Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-495
Surinam Cherry
Eugenia uniflora
Surinam Cherry is an evergreen shrub or small tree from South America that produces a ribbed fruit ripening red to near-black, rich in pectin and vitamin C, eaten fresh or made into jam, jelly, pie, juice and sherbet, with flavor ranging from sweet and spicy to peppery and sour depending on the plant. It takes shearing well and is often grown as a dense hedge, and a container-grown plant is a realistic way to get a crop where winters bring real frost, since mature plants only shrug off a few degrees of cold before suffering. Birds and mammals spread its seed widely, and where the climate suits it the plant has become a serious thicket-forming invasive that crowds out native regeneration, so it needs harvesting hard and keeping away from waterways.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 9–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 5.6–7.5
- Plant type
- Evergreen Tree
- Mature height
- 8–20 ft
- Mature spread
- 8–20 ft
- Plant spacing
- 8–15 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Both
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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