Tamarillos (tree tomatoes) taste deliciously sweet and sour. You can also easily grow them here in our own garden.
The evergreen potted plants, which average two meters in height, amaze those who see them. After all, tree tomatoes grow up to 7 meters high in nature. Even in multi-storey conservatories they can easily reach this height and because of their large leaves they often serve as the perfect shading plant.
Tamarillos are now much better known in gourmet restaurants. They are often served there with cheese or to refine an exotic salad. You either remove the usually quite hard skin or lift out the flesh with a dessert spoon. But first, here are our tips for growing and harvesting the delicious tamarillos.
Cultivation of Tamarillos
You can buy seeds for growing the tree tomato in the garden store. Small Tamarillo trees are also often offered in specialist shops.
If you have now decided to cultivate seeds, you must sow the seeds in nutrient-rich, well-moist soil (use small seed pots) and cover them minimally with soil. You should then germinate the seeds in a warm, shady place. During germination, however, you should definitely keep the soil evenly moist. It is best to simply use a sprayer.
» Tip: Cover the pots with colored, slightly air-permeable plastic foil until the first seedlings can be seen. As soon as strong plants have formed, you can then transfer them individually to small pots. From this point on, you should use loamy soil if possible.
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Tamarillo Care
Repot:
Tamarillos grow into a beautiful, evergreen tree plant in the first few years. They only bloom from the age of 3, which then produces the delicious berries. As the tree tomatoes grow, you must now regularly transplant them into larger pots.
» Tip: If the plants are cut above a certain stem height, they can grow from therebranch out and the growth is somewhat throttled according to the height of the room.
Water Supply:
When it comes to watering tree tomatoes, you have to be guided by the local weather conditions. In principle, however, the tamarillos do not tolerate waterlogging. However, constant humidity in the pot is absolutely fine for the tree tomatoes.
The basic rule is:
Provide plenty of water on hot days (sometimes even water several times a day), but only water moderately in winter.
Outdoor:
During the summer months you can also put the tamarillos on the balcony or terrace. If you want, you can even repot them outdoors. However, you should always choose a sunny, wind-protected location for this.
Protection in winter:
In winter, the tree tomatoes take a so-called vegetation break. During this time, you should continue to place the tamarillos in a light-flooded location - temperatures of around 5 degrees are sufficient.
Fertilize:
You should also provide tamarillos with low-nitrogen fertilizer once a month from spring to summer. Pure greenhouse plants, on the other hand, should be fertilized every 3 weeks. Cactus fertilizer is best for the tamarillos.
Tamarillo Harvest
Depending on the location, tamarillos even produce fruit all year round, which is why there is no real harvest time in our region. However, ripe fruits can be recognized by their deep red skin. Yellow, orange and purple Tamarillo varieties are also available. Their shape is similar to that of the elongated Roma tomato, although they are much smaller.
» Tip: If you have harvested the tamarillos too early, that's no problem at all. They ripen easily in a bowl.
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