Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum Dulcificum) Seedling - Turns Sour to Sweet

I ordered 1 plants and 3 seeds last year. The plants arrived but the seeds didn't. I followed the directions that came with the plant. Misted it everyday, used bottled water since my tap water has a high Ph, put the pot in a larger dish that was filled with stones and water for higher humidity..and kept it warm. The plant lasted about two weeks, then the leaves turned black and it died. Not to concede to failure, I ordered three more plants. What I did this time was buy a 29 gallon aquarium setup. I planted each plant into an 8" pot using 50% peat moss and 50% perlite. I put two 12" long 6" deep pots upside down in the tank and put enough bottled water into the tank to come within a couple centimeters of the bottom of the pots. I added liquid African Violet fertilizer to the water...about 1 teaspoon per gallon. Reading more about these plants, in it's native environment,they get rain everyday. I put in a water pump, the kind used for table fountains and ran it to a 3-way air valve that you can pick up at any petstore. I then ran a tube to each potted plant, that I set on the upside down pots. Using a timer, the pump turns on for 15 minutes, 4 times a day. The tubes water the soil, not the leaves of the plant. When it cold (I keep the plants in the basement), I have an submersible heater to keep the water temperature around 80. I added a gro-light to the aquarium cover and a mist maker into the water for 100% humidity. It's been about 8 months and I have three very large, healthy shrubs. One is about 16" tall with several branches. another is about 12" tall with 4 branches and the last is about 10" tall with 3 branches. All I do is change the water every 2 months. I'm working on building a larger greenhouse for them using 3' tall plexiglas as a cover and some sort of tray for the bottom. It should make changing the water much easier and give the plants much more room to grow. These plants will never be placed outdoors. I've seen videos of people with 2-3 foot plants and acting as if they grew them that size, put them outdoors and fry their plant. These plants should never have direct sunlight. If you have a gro-light above it, there is no reason to even try it. I hope my ideas gives some of you a direction to go with on growing these plants. Good luck.

I received the plant with its roots wrapped well in paper towel, and the rest in a plastic bag with the whole thing in a standard shipping envelope you'd get for a CD or DVD. When I received it, it was rather cold out, maybe only 40-45 degrees out, I was concerned the cold would damage the plant. Everything worked out well though, it's been a few weeks and the seedling has transferred well and has begun sprouting new leaves. The size was only about 5-7 inches long including the roots. UPDATE: It's been more than a year later, and sadly I tried a couple of times to get this plant to thrive in zone 6, but I kept having problems with the plant surviving even with special lighting, soil and heating just for it alone. The only thing I didn't do was place it in a super-saturated CO2 environment. Continuing, it requires indirect sunlight most of the time unless it's a considerably more mature plant and if you place it in direct sunlight, you will burn the leaves and kill it. Additionally the plant also requires special soil requirements. I can grow just about anything, and have been for years, but this plant just dies too easily outside it's native environment, certainly not recommended for someone with little or no gardening experience. This plant is native to zone 10 or higher, outside of that, good luck.

I remember receiving the plant in great condition, and fast shipping too. Its been about 6 months since I purchased it and it still alive! When it first came, it had 2 leaves and was about 2 inches tall, but know it has 14+ leaves and it's around 4 inches tall. Very slow grower. Although, it's starting to grow some side branches now! It managed to survive the winter (kept it indoors). Recently I've started to use SuperThrive on it, and it loved that stuff. The leaves perk up and it looks very happy. I do recommend this plant to anyone, to me it's really easy to grow, and I also recommend buying from this seller.

This is actually the second time I had bought this plant from this seller. Both times the plants came in wonderful conditions. The first time I bought these plants I over watered them. I read that they loved humidity and moisture so I assumed watering every other day would be a good thing. It was not. The first month one started to grow a new leaf that withered and died. Their leaves slowly turned lighter and lost their color, they didn't grow and they eventually died. This time I have made sure to not do that. They are only watered when the soil is in the end of moist marker before they are dry. ( I bought a 3 way meter) I also planted them in water bottles where you cut it in half and put the top into itself. This way I can see the root growth and also the amount of water/humidity. I keep plastic bags over them during the day and at night i take them off so it can get slightly accustomed to drier air. I have a 60:40 mix of peat moss and perlite with a very small amount of soil acidifier mixed in. So far each has grown an inch, an extra leaf and the roots are growing so fast. I cannot wait until they are ready to produce fruit. Although it will take roughly 2 years for that to happen.

Plant was shipped in a small box. Just days old, it had four leaves and still had the remains of the seed it sprouted from attached. No dirt, the roots were wrapped in a wet paper towel and stuck into a plastic bag. No signs of growth after a few days but the leaves are still green. EDIT 2/26/12: Plant seems to be frozen in time. After four months, it still has the same four leaves it arrived with, and no growth whatsoever. Leaves are still green, no drooping, just appears to be made of plastic since it never grows. It was potted with Miracle Gro soil and has been watered very regularly.

This was the first time I purchased a plant on-line. I was a little nervous about it, so I made a minimum purchase. The plant arrived quickly and was in good health, but very small. It did not live long. I don't know if my soil mix was not acidic enough, or if a plant that small is just not strong enough to transplant. I think next time I will go to my local exotic nursery and purchase one that is used to our weather.

Unless you live in Florida or some other semi-tropical area, this plant will probably not survive the winter even indoor. NOTE: After receiving contact from the nursery where I purchased the plant, I have decided to change the 2-star rating to a 3-star rating to be fair to the grower. It was not my intention to imply that the grower sent an unhealthy plant because that was not the case. The plant was healthy when it arrived and it did very well all summer but unfortunately the plant did not survive when it was moved inside my house for the winter. Maybe you will have better luck but I stand by my original statement above and the original 2-star rating was a reflection of my overall satisfaction experience with the plant not a reflection on the grower.

What I got was more than what I'd consider to be a seedling. It's about 2 ft tall, and a gorgeous plant that was packaged very well. It comes in a small pot, and it was very root-bound. The soil was very dry, so I immediately re-potted and gave it a good soaking. Some of the leaves are a little yellow. I don't know if that's from lack of light in storage/shipping or what, but most look fine. It's a slow-growing plant, so I likely won't know for some time how well it will do, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the size and condition!