Show your outdoor Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga edulis)

[bubba]

Tropical tree from South America. Noted as Patio Specimen Zones 4-11. At same time tolerates light frost for short periods:

[bubba]

[amh]

Anyone here have experience growing these in containers?

[Palmarum]

8 hours ago, amh said:

Anyone here have experience growing these in containers?

I grew one from a one-gallon seedling up to an overgrown 10-gallon one time.

For me it was easy to grow, fast, got a tad stretched out in the larger pot, but no problems. Cold damage was never a worry. It had regular acidic, well-draining soil and was grown in light shade when small to partial sun when larger. Average water consumer. I sold it as I figured it would get very large, but later saw specimens that were nicely trimmed and maintained under 15 ft. (4.5m). I would probably grow more plants again if I came across seed. They have been harder to find in recent tropical fruit tree-related plant sales.

I remember the plant society meeting where I got my starter seedling. The grower had brought in the bean pod from which he collected and grew the seed from. It was huge! The bean was at least 4 ft. (1.2m) in length, dense and could have been used as a melee weapon. The pod was too old to try the edible part, but it was still impressive.

Ryan

[aztropic]

Fast growing tropical that does wonderfully in the Arizona desert. If you need shade quick,this is a good tree to consider.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[RedRabbit]

I’ve always wanted one of these. I’ve read mixed things on hardiness, is anyone growing them in 9b?

[aztropic]

24 minutes ago, RedRabbit said:

I’ve always wanted one of these. I’ve read mixed things on hardiness, is anyone growing them in 9b?

See above...😄 

I am a zone 9b. No problems with heat up to 120F,but will start to get some leaf burn below 29F,and may be killed outright at about 25F. Be aware that it is a messy tree. Drops a ton of shaving brush flowers in the spring,and lots of leaves throughout the year.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[amh]

13 hours ago, Palmarum said:

I grew one from a one-gallon seedling up to an overgrown 10-gallon one time.

For me it was easy to grow, fast, got a tad stretched out in the larger pot, but no problems. Cold damage was never a worry. It had regular acidic, well-draining soil and was grown in light shade when small to partial sun when larger. Average water consumer. I sold it as I figured it would get very large, but later saw specimens that were nicely trimmed and maintained under 15 ft. (4.5m). I would probably grow more plants again if I came across seed. They have been harder to find in recent tropical fruit tree-related plant sales.

I remember the plant society meeting where I got my starter seedling. The grower had brought in the bean pod from which he collected and grew the seed from. It was huge! The bean was at least 4 ft. (1.2m) in length, dense and could have been used as a melee weapon. The pod was too old to try the edible part, but it was still impressive.

Ryan

Did the plant reliably fruit in container?

55 minutes ago, aztropic said:

See above...😄 

I am a zone 9b. No problems with heat up to 120F,but will start to get some leaf burn below 29F,and may be killed outright at about 25F. Be aware that it is a messy tree. Drops a ton of shaving brush flowers in the spring,and lots of leaves throughout the year.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

Does your plant have any pollination issues with the heat?

Can you heavily prune this plant?

[aztropic]

48 minutes ago, amh said:

Does your plant have any pollination issues with the heat?

Can you heavily prune this plant?

Temps are already above 95F when it flowers for me,so all pollen is DOA. My tree has never fruited. You can trim as heavy as you desire. It will grow back at lightning speed.

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona 

[Palmarum]

2 hours ago, amh said:

Did the plant reliably fruit in container? ...

Nope, and I doubt they would flower in a container. All the mature trees I have seen or heard about were quite large. I do not know of any age requirements to reach maturity but this could also be a factor. The pods are heavy, so a sizable mature tree would be needed to support that weight. There is also a theory in S. Florida grower circles that frequently trimmed specimens will not set 'fruit'; as they need 'older wood' or second (or more) season branches that are more load bearing to produce flowers that lead to fruit. So, trimmed and pruned trees may look nice, but might not produce much.

They also could need a specific pollinator, not to mention the idea that more than one mature tree might be needed. But, in cases where mature beans were produced I am fairly sure it was a single tree that was involved.

Ryan

[Alan_Tampa]

My Inga in Tampa. Fruits sometimes. Been in the ground since about 2015. Also a foxtail in the middle,  about 22 years in the ground.