The craze for the GAC fruit started when someone started a thread on it in the Green Culture Singapore plant forum. This super fruit is said to have more antioxidants than any other known fruit or vegetable.
Soon nearly everyone wanted the seed, the fruit or the plant – preferably, all three.
But there were a few obstacles. The fruit is a native of Vietnam and it is not easily found due to the high demand for the fruit.
And then Karen from GCS managed to get a GAC fruit.
The red flesh of the huge fruit tastes like the avocado, they said. I didn’t get to sample it but Karen very generously offered to send me some seeds.
The seeds were big and reminded me of carved wooden amulets. I planted all six in Sept ’08.
A month later, the first seed germinated, and a month after that, the second one sprouted. By December, I had five plants.
I gave away four and kept one. This grew and clung onto thin wires that I had rigged up on a wall.
In Oct 2009, the last seed which I had given up on, decided that it was time to show itself. This slow grower took its time, while the other plant grew at a faster rate.
Meanwhile the other forumers who had grown their seeds were making fast progress. Some of the plants flowered and are said to be male.
The question is, is my plant male or female?
Finally today, the GAC flowered.
I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a male or a female flower. I was just happy to see it bloom.
…
…
…
and then I saw the small swollen bulge at the base of the flower.
Guess what? It’s a girl!!! 😀
wei wei thats an interesting fruit.
wei wei, i need some GAC pollen. 😀
How can I get ahold of a couple gac plants?
Strange but beautiful plant Vi…does it flower often? Does it grow from cuttings?
this is the first flower, alvin. i don’t think it flowers often. as far as i know, it doesn’t grow from cuttings, alvin.
Shamrock, you are so good with plants. Just about everything grows beautifully for you. Nice flower. Can’t wait for yours to fruit.
thanks, vanilla – i would love it if everything really grew for me. 🙂
re the GAC – i’ll need a male plant around for the pollination to take place.
You make me miss our garden back in the UK! I would be really interested in seeds for this plant if you happen to have any spare at any time! Looks fascinating!
no seeds cos i have a female plant and one of unknown gender. i need a male plant …. 🙂
Hi Sham Rock,
I’m Giang, a research student in NTU. I’m currently looking for “Gac” to study its genetics.
It’s my luck to find your post on GCS forum.
Do you plant still doing well? If yes, can you spare me a few fresh leaves and flowers.
Thanks in advance for your help
Giang
i have 2 plants – one female, the other unknown as yet. currently there are no blooms but there is a lot of foliage. unfortunately i am not based in singapore. you may want to contact a few of the GCSers who have the GAC plant as well. all the best in your research, giang!
Hi Giang,
Did you manage to do your research on gac? I am getting some seeds from Vietnam and I have some old seeds, not sure if they can germinate. Please email me at keongvonkk@hotmail.com. Thanks.
Hello Giang,
what other types of plants do u research on in NTU? I heard there’s a huge TCM garden in NTU. Are you aware of it?
Regards,
Jing
sorry to dissapoint you, its the dry season , everythink is cut back have some leaves, but flowers only in rainy season, will have planty of everything in october
Whats NTU and TCM . We grow Gac commercially and my husband has a medecinal herb garden
NTU is Nanyang Technological University (in singapore) and TCM is traditional chinese medicine. would love to know what medicinal herbs your husband grows, Mrs Sata.
Sorry to dissapoint you we live in central Luzon Philippines, We mainly grow Gac, Phyllanthus urinaria, and serpentina.We grow mushroom for business.Herbs is to cure the poor , maybe the rich can be cured also with that but here these folks prefer to go to USA for medicals
Hi! Are you still interested in Gac plant? My brother discovered one growing in the wild from our farm in La Union. People from the barrio didn’t know whar this one is, they thought it was a poisonous fruit but my brother learned from the internet that it’s called a “fruit fr heaven” in Vitenam because of its nutritional contents…
My brother has seeds and has started growing them… He’s now selling.
