How Do You Grow Carambola (Star Fruit)?
Carambola, commonly known as “star fruit”, is a plant native to tropical lowlands of India, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is a medium-small tree with drooping branches, growing to 20ft-30ft tall and produces greenish golden-yellow, 5 ribbed points/ridges, oval elliptic fruits measuring 2-1/2″ to 6″ in length. The fruits are acidic nature due to its oxalic acid content of the pulp. The fruit is a good source of Vitamins A, B and C, and other valuable minerals such as iron. Many plant parts of this tree have medicinal properties, (for example: chopped leaves for curing ring worm, and chickenpox. Young fruit pulps used for polishing brassware. Root extract used to treat poisoning). – – Varieties – – Decide which type you want to grow. There are two main types distinguished by bearing either sour or sweet fruits. The sweet types contain up to 5% sugars and sour types have as much as 1% acid. A Chinese type, “Fuang Tung” is very sweet, while “Brazilian” ones are full of Vitamin C. Exotic types
