Thanks to Patty, I have a Naranjilla, Solanum quitoense. I watched this plant flower from the day it arrived, but never any fruit set. I moved the plant outside this summer, and bingo! There are no less than a dozen fruits.

Whether the fruit set was just a matter of plant maturity or whether there were problems with pollination inside the GH, I'm not sure.

If the fruit tastes good, I'm going to go looking for a thornless variety!

SB

The Solanum quitoense, or 'Quito Orange', is easy to grow from seed and makes a very unusual ornamental plant, with it's large thorny leaves and fuzzy, orange fruit. The fruit I have tried is full of seed and, while edible, is not all that platable. Non-the-less, if you like to try new plants, it is a fun, interesting plant to grow.


I have heard there is a better tasting one that is eaten the natives in Equador, but I have never seen it. I do believe I have read that they make some sort of drink out of the fruit.

Ned

nice job Stress,
how tall are they? I've got some growing but that is about all they are doing. Got pics?

keep it up,
-Ethan

My oldest son, travels several times a year to Colombia and Ecuador on business for our company, he brought back seeds of the 'Quito Orange' last year. As Stan says, they germinate quite easily. I grew them outdoors at the row ends of the vineyard. I never did harvest any, and the Colorado winter killed all of them. Very thorny plant. - Millet

This is the plant about 2 months ago:


This is a pic of the developing fruit:

Nice looking plant. - Millet