees that grow fairly true to type from seed.
Seed can be extracted from quality fruit, washed and dried on newspaper in the same way as tomato seed, then planted in a propagation tray somewhere warm in early spring. Pot these on in stages and plant out when the seedling is good and strong in spring (usually the next year) after any risk of frost.
They like a good bed of compost at planting and additional fruit tree fertiliser every few weeks after that. Young plants often grow into a single long stalk so prune this well back to create a more manageable branched bush. Give them plenty of mulch and regular water over the summer to keep their big leaves turgid, and their developing fruit happy.
Tamarillos will have a good crop in their second winter, and come into full production after three or four years.
They develop into a tree 2-3m tall, and the fruit are ready to pick when they fully colour up which starts up here in late autumn and continues over several months, and they’ll keep well in a fruit bowl or longer in the fridge.
After the last fruit is harvested and any risk of late frosts is gone, it’s good to prune main branches back by about half, remove any dieback or spindly branches, and take off low or ground level shoots.
Until recently, white fly and aphids were the main pests (especially in plastic houses) and could be controlled with oils, but since 2010 the tomato/potato psyllid has been the primary pest. Fortunately, there is progress on treatment (with Success Ultra or neem oil) and predators (outlined in editor Jo McCarroll’s column in the January issue). Tamarillos are also susceptible to powdery mildew that can be kept in check with a range of fungal controls.
The fact that they are tricky to grow makes tamarillos even more valued, and it is well worth persevering with if you happen to have that sheltered free-draining spot. They will reward you with lush foliage and coloured “eggs” – just in time for Easter.