Peanut Butter Fruit... tastes like peanut butter!

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...One of the most fascinating exotic fruit, as amazing as Miracle fruit, Peanut Butter Fruit is loved by both kids and adults... and yes, it tastes exactly like peanut butter!.. Yet it is much healthier food, with many medicinal benefits...
...The easy, low-maintenance Peanut Butter Fruit tree is essential for any edible landscape, rare fruit collector, or tropical/subtropical garden. It has a great ornamental or screening value. Also can be grown in container, and will fruit indoors... Similar to fast-fruiting Annonas, and its close relatives Malpighia (Barbados Cherry) and Bursonima (Nancy Tree), Bunchosia tree starts fruiting in small size and at young age: 2-3 years from seed!..

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Fast-fruiting trees?

Photo above: Annona reticulata - Red Custard Apple

Q: More of a question than a review, but a review regarding your catalog, it would be easier for us buyers, if we could search for plants that produce fruit in 2 years or less, I don't have the patience to wait longer than that for fruit. I'm trying to buy for a fairly good sized garden but want some fast growers and fruit produced in 2 yrs. Can you help me out?

A: Fruiting time depends on many factors (established size, growing conditions, fertilizing, and even specific variety), this is why we can not just put a simple icon "will fruit within 2 years".
However, most grafted and air-layered fruit trees, including all Mango, Avocado, Loquat, Sapote, Sapodilla, Lychee/Longan, Peaches and Nectarines - will fruit right away. If you see in our store "grafted" or "air-layered" in plant description - these trees will fruit soon. Some of them already flowering and fruiting.
Some non-grafted trees or seedlings like Annona, Artocarpus (Jackfruit), Eugenia, Guava, Banana, Dragon fruit, Mulberry, Blackberry/Raspberry - will fruit within 3-4 years from seed or even sooner (Banana, Mulberry, Dragon fruit, Blackberry-Raspberry - within a year). Usually it says in description that this plant can produce fruit soon.
Bigger size plants are more established and have more energy to produce, so try to get larger size plants if your budget permits, and especially if you can pick up bigger plants rather than shipping them - obviously, shipping has size limitations.
In addition, all spice trees like Bay Leaf, Bay Rum, Allspice and many more - they will produce spice for you right away, so you don't need to wait at all!
If you have questions about fruiting time on any specific plant you put your eye on, don't hesitate to ask!

Photo above: Pimenta dioica - Allspice

When to fertilize and prune tropical fruit trees?

Q: Can tropical fruit trees (Soursop, Mango, Star fruit, etc) be given plant food any time of year? Also can they be trimmed this time of year/summer?

A: True tropical plants (including fruit trees) need plant food most of the year in real Tropics, where temperatures have very little fluctuations, and active growth season is close to 12 months a year. In subtropical areas when temperatures in winter drop below 65F, plant metabolism slows down, so it is recommended to fertilize only during the warmest period (March through November). So yes, Summer is the perfect time for fertilizing your trees; their metabolism is at the highest point and they can use more food!

Trim your fruit trees right after harvesting. Obviously, you don't want to prune branches before or during flowering or fruiting. The specific time of the year for pruning depends on the plant - every tree has its own flowering/fruiting season. However, avoid pruning right before winter: young shoots promoted by pruning are tender and can be cold damaged.

Recommended fertilizers for fruit trees:

Fruit Festival Plant Food - Super Crop Booster
Mango-Food - Smart Release Fruit Tree Booster
SUNSHINE-Honey - for sweeter fruit
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement