Herbs Fruit & Orchards Container Gardening

Indoor Curry Tree is flowering. Is it self-pollinating?

6 years ago

I have a curry tree (Murraya koenigii) in a pot that I keep indoors. It's blooming for the first time, and I'd love for the flowers to eventually turn into berries so I can plant the seeds to get more trees. I've read that the tree is self-pollinating, but does that mean they don't need any assistance from the wind or other pollinators? Do I need to assist by touching the stamens and pistils to ensure they're pollinated? Here's a photo of one of the flowers. Thanks in advance for the help!

Featured Answer

hldzion

3 years ago

There are several species of Murraya koenigii. Some produce an abundance of suckers and others produce more seeds.I have two planted in the ground in zone 10. One grows tall ( 10 to 2 feet with yearly hard pruning) and produces one or two suckers yearly and while it blooms, I have never gotten a fruit to form yet. I have had the tree for 7+ years. This one has rather large leaflets and grows quickly after every hard prune. The second one is small, grows very slowly, is only about 3 or 4 feet tall. All leaflets are the same size. Produces an abundance of suckers. It blooms very occasionally. I have had this one for almost 6 years I think. When I lived in zone 5 (Central Illinois) I had a plant that I kept indoorsevery fall - spring and outdoors from mid May to mid September or so. That plant produced an abundance of flowers and seeds which I used to grow and give away small plants to a lots of friends. I never had to help with pollination. The flowering and seed production generally happened in the summer months when the plant was outdoors. I had that plant for 12+ years. I hope this information is helpful.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
Mine are self pollinating. I have grown new plants from the seeds it produces.
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
6 years ago
You wrote: Thanks for your comment about my curry tree. After only a couple days of bloom, I'm noticing that a lot of petals are falling off already. Is that normal? I wasn't sure how long they were supposed to bloom. Thanks for your help!

Mine does the same thing. I never assisted pollination but there is no harm in doing so. The flowers really are very short lived and so that is normal too. Some will produce fruits but most of the flowers will fall off without producing any. Mine is kept outdoors during Summer and so it may get pollination help from insects and other critters. If there are too many fruits I remove most and keep say 5-10 of them that look particularly fat. When they are ripe they will turn dark purple and become soft like a berry. You can harvest then and squeeze out the seeds. You will get one or two seeds out of each. The dark skin of the fruit is edible and can be used to flavor your favorite dish.

Wash the seeds and plant them soon. Keep the pot in a warm well lit place and soon you will have more plants. I give away and sell quite a few each year.
Related Professionals
Shreveport Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Binghamton Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Baton Rouge Landscape Contractors · Myrtle Beach Landscape Contractors · Ottumwa Landscape Contractors · Niles Architects & Building Designers · Gary Landscape Contractors · Orange County Landscape Contractors · Plattsburgh Home Additions · New Bedford Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Paducah Landscape Contractors · Crestview Landscape Contractors · Kalamazoo Landscape Contractors · Kearney Landscape Contractors · Sanford Landscape Contractors
R W
Original Author
6 years ago
@tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA) Thank you so much! I'm anxious to get berries so I can grow new plants. I have a few friends who want trees of their own, and I'd love to be able to give them each one. I'll let you know if I have any other questions. Thanks!
R W
Original Author
5 years ago
@tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA) Just wanted to post an update for this. The flowers fell off and no berries ever formed, unfortunately. The good news is many suckers have grown, which I plan to separate at some point. I'll create a separate post for that.
tropicofcancer (6b SW-PA)
5 years ago
Never seen suckers on my two curry plants. Although there a few varieties of curry plants and mine are the dwarf kinds. May be they do not produce suckers. Did not get many berries this time. May be 4-5 so far. Birds may have eaten them though.