Cherry??

I acquired a pot of cherry plant from World Farm not long ago. Thanks to Green Culture Singapore founder, Mr Wilson Wong who told me that this cherry plant is Malpighia Glabra, commonly known as the Barbados Cherry.

These cherries are known to have a high content of Vitamin C and others mix them with roselle to make  nutritious drinks. They are different from those we get in supermarket, the Prunus cerasus. These Barbados cherries are extremely sour!

Beside growing them for their red fruits, their flowers are also a sight to behold! The five petaled flowers are pink in colour and in a very pleasant distinctive shape. They looked like cherry blossoms in Japan when these flowers bloom at the same time!

Despite having so many flowers on my plants, only one of them got pollinated and start to fruit! The cherry started to turn red not long ago but due to the strong monsoon wind, the about-to-ripe fruit fell off! The next time it blooms, I will try hand pollination and in time for a spectacular plant during the Christmas season!

 

With some fertilizers, pruning it time to time will induce the plant to produce flowers, suggested by the nursery staff. And yes, this plant need a lot of sunlight and can grow a lot of new leaves in a short time. Pruning them will keep them neat!