
I just planted the miracle fruit in a pot with regular potting soil, added some powdered garden sulfur to lower the pH, and took it up to my office where it would be protected from the cold. After a few months, it was clear the plant wasn't getting enough sun, so i brought it home and put it next to the rain tank by my blueberry bushes. Since then I have treated it just like a blueberry bush, and it has grown very well. I was looking at it very closely this weekend, and noticed several small flower buds. I think it is probably too late for it to flower and set fruit before the weather gets cold, but I am very hopeful that I'll get some berries next year if I can keep it alive through the winter.
My jaboticabas are also doing very well. I found them tucked into a forgotten shady area behind a greenhouse at JRN. They looked spindly and sad, but they were only $20. Considering they are often $50 at area fruit tree sales, I decided to see if I could nurse them back to health. At first, I treated them like blueberries too. I amended their soil mix with powdered sulfur, and only gave them rainwater. As the summer wore on and no more rain fell, I just gave them tap water twice a week, and they didn't seem to mind.
They actually seem to be relatively carefree plants. I had read that they were very slow growing, but mine seem to be putting on new flushes of growth all the time. I suspect they are just slow growing in clay soils. I haven't noticed any flowers on them this year, but I'm hoping to see some next year. They've almost grown too big to move into the shed, so I need to figure out how to protect them from the cold this year. Jaboticabas have survived 17 degrees in Katy, but not without significant damage. I think that if I want to preserve all of this year's growth and have a chance at fruit next year, I'm going to have to build a small temporary greenhouse.