Growing Ice Cream Bean Tree (Inga) in 9B

Ice Cream Bean tree is an excellent tree for a food forest in 9B and is grown in various tropical and subtropical parts of the world as a companion plant.
Check out ‪@TropicalCentralValley‬ who got me introduced to the amazing Ice Cream Bean Tree.
In this video, I will share details of why I planted these trees (Inga edulis and Inga spectabilis - Machete) last year in my backyard and show you the progress at just 1 year in the ground. If you need a beautiful evergreen in your yard that is also nitrogen-fixing, this is it!

[@melhall84]

Great info 😊

[@sheri023]

You will have to show us your first ice cream bean fruit--hope they set fruit for you. Tropical central valley has a jungle in his yard! He is so interesting. Been watching him for a few months. Love these inspiring videos! You guys show how it's done. 🌴

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Will do! That would be amazing but am happy to just grow these beautiful trees in the landscape and enjoy the flower show. The flowers remind me of fireworks!

[@sheri023]

@@EnlightenmentGarden I agree, it's amazing to see trees grow and be healthy.

[@Arcanhael]

I have a 6 years old ice cream bean tree. That tree grows like weeds. I have to trim it down every year. The fruits are pretty sweet and crunchy. I am from southern California

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

That's great to hear! Most of the ICB trees I have came from a nursery in California and hope mine produces one day.

[@TropicalCentralValley]

Thank you for the shout out. Another awesome video. Your various Ice Cream Bean trees are looking great. I have not doubt yours will set fruit, just as mine have been. Although your climate is very slightly hotter and drier than mine, I suspect your microclimate will help with the trees setting fruits. Oddly, mine has been bearing fruits twice a year. This makes me think that they’ll flower and fruit year round, even in dry, hot climate.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

You are welcome! That's awesome that your tree fruits twice now. I'm wondering if the lack of success fruiting these in my area has to do with watering practices. Many here are sold on the infrequent deep watering and I doubt ice cream bean likes that especially when flowering/setting fruit. Thanks again for spreading the word on this tree.

[@468BanPhai]

Nice video.😊

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks!

[@JiaPRiX]

I went with Tipu for my shade trees. Got them from Home Depot in my Tucson garden. Semi evergreen in my 9B zone (will lose half its leaves for two weeks) and is nitrogen fixing. It came in a 10 gallon pot and grew 6 ft in one summer. I’ve looked into Inga but couldn’t find any at all here 😢. My orchard mostly uses Chinese evergreen elm and Tipu for shade. Will add Inga if one pops up at a garden center.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Excellent! Tipu is a great shade tree here also. My neighbor has massive Tipu trees for shade in his yard. 40-50' tall! I considered Tipu but they may be similar to mulberry on the root systems over time. I got my ICB trees (edulis) from a shop called Stylab on Etsy based in CA. I wonder if they are more acclimated to our weather conditions vs the ICB trees that come in from FL.

[@lindasilva666]

Just FYI, I l appreciate greatly your sharing your plant list. I find myself consulting it regularly. Thank you!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Glad it is helpful!

[@edibletropicaltrees]

I enjoy watching your videos. I have a 9 feet tall Ice Cream Bean tree and they are a beautiful tree to have even in the front yard. Just planted several seeds and yes they do propagate pretty easily.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! I enjoy your videos also.

[@tigrlily]

Great video, really helpful information. ( as always)😊

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@yulduzrakhimova4376]

I am growing Inga from seeds in ground. these are 1 year old and no issues so far but we did not have temperatures less than 32F this winter. I am in zone 9b California

[@truxnduxx1096]

I have 3 of an unknown variety in 2 locations in the Coachella Valley. 2 of them in the city are big, around 12-14' with an 8+ foot canopy. I had to trim one because it was getting out of hand. They are 4-5 years old. Last year one held 2 fruit but the renters said they dropped immature if they are to be believed. The one with me at the ranch has struggled more but it's still 10' with a narrow canopy and it hasn't given me a fruit one.. I'm going to probably chop them all down this fall if I don't get fruit.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Sounds like your experience on the fruit or lack thereof is similar to here in Phoenix. Few people have gotten ripe pods off their plants. We have around10% humidity. Harvesting ripe pods is more common in San Diego and other coastal areas with high humidity. If I get fruit, it will be an unexpected bonus. I'm growing these for the shade, chop and drop material, and nitrogen fixing ability.