Pls pm me me if you need more…
Thanks, Cecille
I am Looking still, for a gac plant .
Hi Ty
Happy New Year!
I was wondering about the progressof your GAC plant and fruit? When I was in Vietnam recently, I went looking for this fruit and couldn’t find it, even my local guide has not heard of this fruit, surprisingly.
I finally saw this fruit growing in front of some houses along the road on the way to Tham Khoc (sp?), about 3 hrs drive from Hanoi. Strangely, only on this stretch of road was I able to spot this plant, most of them were growing wildly in front of some of the houses. The fruit was amazing looking, every vine had one or two fruits, hanging like red balloons or red lanterns. a few vines had crept up so high, the fruis were hanging from a beam as high as the roof and balcony. I took some pictures and hope that they come out clearly. Even from the car zooming past these houses, it was very easy to spot the fruits as they were very prominent, they were as big as an American football. I wish I had stop and ask one of the house owners for one.
cina
hi cina,
still waiting for the 2nd plant to flower – hoping it’ll be a male plant since i already have a female one. 🙂
Hi Ty
Wish I did more revisit your blog before I went to Vietnam as I only had a vague remembrance of this fruit. What a pity , I could have stop the car and get down and ask for a fruit. It was a sight to see a big ripe fruit hanging outside the house on thin vines, look like a bright orange orb. Well, I am confident we will get to see a fantastic post and pics when yours start to fruit 🙂
cina
thing is, i have a female plant. need a male to cross pollinate. 😦
Hi,
I have 6 gac plants that has germinated from 10 seeds, 4 of them already about 14-16 high but I have not plant them into the ground yet, I am in Southern California and live not too far from ” Little Saigon”, in rare occasion , you can find fresh gac fruit in some shop, you actually can order the gac’s seeds on line too, they are from Thailand.
Lena.
you have six? that is fantastic, lena. then you’re bound to have both male and female plants. tell us when they bloom or fruit, all right? i think i may have to give mine away to my favorite garden centre due to lack of space.
Hello everyone, my name is Scott Nguyen.I have this plant as well. I’m looking for a male plant if anyone has one for sale. I live in westminster, orange county. Contact me at scottduynguyen@yahoo.com
i have one female plant and one as yet unknown. all the best, scott!
This is Lena, my 6 plants are growing well however, there aren’t any flower yet so I have no idea which ones are males and which are female, some are already grew 10-12 ft long, I’m sure I have both,do anyone know what will happens if they do or don’t flower during the winter? I know that they are perennials…..
Thank you for sharing. I live in Southern CA. also. I have a hard time finding some of Gac Fruit seed or plant. They don’t allow any seed or plant ship to CA. Anyone know where can to buy row gac fruit at any Veitnamese market? Please send me email. Or leave comment here. I’ll come by later. Thanks a lot.
Aloha, We ship Gac seed worldwide (Cally-fornia included) Amazing GAC Plant LIVE Seeds of the ~Fruit from Heaven~ http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360381997926&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
Look my ebay posting (herbalcurephilippines) we sent gac seeds worldwide
Hi Poddzy
Email me if you still looking for the GAC seed.
we shipped over 1,200 seeds to USA, get a small seedlot import permit and you can import any amount of seeds
Best place to look for fresh “gac” fruits is at “Little Saigon” in Westminster, you can try different Vietnamse super markets during the Summer or just ask people where you can find it, I saw “gac” sold there but can’t remember exactly where, you can also try places that sell “xoi gac” (gac sticky rice), ask them where you can buy fresh “gac”, good luck !!!
interesting.But lest debunk some myths.I am a small organic gac grower in Philippines(original belgian biochemist)There various subspecies of Gac , some range from 500 gramms up to 3,500 gramms.I grow the commercial one of Cambodja origin, most on the market are chinese varieties, smaller fruits and much less concentrated ingredients.Its a tropical fruit and to yield his potential only the tropics will do.Last year study in france showed that a gac fruit grown in Lille9norther France) did not contain as much lycopene as a common tomato.The pure Gac powder(many contain only 20 pct pure flesh and color from the anato tree with milled skin) is exspensive because its not easy to grow and the processing is messy and time consuming
thanks for the information, W Vandevijver.
