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Solanum quitoense |
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| | Fuzz over lustrous green, like verdant hills |
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| | Fuzzy flower buds, which developed in early August, opened to downward-facing flowers by the end of the month. |
Subtropical shrub or small tree grown for its fuzzy orange fruit, which is often used in drinks. It can tolerate short periods of light frost, but I'm afraid it stands no chance in Pennsylvania - so I just observe it through a single season of growth. One year I got ambitious, and attempted to overwinter it in the basement (I regretted it - they brought fungus gnats in, which feasted on my seedlings). Some years they fail to put on much growth at all (less than other solanums that we grow as annuals), but in our latest attempt they're finally starting to look impressive (which must mean they like high fertility and plentiful moisture: that's what I'm giving them). The leaves are very handsome, with prominent veins. We're growing two plants, from the same seed lot; one has thorns on all its features (along the leaf veins, as well as the stems). The other one is thornless.
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| | Dark-furry leaves and veins, with the veins punctuated by thorns |
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| | This stem belongs to the non-thorny naranjilla. The fuzzy purple start-burst hairs look interesting up close, though. |
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| | The two plants, side by side, make an impressive statement in the garden (and completely obscure the rose in front of which they were planted) |
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| | The last photo I took, in early November, before a killing frost did both plants in. Sadly, the fruit never ripened, so I am still in the dark about the flavor of naranjillas - but I'm grateful for a season of majestic performance. |
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This plant used to grow in our garden, but it slipped away... Read about the other spiny solanums in our garden One or more images of this plant are included in my stock photo catalog About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Solanum quitoense
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Melanie | Jun 10, 2021 | Wonderful! I have some of these seeds and am trying to grow it in Chicago. Do you have any thoughts about what it prefers in terms of sun/shade and watering?
As much sun as you can give it, and I think it prefers reliable water, although I don't remember it being terribly thirsty. |
| Ian | Sep 11, 2021 | I'm currently growing this evil thorny plant in Scotland in a container. It does not do well in full sun, much preferring partial shade and shelter...and lots of water with fertiliser. It does best when supported by canes......it can become a bit straggly if you don't support it. Ill be keeping it inside my growhouse when temperatures drop below 10c in the hope that the fruit ripens on the plant.
My plant is currently fruiting quite well...but not ripe as yet (11th September). Apparently you can pick them when they are not quite fully ripe and let them ripen off the plant. as long as the skin is orange and the pulp is green...it is ripe' and edible. |
- Seed from '05 trade. Baggy 75F (65%G, 12-16d)
- Same seed as above. Baggy 75F (45%G, 18-31d)
- Same seed as above. Baggy 75F (40%G, 24d)
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