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danielle_nielse

Growing a Jackfruit Tree indoors?

9 years ago

Hello, I am in zone 5b, which is not an ideal location for Jackfruit. However, it can be done, and I am determined. I need as much advice as I can get though.

I have three, 6 inch babies, that I have grown from seed. I just potted one of them in a cactus type soil. I read though that Jackfruit love to grow in Alluvial soil (Delta/river run off soils) Does anyone have experience using that type of soil? I found one called - Aquascape Pond Plant Potting Media- Thoughts, ideas, suggestions? Also any suggestions on the type of grow light I should use for a Jackfruit tree?


Thanks so much for reading. Happy growing.


Comments (20)

  • 9 years ago

    I don't find them all that fussy about type of soil but it should drain well although still be kept moist. I don't know, but "alluvial soil" may have too high a clay content. I suppose though that they can probably have a high variability depending on where they're sourced. I've read on forums where people have grown Jackfruit in pots and even had them fruiting.

  • 9 years ago

    I'm excited to see how they grow. I have good lighting coming from the North, but I don't think it's enough. Any suggestions on grow lighting? LED?

  • 9 years ago

    I've never used grow lights so don't know. But they'd need to be pretty strong, Jackfruit like being out in full sun. You could check with suppliers as ask them what their recommendations are for full sun plants.

    Dani Nielse thanked tropicbreezent
  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have seedlings started last spring. Indoors? The are a magnet for wooly mealys. Use Bayer on them. Outdoors last year,they were easy all summer in full sun.

    For me,if we have more winters like the last..they wont last long. But,I will try.

    Dani Nielse thanked stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
  • 9 years ago

    Like crushed Bayer/water, in spray bottle?

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Im in the UK which equates to Zone 9 USA, iv got a 300w cfl grow light and a 300w led grow light. Iv not actually used the led light yet, but have a mango growing under the cfl and it has several pea sized fruit on it already. I turn the light on for about 16 hours and off for 8. Its in a small room and because the light gives off quite a bit of heat it also heats the room to about 23 degrees C. The light is quite close to the mango tree, but is no hotter than the sun would be on the leaves. With a plant like the mango the leaves are so thick it doesn't care about the heat, I think the jackfruit has similar thick leathery leaves so would probably be fine too. It works out cheaper to grow it indoors than it does in my greenhouse, as my greenhouse heater is 2000W and I have to put it on 1000w to keep it above 16 C, but the light is only 300W and the house is warm anyway so is hardly using any power compared to the heater. Iv just bought some jackfruit too so am going to grow the mango tree a friend. You can keep the plants fairly small by using the biggest air pruning pot you can find. This will air prune the root ball, meaning that you are basically bonzaing it to a certain extent, so you should be able to keep it small enough to be inside. If you do a google image search for bonzai jackfruit tree you'll see quite a few results, so it is possible to keep it small and it still fruit indoors.

  • 8 years ago

    I have 3 pots of seedlings with 5 per pot. They have been growing since spring and are way overcrowded cuz Im a bad plant mommy this year lol. They arent picky at all. They probably need light, warmth, and well draing soil more than anything. They also like humidity. They can't freeze especially in a pot. Indoors the issues would probably be light and humidity especially in the upcoming winter months.

  • 8 years ago

    Update- Sorry it has taken so long. Sorry to say that none of my plants survived. They were beautiful, almost a foot tall, all were branching, and then all of a sudden infestation by multiple types of bugs, and a white fungus spread. I tried everything- ultimately they succumbed about 3 weeks ago. I started a new batch, I have 9. They are sprouting beautifully, and a lot faster than the previous ones. Probably from a genetically stronger mother. Right now they are in an organic seed starting soil. I want to use a less dense soil than the one I used on the previous batch. What has everyone used?? I’ll be so heartbroken if these don’t thrive. I live in New England so that’s a challenge. I use a 100w incandescent paired with natural light.

    How has everyone else’s trees been do?

    Suggestions?

  • 8 years ago

    Mine also were infested with mealys indoors. Outdoors,they were too small to take our winter.

    For you Dani,try a systemic. If your not into pesticides (in tiny amounts)..then try other more natural's if the J-fruit are still alive.

    They grow in Los Angeles..so once they get going they take non tropical temperatures.

  • 8 years ago

    Growing jackfruit indoors in cold climates may be fun, but they are HUGE trees and will not bear until they are very large, so it's a pointless gesture, except just for fun. Unless you have a 40-foot tall greenhouse, of course. :)

  • 8 years ago

    I raised that issue before but got lots of responses from people who were growing and fruiting them in pots. They can bear fruit at relatively smaller sizes. Balance in a pot might be a bit tricky though if the fruit is all on one side.

  • 8 years ago

    I guess the challenge is worth it. Just put a big heavy rock in the side with no fruit for balance.

  • 8 years ago

    I think the one in Los Angeles was 8 years old from seed and about 10' tall. Any chance you might plant in ground and cover in winter- you will get better and faster results. Winters arent long even in north Florida.

  • 5 years ago


    I have a couple sprouted inside this winter in climate zone 10 in Australia because the seedling plants don't like it when the temperature gets down below 10°C,it can get down to 2°C overnight which has killed my jackfruit seedlings in the past.


    I plan to keep mine indoors for about 1 year until they grow to about 1 metre in height & about a 10-15 millimetre trunk width, even in summer if it rains they can get the brown spot disease & root rot so it's best to keep them sheltered & water sparingly during summer when they're seedlings !

  • 4 years ago


    Do you suppose i should just nip the terminal bud on my Jackfruit tree now that it is about to touch the ceiling? We have snow here in the great Pacific Northwest.

  • 4 years ago

    You can prune them..maybe get them to re grow the nice cut juvenile leaves. But it will always be just a nice foliage plant indoors.

  • 3 years ago

    How high is your ceiling? i would recvomend LED’s that have gaps between the bars, allowing a greater spread. i have had one jackfruit for about six months. so far so good but i need to move it as it is reaching the growlight. i am curious, if it is going to bear such a heavy fruit in the future, i reckon it should have a fan on it whilt the branches are growing?

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I plant a seed jast for fun and 4 years later this is what i have. not sure what to do with it, we are in MA USA. De Definitely the tree will not survive outside weather


  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Hi, I live in Canada and was just recently introduced to this giant fruit, since I like growing in general, I searched online for information on how to grow it, but now that I bumped into your post I'm thinking twice about what will I do with that in four years from now...🤔🤔🤔!