Cherry (Surinam, Seedling) Live Fruit Plant

A fruit that can make you delight with its real and delectable taste.

The Surinam Cherry is the most widely known of the edible-fruited Eugenia species, because of its great adaptability. The shrub or tree, to 25 ft (7.5 m) high, has slender, spreading branches and resinously aromatic foliage. The opposite leaves, bronze when young, are deep-green and glossy when mature; turn red in cold, dry winter weather. They are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, blunt- to sharp-pointed, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 in (4-6.25 cm) long. Long-stalked flowers, borne singly or as many as 4 together in the leaf axils, have 4 delicate, recurved, white petals and a tuft of 50 to 60 prominent white stamens with pale-yellow anthers. The 7- to 8-ribbed fruit, oblate, 3/4 to 1 1/2 in (2-4 cm) wide, turns from green to orange as it develops and, when mature, bright-red to deep-scarlet or dark, purplish maroon (“black”) when fully ripe. The skin is thin, the flesh orange-red, melting and very juicy; acid to sweet, with a touch of resin and slight bitterness. There may be 1 fairly large, round seed or 2 or 3 smaller seeds each with a flattened side, more or less attached to the flesh by a few slender fibers.

MAINTENANCE OF THE PLANTATION
Once a plantation has been established, the work should not be considered finished. It will be necessary, for example, to protect the plantation against weather, fire, insects and fungi, and animals. A variety of cultural treatments also may be required to meet the purpose of the plantation.

FERTILIZING
Cherry fruit plants grown as protective hedge are hardly manured or fertilized. Manuring, however used as 10-15 kg well-rotten farmyard manure or compost/plant and should be applied before flowering.

WATERING AND WEED CONTROL
Cherry trees should be watered regularly until fully established. In dry western climates, water mature trees deeply at least every one or two weeks. Desert gardeners may have to water more frequently. Mulch the soil around the trees to conserve moisture. Weeding is also very important. Remove all weeds 1.5 meter around the plant.

PRUNING AND SHAPE OF TREE
Surinam cherry seedlings grow slowly; some begin to fruit when 2 years old; some may delay fruiting for 5 or 6 years, or even 10 if in unfavorable situations. They are most productive if unpruned, but still produce a great many fruits when close-clipped in hedges. Quarterly feeding with a complete fertilizer formula promotes fruiting. The plant responds quickly to irrigation, the fruit rapidly becoming larger and sweeter in flavor after a good watering.

PEST & DISEASE CHERRY TREES
Surinam cherries are highly attractive to Caribbean and Mediterranean fruit flies, but the incidence of infestation was found to vary greatly in Israel from location to location, some plants being unmolested. The foliage is occasionally attacked by scale insects and caterpillars. A large, extensive hedge along a canal in Dade County blew down in September 1982. Examination showed that the roots had been chewed off and there were about a dozen white grubs up to 2 in (5 cm) long under each plant. These were identified as the larvae of a sugar cane pest that is common in Haiti.

HARVESTING YOUR CHERRY

The fruits develop and ripen quickly, only 3 weeks after the flowers open. The plants bloom in September and fruits ripen in October; they bloom again in December and January.  The fruits should be picked only when they are so ripe as to fall into the hand at the lightest touch, otherwise they will be undesirably resinous. Gathering must be done daily or even twice a day. In India, pruned bushes yield an average of 6 to 8 lbs (2.7-3.6 kg) per plant. The highest yield obtained in Israel was 2,700 fruits weighing about 24 lbs (11 kg) from one untrimmed plant.

PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
1. Prioritize your tree planting with the sun’s direction to maximize shade by planting on the southwestern and western sides of your home.
2. The Surinam cherry grows in almost any type of soil–sand, sandy loam, stiff clay, soft limestone–and can even stand waterlogging for a time, but it is intolerant of salt.
3. For Commercial Plantation, the planting distance for fence/ hedge should be 1-1.5 m, requiring 300-400 plants for planting along the boundary of one hectare field. If an exclusive planting is to be raised, a planting distance of 2 m x 2 m should be enough
4. In a home garden generally we are planting one or two  karonda trees along with other species of fruit plants. So it is better to keep minimum 3 meter distance from other plants to plant an karonda tree.
5. 100% sunlight is best but can grow up to 50 % shade
6. During dry weather, initially water the plant once in two days and after one month of planting water every 7 to 10 days during the first year.
7. Do not use chemical fertilizer or any other chemicals on your newly planted trees. Such products will kill your young trees. If needed you can add chemical fertilizers in small quantity (generally below 100gm) after two to three months of planting with sufficient irrigation
8. Do not over water or allow rain water so much that you see standing water in the pit area of the plant. It will damage the plants roots and results the die of your plant.