Tropical Fruit Plants

 Fruit plants are popular among most gardeners, and even people who don't have green thumbs enjoy the fruits that fall from these plants. From apples and cherries to peaches and blackberries, fruit trees and shrubs that grow in temperate climates are popular and widely cultivated. Tropical regions offer fruit plants of their own that possess varying exotic flavors that people all over the world enjoy immensely. Whether you're gardening in a tropical climate, or wanting to experiment with a controlled-climate greenhouse, growing exotic, tropical fruit plants can be a relaxing, and delicious project.

Abiu

The abiu plant is native to the Amazon region, formally known by Pouteria caimito. It is a massive tree that reaches to heights as tall as 115 feet in ideal growing conditions. The fruit of the tree is edible, and has a taste reminiscent of caramel. According to many people in Columbia, it is recommended that you grease your lips before eating the fruit, because the gelatinous flesh leaves a film on your lips that is hard to remove. The abiu tree is planted from seed in regions with warm, moist weather all year round, and it can produce fruit in as soon as three years from germination.

Banana

The banana plant is one of the largest of all herbaceous plants, reaching as tall as 25 feet. It grows in tropical climates, where it produces the delicious fruit of the same name. The banana plant prefers very moist, humus-rich soil, with partial shade, and warm temperatures all year round. It is propagated by seed, although commercial bananas are often seedless. Organic bananas often possess larger, and harder seeds within the flesh of the fruit.

Carambola

The carambola plant produces fruits called starfruits. The tree itself is small, but sturdy with long slender leaves of deep green. The bark of the tree is smooth and light brown and the starfruits that are produced are often plentiful, weighing down the small tree on which they grow. When sliced, the fruit is shaped exactly like a five-pointed star, and it possesses a citrus-like flavor and aroma. Growing the carambola tree is difficult unless planting in a tropical region or large and well-controlled greenhouse. It can be propagated by rooting cut limbs in a rooting powder, and then transplanted into a large, deep planter full of enriched soils and compost.

Citrus

Citrus plants like grapefruit, oranges, limes, lemons and tangelos thrive in tropical climates, but can also be grown in arid climates if proper moisture is given to the soil and root structure of the plants. States like California, Arizona, Florida and Georgia all inhabit farming regions that produce a variety of citrus fruit plants. A curious tropical fruit plant, known as the ugli fruit, grows naturally in Jamaica. It is the result of the cross-pollination of a pomelo or grapefruit with orange and tangerine. This tropical plant is also known as the Jamaican tangelo, but is sold under the brand name Ugli, after the plant from which the fruits grow.