Plants

Name

Quandong

Botanical Name

Santalum acuminatum

Plant Type

Fruit

Is Edible

Yes

Poisonous

No

Growing Instructions

The seeds are known to be difficult to germinate. Here are some tips on how to do it. You could also make beads from the fruit and the inner kernel is also edible but not really considered delicious. The fruit on the other hand are delicious and can be dried to be reconstituted or eaten fresh. They have an appealing tartness and have many uses.

An inadequate knowledge of the plant's ecology led to many early failures in the cultivation of this species. Commercial trials and propagation by enthusiasts have attempted to reproduce the circumstances of its native habitat; well drained soil, germination techniques, and selection of appropriate hosts have been more successful. Germinating the seed has been more successful, up to 35% when it laid aside for 12 to 18 months. Growers laying seeds into mulch, obtained from host plants, report a high rate of success.

Crack the stone in a vice or macadamia nut cracker. Remove the seed coat and soak in household bleach for 30 mins. Make sure all your equipment is sterile and clean as well. Then wash in boiled or sterile water and dust with a fungicide. (Thiram, Phosacid, Mancozeb etc). Put your kernel in a clean plastic bag with moist sterile vermiculite. (sold at garden centres and hardwares). Close the bags and store in a dark, warm spot 15-20 degrees for about 3 weeks. When your seeds start to germinate sporadically, you can take them and plant them with a host plant. The easiest is to have some lucerne/alfalfa plants growing in a pot and to gently transplant them into these. The Quandong forms an assosiation with the roots of the host plants. It is not absolutely necessary to have a host plant but the plant seems to do much better with one. Of course you can try other plants to plant them with, they love legumes, herbs etc. Adding some soil from the bush can help a native plant grow as well. Plant directly into the soil near other plants. They are of varied sizes and are large for a seed so cost much more to post in a post bag, due to their weight.


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