A Tale of Two
Jackfruits
During March, April and September, I reported on the
progress of our more advanced jackfruit tree. In the autumn months, the tree
produced a large number of flowers but over winter no fruits
developed. A second small flush of flowers occurred during September with the
same result. Since that time the tree has suffered a setback, losing many
of its leaves and failing to produce any further flowers.
 |
| Ailing jackfruit tree |
Growing jackfruit trees in the temperate climate of Sydney
is a learning experience of the highest order. Has this
first tree been affected by the cold of winter? Has it acquired a disease? Has
it lacked nutrition or been affected by ‘wet feet’? I incline towards the first
alternative… although our cool season has not harmed the tree to this extent in
the past four years.
By contrast, our second jackfruit tree, of the same age, but
clearly a different jackfruit variety, is thriving. It has grown very large and
has started to produce multiple flowering spurs… side by side with, and growing
under the same conditions as, the ailing tree. So, wherein lies the answer?
 |
| Thriving and flowering tree |
As these fruiting spurs have developed in the summer
months, do we have a greater expectation of first-fruit success this time? With
time to maturity being about five or six months, we have time to wait… and
learn!
Since March I have learned that the male and female flowers
of jackfruit can be differentiated by colour: female flowers are a darker green
than their male counterparts. It is also a possibility that many male flowers
will appear before a female flower is produced on a fruiting spur. So,
what do the photos of our tree show?
The video link below (from Malaysia) is very useful and
informative, showing how to distinguish between male and female flowers of the chempedak, a ‘cousin’ of the jackfruit
tree. Incidentally,the audio is recorded in both Malay and English, so it can be understood
without a knowledge of the Malay language…
Regardless
of this season’s fruiting outcome, a jackfruit tree remains a very handsome and
fascinating tree, even in the warm, temperate climate of Sydney, at the very
edge of the cultural range of the species.
Wishing you hours of enjoyment and contentment in your
garden…
I have a jackfruit tree ( 4 years old) and it has started fruiting this summer, am anxious to see if it can carry to its full te
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I wish you luck with the fruiting of your young jackfruit tree. I am assuming that you live in, or close to, Sydney. Our climate is marginal but, with care, it is possible to ripen jackfruit. Are your fruit large or just beginning to develop?
DeleteA fair few years ago a friend of mine fruited a grafted jackfruit in the suburb of Campsie, the variety was "Black Gold" which is very vigorous and cold hardy. Only fruit set in early spring would mature as fruit set in summer would run out of heat units in autumn and would turn black. These late set fruit could be harvested green and made into a gren jackfruit curry.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Robert. I agree with your thoughts. We picked a very tasty jackfruit from this tree last May, but the fruit which followed did not mature. Our second tree of a distinctly different variety is on the verge of ripening at the moment, having set fruit in early spring... Both trees are seedlings, not grafted, so I cannot attest to the varieties.
DeleteYou can make tasty curry out of the baby jackfruit, which's spikes has not spanned out. Tastier than meat.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Agreed.
ReplyDelete