Hi everyone
Thank you for sharing the GAC information. This is Hitomi
Could anyone please tell me how to make trellis for the GAC plant?
You activate your stoneage monkey genes, you swing from one end to the other around the house you connect with rope and bamboo to have a support frame and plant your gac in between
is the Gac plant invasive? and i heared beta cartone esculates prostate cancer?
i wouldn’t say it’s invasive. but you need to give it space to climb. i had to give my plants away cos of that.
we are small commercial Gac producers, the vines are trimmed to give more flowers and to keep low on the trellis.
Hi Mrs Consuelo,
my 6 Gac plants are growing well, one plant have half a dozen flowers this past month, it must be a male plant because there was no fruit, how far do you trim, the vines, I didn’t trim them last winter, part of the vine die, the parts that survived had many new vines, I guess I need to trim them these winter but don’t know how far to trim them down, your advises are greatly appreciated.
you trim them 2 feet high and cover the feet with an old sack and put some straw around the base.
we eat gac leafs as potherb with currypaste, depends on yr taste
Hi, which variety r u producing , can i buy seeds from you?
the variety we plant comes from a commercial Cambodja plantation fruits are betseen 2,5 to 3,5 kg yes we export seeds contact consatanes@yahoo.com price per seed 0,8 USD/pc
Are the leafs of the gac good for anything ? do anyone have any idea?
can anyone in Philippines help me where I can find Gac…I need to try planting it in the rainforest area along Quirino Mountain Ridge.Pls. inform thru my email address at: roliqfarms@yahoo.com.thanks!…
Robert Oliquino
If someone needs Gac capsules or the oil extract: http://www.enjoy-vietnam.com/8-health-beauty-supplement
This is vegetable abundant in the Ilocos region of the Philippines. Cook like Chayotte. The ripe fruit and seed are good for migraine headache.
This plant is M. cochinchinensis. It is called Sugod-sugod in Ilocos Norte due to the soft spine on the skin like comb. This delicious fruit when cooked with pinakbet and some fish.
Hi,, this is Lena, have not been here for awhile, after 2 years, my “gấc” have fruits !!, last year one of the 6 plants that I have got flowers, they bloomed that dropped , so this year a different plant have 2 flowers on the vine about 3 feet from its base, the same green paper thin like buds have flower inside that contained a swollen bulb that has grown into recognizable “gấc ” fruit, I am so happy, my husband has threaten to cut all 6 gấc plants down if they don’t produce any fruit this year and I vowed to protect them with my life… :-D. And they rewarded me with 2 so far, there are a dozen or more buds on the trellis, hopefully, they will all bear fruits.
there are male and female vines without the two you never gone get fruits(females alone cannot offspring even in human beings) As i stated before we have seeds for sale
Ms Sata Consuelo,
I have both male and female vines, I can tell the different by their flowers, the problem is they didn’t bloom at the same time, the 2 fruits I was so excited about….unfortunately they turned yellow,I’m pretty certain they will drop 😦
I also can get seeds from my relatives in Vietnam whenever I want but if these 6 plants I have right now won’t give me any fruit, I will get rid of them next year.
Thank you though for offering the seeds.
Yeah you have probably a bad strain. maybe wild crafted most of the true to species (wild growing in nature) are very difficult to manage in palntation. Our strains are from a very big plantation in cambodja and give fruits about 20 to 30 pices per vine approx 2,5 kg each but i know its a selected strain over more then 20 years by the university there
More about Gac fruit: http://vietnamonlinestore.blogspot.de/2013/06/gac-fruit-of-heaven.html
Look oat my posting on OLX philippines the harvest of the gac has started on last week of november, seeeds available
Hello everyone,
I am Francis Aguilar, living in Los Banos. Any chance someone can help me procure gac seeds or cuttings? My mobile number is 09155616560. Thanks in advance!
