Gardening:Tantalising tamarillos

Tamarillo or tree-tomatoes, as they are also known, have long been a favourite of mine.

They are one of those fruits that are always expensive when purchased from the supermarket and are always only available for a limited time each year.

The fruiting time for tamarillo is winter, from May to July, which makes them a great fruit to grow as this can be a time of year when fruit and vegetables can be more expensive to purchase.

The red varieties tend to be tart and a sprinkling of sugar can be needed, while the yellow varieties tent to be sweeter. There is a relatively new variety available called Tamarillo Tango, which has a dark skin and flesh but has the sweetness of the yellow varieties.

Tamarillos are fast growing small trees which will fruit in their second year, reaching full production capacity around four years from planting.

They are relatively short lived with an average tree fruiting for around 7-12 years before giving up. They can be propagated easily in the home garden by cuttings or from seed collected from the fruit.

Seed raised trees tend to grow straight up with a single leader which is best chopped to encourage a lower branching canopy. Whereas "cutting grown" varieties seem to have a natural tendency to branch lower down.

All tamarillo are self fertile so you can plant just one plant, though cross pollination by having more than one plant can increase the crop size.

The growth habit is a fast growing tree with large heart shaped leaves that are soft and hairy. Size - 3m x 2m.

When looking to plant a tamarillo tree there are a few varieties to choose which perform particularly well and have good sized fruit.

Tamarillo Bold Gold
Clusters of pink fragrant flowers appear in spring within 18 months from planting followed by large golden fruit which is sweet and less acidic than the red varieties.

Tamarillo Teds Red
Clusters of pink fragrant flowers appear in spring within 18 months from planting followed by large almost round bright red fruit.

Tamarillo Tango
Clusters of pink fragrant flowers appear in spring within 18 months from planting followed by medium sized red/orange fruit. Very sweet and low acidity. Produced and marketed by incredible edibles in association with Plant & Food Research - available in garden centres.

The two biggest enemies to watch out for when growing tamarillo are frost and wind. Although not quite as hardy as citrus, they can generally be grown in areas where citrus is grown.

In Whanganui they grow readily in the many frost free pockets, and with winter frost protection where frost is heavier.

Tamarillo rate very well as a source of dietary antioxidants compared to other common fruits and vegetables. They do not contain as much vitamin C as berry fruit or citrus but rate much higher than other more commonly eaten fruit, such as apples and bananas, see the table above right.

Tamarillo also rank very highly as a source of antioxidants compared with other foods. They rank significantly higher than apples, apricots, grapes, oranges and pears but lower than blackcurrants, blueberries and strawberries.

So if you would like to add some tropical flavour to your garden and plate then give growing one of these plants a go.

Have a good week