Tropical fruit tree seedlings in high demand as climate changes

McCloy at his nursery in Doubtless Bay. Photo / RNZ / Sally Round

By Sally Round of RNZ.

Growing pawpaw in Invercargill and bananas in Waikato is not such a weird idea these days, a tropical fruit tree grower says.

Aaron McCloy of Far North Tropicals is sending his warmth-loving plants around the country and has seen demand grow four-fold every year since starting the venture three years ago.

“The range of the country now that doesn’t get hard frost is really huge.”

He has set up four orchards with banana plants over the past two years and wonders why more farmers are not getting into banana growing, given the returns.

“We’ve already got two orders for whole orchards for bananas. People [are] recognising that they can make $60,000 per hectare of bananas, whereas off dairy or beef, you know, dry stock beef, they’re making $1500/ha.

“There’s a guy who’s put in a whole orchard of bananas down in Taranaki, and yes, he has to protect them from frost in winter, but they’re growing and they’re fruiting year-round.”

Red pineapples are among the fruits Aaron McCloy grows. Photo / RNZ / Sally Round

McCloy has supplied a temperate variety of pawpaw to a grower in Invercargill and pineapples to tropical fruit enthusiasts in Whanganui. He says there is also demand for the actual fruit.

“We had a buyer fly up from Queenstown to find out what orchards we’ve supplied and to get some supply for New Zealand-grown papaya, New Zealand-grown bananas down [to] Queenstown and Wānaka for clients down there.”

The nursery is a side hustle for McCloy, a science and horticulture teacher at Taipa Area School, where he is encouraging students into tropical fruit-growing at an old community garden they are reinvigorating.

“We’ve noticed that the temperate species aren’t fruiting as well up here anymore. And so we’re like, well, let’s lean into the increased temperatures.”

A stroke precipitated his move into commercial fruit tree-growing.

His partner Elle Montgomery plays a big part, potting and weeding and marketing the plants while he is busy teaching. A lot of research goes into selecting the plants, which he grows from a greenhouse on 2ha overlooking Doubtless Bay.

“I’m like, ‘Okay, can it grow New Zealand? Is it good for our environment? Will it become a weed species?’”

McCloy collects seed and cuttings from orchards within New Zealand, as he finds imported tropical fruit seeds do not have a great germination rate.

He has built up a store of knowledge around growing tropicals to pass on to his customers, including coping with weather, different soil types and pests like pūkeko, which love digging at the trunk of banana trees.

“A few pūkeko will take down a full-grown banana [tree]. They just scratch at the base of it until it falls over. They’re like little wood choppers.”

McCloy loves the idea of New Zealanders tucking into locally grown tropical fruit like he does. In the middle of winter, he has a fruiting pineapple tree ready to be picked.

“You try it, you grow it, and you go, ‘It’s not just working’, but it’s working right through the year.”