Need help with identification please

[Dauber]

I purchased this plant for 9 bucks at a store in central PA. Can anyone help me identify it? I'm struggling to figure out what it is. Thanks for the help. Sorry about the crappy photos.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Carissa macrocarpa - aka Natal Plum.

It is an evergreen tropical that bears edible fruit. It is planted extensively in the landscape in my community. There are a number of different cultivars out there; some are low-growing like a groundcover. Some are a large bush. It is extremely hardy, and thrives in poor soil and salty water... which pretty much describes all of Southern Cal

 

[Dauber]

Carissa macrocarpa - aka Natal Plum.

Thanks!!!!

 

[_#1_]

Natal plum, Carissa macrocarpa. My kinda local nursery has two and wanted to jack up the price when I inquired about it. Heard they can grow pretty well indoors too.

edit: too slow!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Heard they can grow pretty well indoors too.

I am a member of my community's landscaping committee, and we are planting these extensively in our medians and along roadway margins (using a low-growing groundcover cultivar). Once established they require almost no care and are one of our "low water use" plants. They can handle light frosts and do best in full sun.

As a bush they grow extremely well as a hedge, and can be shaped into topiary. If you keep them trimmed, it increases flowering and fruiting.

I would assume they would make a great container plant as long as you had a bright sunny location. They are a little thorny, but the thorns aren't excessively sharp, and I have never had a problem working with them in landscape. I have never tried them as bonsai.

 

[Dauber]

Natal plum, Carissa macrocarpa. My kinda local nursery has two and wanted to jack up the price when I inquired about it. Heard they can grow pretty well indoors too.

edit: too slow!

I think this place has a few more, but they might be a lot smaller. They were all pretty cheap, are you looking for one?

 

[_#1_]

They can handle light frosts and do best in full sun.

That's good to know, especially for us NE folks. We're able to keep them outside longer than most sub-tropical.

I think this place has a few more, but they might be a lot smaller. They were all pretty cheap, are you looking for one?

If I can find one a bit more substantial and at the right price, I'll get one to fool around with. The place is Ott's Exotic Plants in Schwenksville. They have 1 "bonsai" natal, pretty pricey. And another they wanted to "bonsai" and jack up the price after I was about to buy it lol.

Where's this nursery you went to?

 

[Dauber]

The place is Ott's Exotic Plants in Schwenksville.

Ott's! I stopped in there a few times when I used to live in Trappe. It's a cool place, but I do remember the prices being pretty high.

I went to a place called country cupboard in Lewisburg. It's not a nursery, but a hotel gift shop/restaurant with a small greenhouse. Lol, pretty random place to find bonsai trees, but they had all sorts of stuff.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Natal Plum is pretty widely available. Often used as indoor bonsai for the sunny south window. Meehan's Miniatures has both the normal form ans a miniature with very tiny leaves. Young stuff is cheap and they mail order. In Florida and California you can find stock in 3 and 5 gallon size nursery cans.

Fruit is edible, if grown outdoors in sun, it is supposed to be pretty tasty. I heard fruit grown indoors, or picked before fully ripe it can be pretty bland to somewhat off-flavored.

 

[Dauber]

Natal Plum is pretty widely available. Often used as indoor bonsai for the sunny south window. Meehan's Miniatures has both the normal form ans a miniature with very tiny leaves. Young stuff is cheap and they mail order. In Florida and California you can find stock in 3 and 5 gallon size nursery cans.

Fruit is edible, if grown outdoors in sun, it is supposed to be pretty tasty. I heard fruit grown indoors, or picked before fully ripe it can be pretty bland to somewhat off-flavored.

I'm definitely going to get an indoor setup going for some trees. Can you tell me if these shop lights will work initially?
https://reading.craigslist.org/tls/d/summit-station-48-florescent-shop-light/6766595808.html

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I'm definitely going to get an indoor setup going for some trees. Can you tell me if these shop lights will work initially?
https://reading.craigslist.org/tls/d/summit-station-48-florescent-shop-light/6766595808.html

Those look like t-12 lamps, maybe T-8, but either way. They can work just fine. Set up 2 fixtures side by side, so you have 4 lamps hanging over your growing area. Hang the lamps so that all the foliage of the trees underneath are within 9 inches of the bulbs, (to the best amount practical, closer is better). The lamps are cool enough that if a leaf touches a bulb, it is not big deal, probably won't even burn the leaf. Key is getting trees as close as possible to the lamps.

At 9 inches from the lamps, in the middle area of the 4 tubes, you should have about 1000 foot candles of light. This is roughly 10% the intensity of sunlight, or medium shade. However, you can make up for low light intensity by using a longer day length. Get a timer, like one used for christmas decorations. Set the timer for 18 hours on, 6 hours off. This will give you the effect of roughly 25 to 40 % sun. This will be good enough for a wide variety of plants, I've used it for orchids for many years. The natal plums will be fine. It is not intense enough for pines. But for many other trees, it will work.

 

[Dauber]

Those look like t-12 lamps, maybe T-8, but either way. They can work just fine. Set up 2 fixtures side by side, so you have 4 lamps hanging over your growing area. Hang the lamps so that all the foliage of the trees underneath are within 9 inches of the bulbs, (to the best amount practical, closer is better). The lamps are cool enough that if a leaf touches a bulb, it is not big deal, probably won't even burn the leaf. Key is getting trees as close as possible to the lamps.

At 9 inches from the lamps, in the middle area of the 4 tubes, you should have about 1000 foot candles of light. This is roughly 10% the intensity of sunlight, or medium shade. However, you can make up for low light intensity by using a longer day length. Get a timer, like one used for christmas decorations. Set the timer for 18 hours on, 6 hours off. This will give you the effect of roughly 25 to 40 % sun. This will be good enough for a wide variety of plants, I've used it for orchids for many years. The natal plums will be fine. It is not intense enough for pines. But for many other trees, it will work.

Thanks a lot. This is really helpful.

 

[Michael P]

My oldest surviving bonsai is a Natal plum, fondly known as Eldest Child. I've had it since 1975.

 

[Carol 83]

They do fine here indoors, for the winter, just don't overwater. A natal plum was my first bonsai, and it's still kicking. But I haven't had it since1975, lol. The flowers are very fragrant.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

My oldest surviving bonsai is a Natal plum, fondly known as Eldest Child. I've had it since 1975.

Picture?

 

[Michael P]

I don't have one, but will try to take one later today. It won't be great since the tropicals are in winter quarters now.

 

[Michael P]

As promised, a bad photo. Eldest child needs a restyle this summer. Some of the lower branches have lost vigor, and others obscure the trunk and root-over-rock. It's hard to see in the photo, but the roots are growing over a near-white piece of limestone.

Eldest child has been through many near-death experiences, but has survived my decades of ignorance.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

That looks like a beautiful tree. I'd be happy to have something live so long for me!

 

[Carol 83]

As promised, a bad photo. Eldest child needs a restyle this summer. Some of the lower branches have lost vigor, and others obscure the trunk and root-over-rock. It's hard to see in the photo, but the roots are growing over a near-white piece of limestone.

Eldest child has been through many near-death experiences, but has survived my decades of ignorance.

View attachment 222583

Like isn't good enough here. That is awesome.

 

[Michael P]

Thank you both!