Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Ice Cream Bean (Inga edulis)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Ice Cream Bean, Monkey Tamarind, Pacay, Guaba.

More about ice cream bean

About Ice Cream Bean

Inga edulis · also called Ice Cream Bean, Monkey Tamarind · tropical

Ice Cream Bean is a fast-growing tropical legume tree producing enormous pods (up to 60 cm) filled with sweet, vanilla-flavoured cottony pulp around each seed. A nitrogen-fixer, it thrives in full sun with well-drained soil, tolerates brief mild frost when mature, and can reach impressive size within just a few years under ideal tropical conditions.

Cold limit: USDA 9b–11 · RHS H1b (18–32°C)

Watch for — Cold damage on young plants: Young trees are damaged by temperatures below 5°C; mature trees can tolerate brief light frosts to about -1°C. Protect juveniles with frost cloth and bring containers indoors when temperatures drop below 10°C.

What ice cream bean's hardiness rating actually means

Ice Cream Bean is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA 9b–11 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Ice Cream Bean has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for ice cream bean as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can ice cream bean go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when ice cream bean can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Ice Cream Bean hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is ice cream bean cold hardy?

Ice Cream Bean is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Ice Cream Bean can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 9b–11); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature ice cream bean can survive?

What hardiness zone is ice cream bean?

Ice Cream Bean is rated USDA 9b–11 and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can ice cream bean survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to ice cream bean below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.