Grewia ASIATICA

Grewia ASIATICA - Phalsa, Falsa, Asian grewia, Grewia asiatica.

Grewia is a large genus in the family Malvaceae, comprising about three hundred species of shrubs and small trees. They grow in the tropics and subtropics of Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The plants are deciduous or semi-evergreen, with alternate toothed leaves, often with an oblique base and pubescence beneath. The flowers are five-petaled, usually yellow, with a cluster of numerous stamens.

The fruit is a small drupe, edible in many species. It is precisely for its fruit that Grewia asiatica was introduced into cultivation.

Phalsa is a spreading shrub or small tree 3-4.5 m (9.8-14.8 ft) high native to South Asia, where it is cultivated in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

The leaves are broadly ovate, up to 20 cm (8 in), rough, with a toothed margin. The flowers are yellow, small, gathered in axillary clusters. The fruits are rounded, 1-2 cm (0.4-0.8 in) across, turning dark purple, almost black, with a glaucous bloom upon ripening, sweet-and-sour, with one or two stones. The plant begins to bear fruit as early as the second or third year from sowing.

Grewia seeds are small, hard, located inside the fruit stones. The pulp is completely removed, the stones washed and soaked for 24-48 hours in warm water or in a solution of growth stimulants: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon. Stratification is desirable: 3-4 weeks at 3-5 °C (37-41 °F) in moist sand noticeably evens out germination.

Sowing is carried out into a sterile, loose substrate of peat and sand to a depth of about 1 cm (0.4 in). The sowing is moistened from a spray bottle, covered with a transparent lid or placed in a mini-greenhouse, and germinated at a temperature of 25-30 °C (77-86 °F).

Shoots appear in 2-6 weeks, unevenly. Crops are ventilated daily, and condensation is removed. Seedlings grow rapidly; pricking out into individual pots is carried out after the second pair of true leaves unfolds.

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The plant needs the brightest possible location with direct sun; in summer it is best kept outdoors.

Maintenance is warm, optimally 22-32 °C (72-90 °F). A mature plant tolerates brief drops to 0 °C (32 °F), shedding its foliage. In temperate climates, grewia is grown in a tub with bright, cool wintering at 8-12 °C (46-54 °F).

Watering is regular during the period of growth and fruiting, with the top layer of substrate allowed to dry out between waterings. In winter, watering is curtailed sharply.

The substrate needs to be loose, nutritious, and permeable, with the addition of sand. Drainage is mandatory at the bottom of the pot.

Feeding with complex fertilizer is applied once every two to three weeks from spring to late summer.

Pruning is mandatory and carried out annually in early spring: fruits set on shoots of the current year, so the shrub is shortened back hard. Without pruning, the plant stretches out and bears fruit poorly.