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Old 02-05-2009, 11:12 AM   #10 (permalink)
lorax
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Location: Ecuador, South America
Zone: USDA 13 / Köppen-Geiger BSh
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Default Re: pepino, yacon, solanum, artichoke& tobacco

Then you have eating Naranjilla! Congratulations!

You can of course save seed from them. Here, since they don't die off after their first fruiting (they're perennials if you don't go below about 10C, and the longest-lived one I've ever seen was over 15 years old) we generally propagate by softwood cutting. Generally, take a branch as a cutting, use softwood rooting compound, and voila! Little Naranjilla plants!

They're also very receptive to micropropagation techniques (ie Tissue Culture) - this is the way they're reproduced in the bigger plantations here, which ensures a consistent quality and flavour of fruit. Most of the pulp from our large plantations is sold to Colombia, where they use it to make wine. Domestic Naranjilla comes from smaller, mixed farms, which keeps the species diverse enough to be pest-resistent.
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