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pmurphy
04-08-2013, 12:34 PM
Anyone have any experience growing cashews from seeds?

r3tic
04-08-2013, 07:40 PM
I was under the impression that even the raw cashews were slightly cooked to remove the toxic coating that grows on them. Not sure how you would go about getting some viable seed.


Cashew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew)

sunfish
04-08-2013, 07:50 PM
Anyone have any experience growing cashews from seeds?

http://www.bananas.org/f8/lychee-cashew-seedlings-8514.html#post82139

PR-Giants
04-08-2013, 08:01 PM
It can't be too difficult, those trees grow wild everywhere in PR.

Just another big weed.

chipboy44
04-08-2013, 08:25 PM
I have, I have planted them several times but living here in Daytona it is too cold for them so I always loose them in the winter, But I can say that they ALWAY germoinate and grow like a simple bean seed. Germinating them is not the issue keeping them alive after the temps hit 45 is a different thing. lol
Salute'
rick

Illia
04-08-2013, 11:34 PM
It can't be too difficult, those trees grow wild everywhere in PR.

Just another big weed.

It stumps me how a fruit-producing plant with extremely high-value nuts would be considered a weed, but eh, blackberries out here are untouched unwanted weeds yet they're high producers of fruits far more valuable than the much loved strawberry.

PR-Giants
04-09-2013, 12:26 AM
The roads and ground get covered with cashews and I've never once saw someone collecting any.

pmurphy
04-09-2013, 09:10 AM
Thanks for all the info! ....got the seeds from Whatcom Seed Co out of Oregon - some pretty exotic (for me anyway) seeds available.
I guess when you do not live in a tropical area, you try everything you can to bring the tropics to you. And knowing that 75% of what I am growing will never survive outdoors here in zone 8 I have to be selective about what can fit into my heated greenhouse for the winter months......but still does not stop me from trying :)

Illia
04-09-2013, 10:05 AM
Oh, I understand that. I'm trying to grow every food-plant possible, even planning on some of the seemingly impossible ones as I too am a tropical lover in a non-tropical climate. But, I'm slightly impatient and won't get them from seed. Good luck though!

pmurphy
04-09-2013, 01:10 PM
Oh, I understand that. I'm trying to grow every food-plant possible, even planning on some of the seemingly impossible ones as I too am a tropical lover in a non-tropical climate. But, I'm slightly impatient and won't get them from seed. Good luck though!

Unfortunately for me Canada if VERY strict about what is allowed into the country and sometimes even seeds are stopped. So, if I can not find "another way" of aquiring what I am looking for, my only option is to try to start with seeds :(
On the bright side, it can be interesting to watch them grow as my mangos (seeds came "fresh from the fruit" in St. Vincent) are now 6 months old and are 8" and 16" tall.....

island cassie
04-09-2013, 11:15 PM
Sorry to be so late to the party - we have a cashew tree that has loads of fruit/nuts. You know of course that each fruit only has one cashew nut which is why they are so expensive (apart from the processing). The nuts have to be roasted to get rid of the toxic oil but are delicious!! Our gardeners eat the fruit out of hand and don't seem to be affected by the atropine.

PR-Giants
04-10-2013, 07:11 AM
Macadamia trees are beautiful and I have one flowering now.


apr 9
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=52614 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=52614)

pmurphy
04-10-2013, 09:16 AM
Sorry to be so late to the party - we have a cashew tree that has loads of fruit/nuts. You know of course that each fruit only has one cashew nut which is why they are so expensive (apart from the processing). The nuts have to be roasted to get rid of the toxic oil but are delicious!! Our gardeners eat the fruit out of hand and don't seem to be affected by the atropine.

Can you give me any tips on growing?

My 5 seeds are all planted in various soils and in various places indoors as they will not survive outside in zone 8; and this is only because I could not find any information on soil type/moisture etc.....not even on the package they came in; only a big warning about not handling them without gloves. The only info everyone seems to agrees upon is that they "grow like weeds".
I am not necessarily after the fruit (which I have tasted and is good) or nut, I just want to see if they can grown as they are unusual and exotic - for here anyway. And if they do survive and grow they will have to be kept well pruned in order to fit in the greenhouse, or I will have to find a local conservatory that will take them.

......I am just trying to bring the tropics north of the 49th one plant at a time :ha: