Eetbare tuin-edible garden Eugenia uniflora - Surinamese cherry

• Article number: EUGUNI04

Eugenia uniflora or Surinamese cherry is a tropical plant has dark green leaves (young leaf is bronze colored) and it has a light resinous scent.
The leaves turn red in winter and are 5 cm long, the plant is evergreen.
The Surinamese cherry gets long white / yellow flowers. The fruits are about 2 to 4 cm in size and are green in color.
These discolour to orange and then deep red. When they are purple / red in color, they are ripe.

The plant is also used a lot for ornamental purposes because of its beautiful flowering and afterwards the fruits that slowly discolour.
The plant can withstand a longer period of drought. New seedlings can be cultivated from the seeds. These can bear fruit after 2-3 years.
If the Surinamese cherry regularly receives water and light fertilizer, then the fruits grow hard and become sweeter.

The fruits have a very thin skin and melt, as it were, on your tongue.
The flesh is orange / red and tastes sweet / sour. Usually there is only one pit in the fruit, but sometimes also 2 to 3 small seeds. Fruits can be eaten in addition to fresh, also used for the jam.
The Eugenia uniflora comes from tropical and subtropical areas, but is also resistant to light frost. Young plants get frost damage at -1ºC.
Older plants have only suffered superficial damage in Guatemala at an altitude of 1800 meters at -2ºC.
If the plant hibernate at + 6ºC or higher, it stays nice in the leaves.
Winter hardiness zone 10a (0ºC).