Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Surinam Cherry (Eugenia uniflora)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Surinam cherry, Pitanga, Brazil cherry.

More about surinam cherry

About Surinam Cherry

Eugenia uniflora · also called Surinam cherry, Pitanga · tropical

Surinam cherry is a fast-establishing evergreen shrub in the myrtle family, grown for its ribbed, pumpkin-shaped red to dark fruit with sweet-tart, resinous flesh. Its glossy leaves flush coppery-red and it tolerates clipping into hedges. Hardy to light frost, it crops young and is easy in containers, though it is invasive in some warm regions, so contain its seedlings.

Cold limit: USDA 9b-11 (tolerates brief light frost when established) · RHS H1c (18-30°C)

Watch for — Resinous, sour fruit if picked early: Under-ripe fruit is acidic and turpentine-like. Let fruit fully colour to deep red or black and soften before picking for the sweetest flavour; chilling cut fruit can mellow resinous notes.

What surinam cherry's hardiness rating actually means

Surinam Cherry 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 H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA 9b-11 (tolerates brief light frost when established) — 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 5 °C (and never frost). Surinam Cherry has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for surinam cherry as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °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 surinam cherry go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °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 surinam cherry can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Surinam Cherry hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is surinam cherry cold hardy?

Surinam Cherry 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. Surinam Cherry can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 9b-11 (tolerates brief light frost when established)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature surinam cherry can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Surinam Cherry has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is surinam cherry?

Surinam Cherry is rated USDA 9b-11 (tolerates brief light frost when established) and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can surinam cherry survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °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 surinam cherry below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °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.