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What fruits can be started from seed?

12 years ago

Hello,
Sorry if this has been posted, I looked and didn't find what I'm looking for.
I live in Dubai and would like to grow fruits. Tropical fruits do well here so I want to try as many as I can get. I already have a few growing like citrus, mango, custard apple and a few more. We don't have a lot of choice here and I thought of ordering online but the shipping fees are way too high and there's customs. So I was wondering what can be grown from seeds. I can order seeds online with no problem or try the supermarket for others.
I know you can start passion fruit and papaya from seed. Anything else that won't take like 10 years to bear? I am interested in any fruit but especially berries (oh how I miss all the berries from childhood, my grandma had raspberries, currants, blackberries, strawberries, gooseberries and others), but I know I probably can't grow these here.
We get a few nights a year in winter in 45-50 F range (that's because we live farther from the city, the temps in the city are higher) and very rarely it can even go below 45. Summers are hot (80-105 F, and sometimes higher for a few days), but I can provide some shade (in a form of shade cloth) and mulch. Watering is not a problem. In regards to feeding we can get compost, manures (chicken, horse, cow), and pellets (fish and chicken) and a few other organic stuff.
I would really like to know what others have successfully grown from seed.

Comments (12)

  • 12 years ago

    Here's a few...

    Here is a link that might be useful: Few easy to grow fruits...

  • 12 years ago

    Thank you puglvr1 I will check it out.

  • 12 years ago

    It's doubtful you'd be able to grow any of those fruits on that list in your climate. The problem would be with your extreme high temperatures. Most of those berries are cold climate plants. And a lot of the tropical fruits are rainforest species that like year round high humidity. That's not to say there aren't some that will grow, but they'll struggle during hot dry periods. It's easy enough to give a plant plenty of water around the roots. It's very difficult to raise the humidity in the air around a plants leaves when the whole atmosphere is dry.

    Mangos should be one of the easiest for you. I've also found that Star Apple (Chrysopyhllum cainito) takes a lot of dry heat provided it gets enough water around the roots. And Carambola (Averrhoa carambola) seems to cope with the heat and dry, although too dry can affect fruiting. Cashews (Anacardium occidentale) should be okay there as well. Another one to try is Pineapple. Just grow it from the tops. It would probably need a little light shade during the hottest times. That's all I can think of for the moment.

  • 12 years ago

    Tropicbreezent thanks for your input. We do have humid summers (but it's like it's not humid everyday, sometimes it's dry sometimes it's so humid that even inside the house the ac don't help). I already have a mango tree. We have a nursery that sells the carambola and star apple. Will have to try pineapple again (didn't work the last time). Will cashews take long?

  • 12 years ago

    Cashews don't take long relative to most fruit trees. I've had them flower and fruit while only about a metre high, not grafted trees they were grown from seed. There's red and yellow varieties. You can eat the cashew apples but the seed (nut) has a highly toxic layer you need to remove. Research it thoroughly before you attempt eating the nuts.

  • 12 years ago

    So should I order seeds online or the raw unsalted and unroasted from supermarket will do? I read ow that the seed should be fresh, do you know what's the timeframe for fresh? I also read that it has to be the whole seed with the shell, so does that mean supermarket one won't do? I remember throwing a couple of peanuts from supermarket and they actually germinated. Gotta try again it by the way, there's so many ideas we get and then forget about it.

  • 12 years ago

    I've also grown peanuts bought raw unroasted from health food places. But I doubt bought cashews would be the same. There's cashew trees growing all over the place here, they're considered an environmental weed. I don't know how long seeds would be viable for but seedlings seem to come up all the time. They flower just before the wet season so I guess in the "Grand Scheme" of things they're meant to germinate within a couple of months and use the wet season to establish themselves.The shell ( more leathery rather than hard like other tree nuts) is what contains the toxins and heat is used in the extraction process, most likely making the nuts non viable.

    A photo of immature fruit, the cashew apple is forming at the top and the nut in it's shell at the bottom.

  • 12 years ago

    Thank you for explanation of seed viability (I always seek the why, a stupid habit I've had since I can remember myself). I'll probably order online, in case no one from our local gardening group doesn't have any during the swap.

  • 11 years ago

    mulberry might be a good choice
    while it grows well from cuttings
    it will grow from seed also.
    its VERY healthy, very tasty and does well in the cold
    red is hardy, black usually tastes better
    but most of them are good

    i grow papaya , guava, dragonfruit, starfruit

    all of those will do well at 45 degrees
    and can be grown from seed

  • 11 years ago

    Thanks a lot greenman62. I already grow mulberries, I have 4, 3 of them are local variety and 1 is Pakistani. I also have a guava. Gotta try the rest from seed.

  • 11 years ago

    We should exchange wood.
    i have a large red mulberry about 25ft
    and a couple of small blacks.

    i can exchange some wood from the red for the Pak ?

    maybe exchange wood on the guava too ?

    and i can throw in a guava seedling. its from Mexican cream
    you can keep for root-stock if nothing else.
    but i hear they grow pretty good + tasty from seed

  • 11 years ago

    Hello Greenman62, I would love to but how is it done? I live in Dubai so not sure how this works. I've never done it before. If you tell me how it's done then I'm looking forward to it.