Star Fruit or Carambola

Carambola, also known as starfruit, is the fruit of Averrhoa carambola.The fruit is popular throughout Southeast Asia. The tree is also cultivated throughout non-indigenous tropical areas, such as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the southern United States. The fruit has distinctive ridges running down its sides (usually five but can sometimes vary); in cross-section, it resembles a star, hence its name. The entire fruit is edible and is usually eaten out of hand.

Lara Farms Carambola Video:



The Tropical Fruit Growers present - Carambola - with your host, Julian Lara.
http://TropicalFruitGrowers.com



Cultivation

The carambola is a tropical and subtropical fruit. It does not have a soil type preference, but it requires good drainage.

Carambola trees are planted at least 20 feet (6.1 m) from each other and typically are fertilized three times a year. The tree grows rapidly and typically produces fruit at four or five years of age.

In the United States, commercial cultivation and broad consumer acceptance of the fruit only dates to the 1970s. That acceptance is attributable to Morris Arkin, a backyard horticulturalist, from Coral Gables, Florida. During the late 1960s, Arkin began cultivating plants and trees in his backyard, eventually developing a kind of carambola, or star fruit, that became commercially viable and was named after him. Until the early 1970s, carambola had been grown only as specimen trees in botanical gardens and experiment stations and as a curiosity in home landscapes. However, because of its attractive star shape when cut in cross-section and yellow to golden color, it began to grow in popularity. Fruit from early introductions were however, sour and sometimes considered unpalatable. This limited market and public acceptance, inhibiting development and expansion of carambola as a commercial fresh fruit. Arkin cultivated the 'Arkin' variety – a sweet carambola with good handling characteristics – in the mid to late 1970s. Soon afterward, the limited commercial area of carambola under cultivation in south Florida (4 to 12 ha) was top-worked to 'Arkin' and this new cultivar led to a rapid increase in consumer demand for the fruit which further stimulated interest in establishing new commercial plantings. Today, the 'Arkin' variety represents 98% of the current acreage in South Florida.

The Star Fruit Tree - from Eat Your Backyard YouTube channel:



Star Fruit, or Carambola is an excellent fruit tree if you want something dependable and productive. Video by TheFloridaPrepper:



References:

HS12/MG269: Carambola Growing in the Florida Home Landscape http://bit.ly/1Pa8cHt
Carambola - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://bit.ly/1Pa89LW
Star Fruit aka Carambola - John Kohler's OKRaw YouTube channel http://bit.ly/1Pa8oq6
The Star Fruit Tree - YouTube http://bit.ly/1DpgxzM
Florida Survival Gardening: Starfruit: An easy-to-grow fruit tree for South Florida http://bit.ly/1D6Wdq1
Carambola Trees - Pepe Plants, Davie, FL http://bit.ly/1Pa7Kcq
All About Starfruit in India http://buff.ly/2l7qa7b