Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

39 ft 4 in

In-row spacing

39 ft 4 in

Between rows

49 ft 3 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Fruit · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Full sun, and a long hot season before it will fruit.

Watering

Regular water while young; drought-tolerant once it is established.

Feeding

One balanced feed a year, in spring.

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

May

Pruning

Shape it while young; a mature tree needs almost nothing done to it.

Through the year

• Mar–May Bud Break
• May–Sep Flowering
• Sep–Sep Fruit Set
• Sep–Nov Harvest
• Nov–Dec Dormancy
• Jan–Mar Dormancy

Companions

Lemongrass, Moringa, Banana, Chilli pepper

Pests & problems

• Mealybugs White cottony sap-suckers that gather in leaf axils and along stems, mostly on houseplants and under glass. Dab colonies with a cotton swab dipped in soapy water and isolate affected plants.
• Scale insects Immobile brown or white bumps fixed to stems and leaf undersides, sucking sap and weakening growth. Wipe off with a damp cloth or dab with horticultural soap; watch for the sooty mold that follows.
• Powdery mildew A white dusty coating over leaves and shoots when roots are dry but the air is humid. Keep plants watered and mulched, prune for airflow, and remove the worst leaves.
• Root & crown rot Root rot in waterlogged soils
• Fruit borers

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Hoverfly Syrphidae
  Hunts Scale insectsMealybugs

  Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

  Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts Scale insectsMealybugs

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts Mealybugs

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow