The Cherry of the Rio Grande, Eugenia aggregata, is native
to Brazil and grows quite well in south Florida. It is a very beautiful
small evergreen tree, 20 - 25 feet in height, with dark green, glossy,
waxy leaves. As the tree gets older the bark peels off, resulting in a
smooth and very attractive trunk.
In the spring the cherry of the Rio Grande is one of our early flowering
tropical fruits and often blossoms in the first part of March. The flowering
season extends over several months, and in some years flowers are still
being produced in the early part of May. The flowers are white and quite
showy. The one inch oblong fruit is a beautiful dark red to purple, and
is produced soon after flowering. The fruiting season usually is April through
June, and the fruit are highly prized fresh and as jellies, jams or juices.
The fruits also freeze quite well, so they can be picked at maturity and
frozen for later use. For persons with limited room in the landscape, cherry
of the Rio Grande is ideal because it can be grown as a large bush or even
as a large container specimen and still produce adequate quantities of fruit.
Cherry of the Rio Grande is usually propagated by seed, although
seedlings may take up to 4 to 5 years to begin producing fruit. Although
there is a lot of variation with the cherry of the Rio Grande as to the
size of the fruit, there is not a lot of variation in quality, at least in
my experience. Superior varieties, especially large-fruited forms, can be
veneer-grafted onto seedling rootstocks. Considered a slow grower, cherry
of the Rio Grande still will grow at the rate of 2 to 3 feet per year and
makes a very attractive large shrub or small tree, depending on how it's
trained.
Most cherry of the Rio Grande grow on a wide variety of soil types;
however, they prefer a slightly acid soil, and on alkaline soils may develop
some micronutrient deficiencies.
Most of the time there is little problem in our area from cold,
since cherry of the Rio Grande can tolerate temperatures down to 20°F
without being killed. It does not like large amounts of salt spray, and
if grown right on the ocean may suffer some burned foliage. Trees should
be fertilized with a fruit-tree-type fertilizer at least three times a year
for good growth and fruiting. During periods of dry weather they will benefit
from weekly irrigation. Avoid over-irrigation, since this often will create
problems with the root system.
The only major problem associated with cherry of the Rio Grande
in Florida is a die-back which can occur any time but often shows up when
plants are approaching maturity.. There is no known reason for this die-back
at the present; however, usually only smaller branches are affected and these
can be pruned out and the plant will continue growing normally. Although
suspected to be a disease, applications of fungicide have so far proved ineffective
in stopping this die-back.
© 2000 BGCII Page posted March 2004
