Acerola

 

Also known as Barbados Cherry, Acerola is a tropical perennial shrub believed to be native to Southern Mexico and the Caribbean. It produces small "cherries" throughout the warm season, with a flavor somewhere between a sweet cherry and a tart cherry. 

TSE Nursery’s Acerola plants will be carefully packed and shipped right to your front door! Pot size is six inches.

Uses

In ideal conditions, an Acerola plant will produce fruit year round with few breaks in harvest time. The fruit looks like a miniature, bright red apple, and is about the same size as a sweet cherry. The center of the fruit has three inedible seeds that in combination are about the same size as a normal cherry pit. The fruits are sweet, mildly tart, and very juicy. They taste similar to standard cherries, but definitely have their own unique flavor. By weight, they have about 30 times the Vitamin C of an orange! 

They are best eaten raw and fresh, as ripe fruits spoil quickly even in the refrigerator, usually lasting no more than a few days. They can be made into juice (which must be frozen for storage longer than three days) and jam as well.  

Care

For gardeners in areas which almost never freeze, Acerola does best when planted directly in the ground. For those in colder climates, it can be grown with relative ease in a large pot or planter, and being taken indoors during the wintertime. Being a tropical, Acerola will begin to experience damage and/or halted growth when temperatures dip below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything at or below freezing temperatures is likely to kill an Acerola bush.