Happy New Year to everybody ! My 6 GAC plants produced plenty of flowers in the past three years but I had only 2 fruits a year whiich changed the color from green to beautiful orange, but they ended up got rotten from the stems, I pulled , it just came off, cut it opened, the inside still white and the seeds are very small and I matured , still have one on the vine but I can see it started to rot, I think it’s the weather, it’s too cold at night now. My husband wanted to dig them up and red rid of them so he can grows grapes 🙂
Anyone have any suggestion what can I do to have more fruits or how to sustain the fruits? There are only one female plant, and it flowered much later than the males, any helpful tips will greatly be appreciated.
Thank you ,
Lena
Its the strain you have who is probably not suited for your climate. Also you need to handpollinate the female flowers and you have only a very short time to get to a good pollination , here its betseen 08 h and 10 h in the morning our commercial strain sustain about 30 fruits per vine and produces fruiits all year around as long you supply enough water(means about 30 liters per day for a 10 year old vine)
How can I get ahold of a couple gac plants?
If you live in philippines you can try my phone 09199560721
I do not I have a friend there but still can’t get ahold of a plant , I live in the USA
Very simple…You have computer ??? Go Ebay and look for “herbalcurephilippines” its my husband(a retired biochemist and herbalist) there are seeds for sale from our commercial strain (fresh seeds as harvest started in Dec 2014 abd continue) Plants will not pass your customs
Is there anyway to tell if there male or female,obviously not from seed but you know what I mean . Someone told me you only need one plant but I read otherwise.
One plant thats hogwash. You need at least 2 female plants and one male plant and the pollinating insect is not present in USA so only handpollination will do and activating yoyr monkey genes to climb high in the tree where the vines will go early in the morning (lol) maybe it gone keep you fit
Lol,yea. I’ll have to do some work figuring out wich is female and male. Thanks for your advice
i’m from indonesia, pls tell me how i can get gac tree ( still in polybag ) , in my country no one have GAC ..( tears)
just finished the harvest have seeds available(live in philippines yr backyard)
contact my husabnd(pezewoef@scarlet)
ooopps emaila rectification: pezewoef@scarlet.be
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am Trung Nguyen from Viet Nam, supply Gac fruit and Gac fruit products which are very good for Human health.
My products are as following:
*** Fresh Gac fruit
I hope my products will meet your demands and I can take this opportunity to start a long term business with you.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for all your suggestions.
Email: thucpamvanan@gmail.com
Thank you very much,
I am from Australia, Gold Coast n growing the GAC. Having a dozen fruits and should be ripening in two weeks time. My site is www shangrilaigarden.com.As an hobbyist, I will exchange/ share information, Facebook photos etc..of the fruit.
I ALREADY TASTE MY FIRST FRUIT OF MY GAC EVEN I ONLY HAVE ONE VINE.HOW THIS POSSIBLE I DONT KNOW.
Perhaps there is a male plant in the vicinity and cross-pollination took place?
Gac (mormodica cochinchinensis) is the same family with bittermelon (mormodica charantia). You have have bittermelon flower in your vicinity.
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am Trung Nguyen from Viet Nam, supply Gac fruit and Gac fruit products which are very good for Human health.
My products are as following:
*** Fresh Gac fruit ….
I hope my products will meet your demands and I can take this opportunity to start a long term business with you.
Please do not hesitate to contact me for all your suggestions.
Email: thucphamvanan@gmail.com
Thank you very much,
have been growing gac for a while, grow well in UK in pots outdoors in sumer then bing them indoors in a window for winter, never had any problems, lots of fruit too.x
Do you have gac seeds for sale ,if not, do you know where one could get gac seeds in the UK?
Hi. I have a few young trees only one is flowering a female. Is anybody willing to send me a couple of male flowers with pollen? Or sell it including shipping and handling would be greatly appreciated.
Fausto
Where do you live?
