I’m currently trying my hand at Ugni myricoides, sown early in the year. Last time I tried was a few years back, and I lost them to mismanagement. I’m trying to avoid being neglectful to any of my plants these days, and the results are paying off with more survivors. I’m keeping them in shade most of the day, with some afternoon sun. Progress is slow so far, and to speed things up, I separated the seedlings today and gave them some 20-20-20 fertilizer (the blue stuff!). I hope I don’t lose them to transplant shock.
Anyone else growing Ugni? I went with U.my. Because it was supposed to be more tolerant of tropical conditions (and a more prolific fruiter, ever-bearer, with slightly larger, spicier fruit), but I’d like to try my hand at U. molinae some day. They call it a guava, I wonder if it’s graft-compatible with Psidium.
I have Ugni molinae, it flowers like crazy, begins to set hundreds if not thousands of fruits, but hardly any of them ever actually ripen for me. I think the summers here are a bit too hot and dry, and the winters are a bit too cold.
How’re you growing them? I think they prefer partial shade, with more shade the hotter it gets. If you can set up a cooler microclimate somehow, that’d be ideal.
Maybe it’s me,but every seed I’ve tried to grow,including the Black Chilean Guava, from Trade Winds has never germinated.
At least your success gives me hope to maybe try again.bb
They’ve been hit or miss for me over the years. Plenty of good seeds, and plenty of duds. It might have to do with them being middle-men, sourcing seeds from different places. Fresh would be best, but it’s no guarantee… I tried the freshest seeds they hade for a couple of Jaltomata species, none sprouted (to be fair, I didn’t get any seedlings from Jaltomata sources elsewhere either).
I grow mine in a large pot that is in partial shade. I figured a pot would be easier to move to protect from heat in summer and cold in winter if needed. They have also been smashed by hail a few times the past few years which hasn’t helped things.
The number of flowers mine produces each year is incredible, most start to produce berries but I could count on one hand how many actually ripen each year. I am tempted to get another one, perhaps mine is not entirely self compatible and will set fruit better with a second variety.
They are a nice enough looking shrub, and my kids like the few berries that we do get each year, so I will keep them for now.
Ive tried these a couple of times. I seem to always lise mine when inside over the winter. Im not sure if my problem is root-rot or juat poor watering practices because mine akways seem to dessicate. I dis get one to live 3 years once
Do you have indoor heating? That might dry out pretty much anything. I left my sister’s house (in Texas) last Christmas with a painful rash from the dry skin. The moist heat on getting back to PR was exquisite.
You might consider bagging the plant in plastic during winter to seal in the moisture. You’d then have to acclimate the plant slowly back to ambient humidity by punching holes in the plastic over a period of days, before putting it back outdoors.
My little plants are receiving a lot of rain, and I’m seeing no rot, so I’m definitely seeing that preference for moisture (which a lot of Myrtles seem to have). I had lost an individual seedling or two to drought, so I’ll be keeping mine well watered from here on out (though maybe not saturated).
I tried my hand at them… had four plants, one of them was a beautiful variegated variety. I found that they could not survive the hot dry Southern California summers, even in the shade.
That bad? Just how sensitive are these plants‽ I think I made the right choice when my instincts told me to try its more tropical sister species instead. And even then, I still worry they won’t pull through. I won’t be satisfied until I see them turn into full shrubs, or keel over trying.
