Plum-shaped fruits in red or orange hang from a shrub 3 to 13 feet tall, their firm, tangy flesh eaten raw, juiced or minced into thick sauces. Native to Peru, the tamarillo (Solanum betacea) only rewards you where winter stays frost-free, since the plant dies below 26°F (-3°C).
| Name | Solanum betacea (formerly Cyphomandra betacea) |
|---|---|
| Family | Solanaceae or nightshade |
| Type | fruit tree |
| Height | 3 to 13 feet (1 to 4 m) (in its natural environment) |
| Exposure | full sun or well-lit when indoors |
| Soil | light, rich enough |
| Harvest | summer, let it ripen on the plant |
Its similarity to tomatoes gave it the common name tomato tree. Here is how to grow it at home.
Under our temperate latitudes, the tamarillo tree is grown outdoors only in areas where the climate is mild in winter, because leaves fall off at 28°F (-2°C) and the shrub dies if temperatures drop below 26°F (-3°C).
It can thus be grown along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, around the Mediterranean, if the growing conditions are carefully monitored and protective winter covering is provided.
Tamarillo is a heavy feeder that will quickly drain the surrounding area from its initial nutrients. Ideally, you would fertilize at three key moments:
A balanced fertilizer is fine, with an NPK ratio that has the same number for each element. This will help the entire tree thrive from root to fruit. For example, a 10:10:10 or a 5:5:5 fertilizer will do well. For these, follow the dosage recommended on the labels.
An even better option is to add organic fertilizer to the soil around the tree:
Organic fertilizers can be applied anytime, except for the colder months of winter when plants are dormant. See each article for the proper doses.
If you fear that temperatures fall below freezing in winter, you don’t have a choice but to grow your tamarillo tree in a pot so that you can protect it over the winter.
It doesn’t resist freezing, so tamarillo must be grown as if it were citrus, bringing it in a greenhouse over winter, being a cooler place that is protected from frost.
If you choose to grow tamarillo trees indoors all year round, you’ll have to organize their dormancy at some point during the winter.
Everything hinges on how cold your winter gets, since the plant is killed by a few degrees of frost. Here are the four ways the tamarillo can be grown, and what each of them asks of you.
| Growing method | Suitable climate | Winter care | Time spent outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|
| In open ground | Mild winters only, such as the Atlantic and Pacific coasts or around the Mediterranean | Protective winter covering | All year round |
| In a pot, wintered under cover | Anywhere temperatures fall below freezing | Greenhouse or lean-in, frost-free but not necessarily heated | Mid-spring to mid or late autumn |
| Indoors all year round | Any, provided a cool, well-lit room is available | Organised dormancy: reduce watering, keep the light, coolest spot of the house | None |
| Cyphomandra corymbiflora in open ground | Hardier climates, down to 19°F (-7°C) | Full sun and shelter from wind | All year round |
Whichever you choose, the soil or potting mix must drain perfectly, since the shallow roots rot in soggy ground.
Tamarillo is a fruit tree that loves receiving a lot of water in summer, especially in case of high temperatures.
Daily watering is recommended if ever a dry spell or heat wave hits.
Apart from watering, it is relatively easy to care for tamarillo in winter and in summer.
Mulch the root zone with compost or straw, since tamarillo roots run shallow and dry out fast in heat.
Never leave water standing in the saucer of a potted tamarillo, as its roots rot quickly in soggy soil.
Keep watering steady while fruit is swelling: tamarillos are shallow-rooted and prone to dropping fruit when a spell of drought stress is followed by heavy watering or rain.
Stake the trunk, because the wood is brittle and the root system too shallow to hold a fruit-laden tree upright.
Tamarillo is best harvested quite ripe, as close to complete maturity as is possible. It should be eaten quickly after the harvest, while still very fresh.
If not yet mature, it doesn’t taste so good, and if too young it even becomes difficult to digest.
If the fruits aren’t ripe enough upon harvest, you can let them ripen just like regular tomatoes before eating them.
Snip each tamarillo off with secateurs, leaving a short stub of stalk attached, because pulling tears the soft skin and shortens keeping.
Ripe fruit yields slightly when pressed with the thumb.
The fruits do not all colour at the same time, so go over the tree several times instead of stripping it bare.
The skin is bitter, so halve the fruit and scoop the flesh out with a spoon, or dip it briefly in boiling water to slip the skin off.
Tamarillo is native to Peru and is well-known thanks to its red or orange fruit.
It belongs to the same family as regular tomatoes, Solanaceae, but its fruits look more like plums.
Tomato tree fruits are slightly tangy and their firm, meaty flesh can be eaten in the same manner as tomatoes are, though raw their taste is of the love-it-or-hate-it kind.
This fruit is also often savored juiced, and another name for it is tomato tree. Cooking it (or smoking it, even) will take the edge off of the fruit and it is excellent when minced into thick sauces where it balances other spices out.
The world’s largest producer is Columbia, in South America, which explains why this fruit tree has trouble growing out doors in more temperate climates.
To grow it outdoors, try to find the Cyphomandra corymbiflora variety because it is hardy down to 19°F (-7°C), if in full sun and sheltered from wind.
