Stephanotis

[janice14]

I have a stephanotis plant that covers an archway in my garden in Spain, this year it has flowered very well and is still doing so. About two weeks I noticed there was a single fruit growing on it (the first in three years). It is the size of a pear, dark green and very hard.
The question is what do I do with it!!!
Pick it
Leave it (to ripen?)
Eat it.
Help please, thanks

[Joogie]

Stephanotis floribunda will occasionally produce longish, fleshy fruits particularly during warm summers. The fruit may reach 10cm (4in) or more in length and have been described as resembling a large pear, although they are not edible. The fruit take several months to ripen and if necessary, they can be picked and placed in a warm situation to encourage ripening. Once the fruits are fully ripe, they will begin to split and turn brown. At this stage, the two halves can be pulled apart, to reveal a central mass of flattened seeds, which have a silky plume of white hairs, attached to one end. Store the seeds overwinter in cool, dry, frost-free conditions. Sow them thinly in spring, covering lightly with compost, in a temperature of about 20-24�c (68-75�F). Sow plenty of seeds, if space permits, as seed viability may be low.

[Thunderbird+]

Hi janice,

Unfortunately the fruit's are Not edible but you could pick it and place it in a warm sunny place for it to rippen off.
When it's ripe it should start to slit apart allowing you to remove the seeds. store the seed in a cool dry place over the winter, then you can sow the seeds in the spring to raise new plants but sow plenty of seeds as they may not all germinate. Good Luck Tbird+

[janice14]

Thanks for that Tbird+, I will give it a go.