[@AngelicaGarden]

Hi. Great video! Did you provide shade the first year, or are they able to take full sun? Thanks!

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Hi--thanks! The majority were not shaded and did fine but also were not facing all-day sun. If planting the tree in a full all-day sun location, I would provide 30%-40% shade cloth for them the first summer to give the tree the greatest chance for steady growth and no setbacks.

[@HD-jr4qu]

Have you noticed a difference in hardiness between the 3 types of Inga?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

It's too early to tell but the labeled inga edulis seems to be more vigorous over spectabilis from the 1 year in the ground.

[@emanueldelgado540]

Hello I’m sorry to say but those seem to be Inga Vera and/or feuilleei they’re the most common mislabeled and sold as edulis , edulis and spectabilis have a unique foliage that is easy to distinguish from those two on the bright side Vera and feuilleei are more cold hardy than them

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks! I too heard it's often mislabeled. All the plants I purchased as edulis came from Mimosa nursery in California (go by Stylab on Etsy). The Machete came from Lara Farms in FL and was air layered so I'm surprised that one is also mislabeled. Ironically I wanted to obtain Vera and/or feuilleei for their hardiness. :)

[@montypalmer4556]

Will they fruit in the dry air of the 9B low desert? Is the fruit enjoyable? Not likely is the answer.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

@@montypalmer4556 Agreed; I was transparent about how rare it is for them to fruit here. I've only seen a handful of cases in the Phoenix Valley over the last 6 years. I'm growing it for shade and to support my other plants. Fruit would be an unexpected bonus

[@emanueldelgado540]

@@montypalmer4556 I just had fueilleei today actually have to say it’s the sweetest one I tried out of all of them

[@angrycdn]

Hi, I just transplanted my small plant to a larger pot and placed outside but the leaves are turning brown throughout from bronze. Will wind (and of course repotting) cause this? I’m in 10a/10b coastal socal.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

The leaves may be getting desiccated from winds. Was the plant inside before? If so, then the plant is not used to direct sunlight and the tender leaves are probably getting burnt. Afternoon shade should help it adjust.

[@angrycdn]

Thank you very much. That’s probably what is happening. It’s getting a lot of afternoon sun without protection from a window now.

[@MsSunsh9]

Can you grow them in containers?

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Yes; however, they want to be huge trees, so you will need to regularly prune the growth and roots to keep them in container culture for the long term.

[@m0ntse00]

What is the machete part of the tree??

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

At 8:42 is my inga spectabilis or machete. It's the least known of the species but is reported to be the best-tasting

[@Ash-fd8ww]

Hello. I grew these trees in a backyard for 5 summers (FL z10) as an experiment and this is my warning to you. They WILL grow out of control, and very quickly especially after storms. Frost WILL NOT kill them back if you have them near any structures. They are unable to be controlled by pruning, as they will create numerous weaker water-stems in response which break off far easier. They CAN GROW 10 FEET IN 6 MONTHS and they can attract LIGHTNING STRIKES which shreds the tree apart and splinter when it's struck. It flowered PROFUSELY but we got no fruit even with 3 trees, and never saw a single pollinator(maybe no local ones?). We tried to cut them down, but we then learned they can REGROW FROM THE ROOTS this includes ROOTS GOING UNDER YOUR FOUNDATION. They WILL ATTRACT ANTS as a DEFFENSE MECHANISM (NOT Pollinators!) but this was not as big of an issue for me. These may be useful to keep in mind for future reference.

[@EnlightenmentGarden]

Thanks--great reference points. It will keep me busy with chop and drop. This tree probably favors your growing conditions over mine where we have very hot dry summers.