Grow Barbados cherry in full sun on soil that drains, and water it while it is young. It is also called acerola. The genus is Malpighia.
Give it full sun, soil that drains, and water while it is young
| Factor | Recommended | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Full sun most of the day for flowers and fruit | Do not site it in deep shade if you want a crop |
| Water | Water a young plant regularly; once it is set, water in a dry spell and while it is flowering or filling fruit | Do not leave a new plant dry in its first months, and do not stand the roots in a bog |
| Soil | Sand, loam, or limestone that stays moist but drains; a complete fruit-tree fertilizer a few times a year | Do not plant it where water sits, and do not site it as a salt-spray hedge |
| Winter | A frost-free site, or a pot you can roll under cover before a freeze | Do not leave a young plant out through a night near 30°F |
Barbados cherry is Malpighia emarginata, a bushy evergreen shrub or small tree with glossy leaves and bright red, three-lobed fruit. Give it a warm, open spot that does not stay wet after rain. [1] A young plant needs regular water for the first two or three months. Once the roots run, it takes a dry stretch better, but flowers and fruit still improve if you water in a dry week. [2] Feed two or three times in the warm months with a complete fruit-tree fertilizer. A heavy dump of nitrogen makes leaves at the expense of fruit. [3] Young wood dies when the night drops near 30°F. A mature shrub may take a brief dip near 28°F and drop leaves. Cover it, or keep it in a pot you can move, before that night — the pot walk is on Barbados Cherry in Pots. [4] Plant it on Planting Barbados Cherry. Cut after fruiting on Pruning Barbados Cherry.
How much sun does Barbados cherry need?
Give it full sun most of the day. Shade still lets it live, but flowering and fruit drop off.
Does Barbados cherry take dry weather?
A set plant takes a dry stretch better than a new one. Water a young plant regularly, then water again in a long dry spell and while it is flowering or filling fruit.
It flowers after rain, then fruit follows in about a month
Small pink flowers open in flushes from spring into fall, and they often follow a rain or a watering. Fruit colors up about three to four weeks later, so you can have several short crops in a warm year instead of one heavy pick. One plant can set fruit on its own. Flowers last a day, so a dry wilt at bloom still costs you that flush — water as the pink buds open if the week is dry.
How often does Barbados cherry fruit?
In a warm, frost-free year it can flower several times from spring into fall. Each flush ripens about a month later.
Not a true cherry — and not crape myrtle
Barbados cherry is not a true cherry. If the tag is sweet cherry, sour cherry, or another Prunus, read How to Grow Prunus. Wild crepe myrtle is another name on this same card, not crape myrtle. If the tag is crape myrtle, read How to Grow Crape Myrtle.
Pride of Barbados is a different shrub with orange-red flowers and seed pods, not this fruit. Surinam cherry has grooved, ribbed fruit and aromatic leaves; it is not this three-lobed drupe. Acerola, West Indian cherry, and Puerto Rican cherry are other names on this same Malpighia card, not a second plant.
Is wild crepe myrtle a different plant?
No. Wild crepe myrtle is another name for this Barbados cherry, not crape myrtle.
Keep water going on a young plant, then ease off once it is set except in a long dry spell and while it is flowering or filling fruit.
FAQ
Is acerola the same as Barbados cherry?
Yes. Acerola is the other common name for this plant. Shops may also print Malpighia glabra or Malpighia punicifolia on the same fruit.
Is there more than one kind of Barbados cherry?
Shops also sell named clones such as Florida Sweet and B-17. They want the same sun, drain, and frost-free site as this shrub.
Related guides
Recommended plants
References
- [1] UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County -
https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/stlucieco/2025/08/20/growing-barbados-cherry-in-florida/ - [2] California Rare Fruit Growers -
https://crfg.org/homepage/library/fruitfacts/acerola/ - [3] Gardening Know How -
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/barbados-cherry/barbados-cherry-information.htm - [4] Mississippi State University Extension -
https://extension.msstate.edu/news/southern-gardening/2021/extra-care-gardeners-can-enjoy-barbados-cherry
This note is part of Malpighia Guides.
More first-season notes by plant are gathered in How to Grow Guides.
Updated: Reviewed by Bosquelle Editors