Growing Ambarella In Phoenix Arizona

Photo
Pictured on the right is a 2 foot tall dwarf ambarella tree with fruit. It was mail ordered as a very small plant, and was planted about 1.5 years before this picture was taken. It is growing in full sun.

This ambarella takes the Phoenix heat very well, except for a little bit of sunburn on its trunk, and it grows continuously during warm weather. I protect it with frost cloth draped over a pvc structure on the coldest winter nights as a precaution. It lost all of its leaves during the winter, except for some tiny shoots near its branch tips, and didn't really start growing again until April.

This tree flowered during the fall and held its fruit all winter, which looked unusual since it did not have leaves then. The fruit are still not ripe and the ones most exposed to the sun have gone bad, but the more sheltered fruits appear to be in good condition.

I was inspired to grow ambarella after eating the fruit from a tree in Hawaii, where they are called vi apples. They were delicious.

Cold Tolerance
Ambarellas are frost sensitive, being hardy to 29 F., and should be protected when temperatures might go below freezing. Covering the tree with frost cloth several nights a year is usually all that is needed.

Planting
Dig a hole at least twice the size of the rootball. At a minimum, make the hole 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep. Work in a 30/70 mix of compost to soil. Be sure to mix the compost and soil as thoroughly as possible. It also is a good idea to finish with the hole an inch or two recessed so that a watering basin is formed.