I have male flower and male plant as well.
I will have to correct that statement
I also have males . I need advice on how to transfer them to another location. They are in ground right now and over a year old.
Thanks for any advice
Fausto
I would love it have a male and female plant. I only have one plant but it has yet to flower, so I don’t know what sex it is.
I live in la crosse, Wisconsin
Is crosse, Wisconsin
Hi. I’m here because I’m trying to find out how to tell a male plant from a female plant by its leaves. I guess I will have to wait few more months. If anyone is looking to buy gac plants and is currently living in Orang County, CA, email me and I’ll let you know where to by them. I bought mine about a month ago. The nursery lady told me they can’t tell which plant is male and which is female. But, there are at least three plants in each pot. I chose a pot with different looking leaves hoping for at least one male and one female plant. Email gardenmamamia@gmail.com.
a female seed is thicker than a male one. In a gac fruit, there are mainly female seeds, and about 3-5 male seeds. You can compare and choose out a female.
I have a big Gac harvest in Vietnam, supply to factory to make juice, cosmetic, medicine material …both seed and red aril are very valuable.
In summer, people us red aril to make ice-cream & Yogurt & bakery & soup & drink.
Gac fruit oil supplies to the body of the high natural levels of antioxidants. Gac fruit oil is a natural source of β-Carotene, Lycopene, and long-chain fatty acids, and the fat in the fruit pulp is essential for the absorption of those fat soluble nutrients. Fat soluble nutrient digestion is assisted by natural fruit oils.
………………..
Hope to get more share about gac from here:)
Anybody lives in US who wants Gac seeds. I have good News for you. My 2016 Gac harvest yields about 150 fruits. I have plenty of seeds available for free(10 seeds per address, just send 10 stamps for postage and packaging).
Southern California residents can pickup the seeds by appointment. Email to me at hapnguyen47@yahoo.com.
Here is a good link about gac:
http://www.seedman.com/gac.htm
Gac grows on dioecious vines and is usually collected from fence climbers or from wild plants. This means male flowers on one plant, female on another, you will probably need about 10 plants to make sure you have a combination of male/female plants.
I am a researcher and I urgently require gac fruit seeds . Please someone help me out.
I found Gac seeds in the US at Seedman.com. I had some brought down to my home in Costa Rica in May and 4 out of 10 seeds grew. I just bought more for my daughter to bring down at Christmas time but forgot that the temperature in NJ is now below freezing. I hope it does not kill my seeds sitting in her mailbox. Any thoughts on this?
Are they still surviving?
Only 3 of the original 10 survived. I bought 10 more and had them shipped in warmer weather. Of them only 3 survived to mature plants. I think the germination process has most influence on survival. The seeds seem to mold very easily. I am still working on the trellis for them to grow. Gac like the weather here in Costa Rica but needs extra watering to get through the dry season.
Ya but they do survive dry season. Those seeds which are viable will grow anyway. I also faced similar issues.
I am looking for a supplier of Gac fruit powder in Philippines. Are you supplying Gac fruit powder?
yes we supply gac , but only deepfreez and we are actually sold out new stocks in february next year
Nobody talks about proper care of Gac vines. I have two vines intertwined so bad until I dont know which is which.
Anyway long story short, I have about 10 immature Gac fruits. However the first three fruits that appeared one month ago started to rot on the vine. Their size is small like a baseball, colour changed from green to yellowish orange before the rot starts. The insides are all yellow mushy flesh with immature tiny white seeds. Far different from the ‘parent’ black hardcoat seeds.
I have to do something bout the remainder. If not all me efforts would be in vain. Btw seeds came from a gac fruit I bought from a market in South Vietnam. Can this rule out the bad seed strain problem?
Oh well I probably may or may not get any response to this thread.
Cheerios GAC enthusiast and hobbyist planters
bad pollination handpollinate
Good evening, Mam. I am Marivic Rivera from Diliman, Quezon City but teaching agriculture in Tanay, Rizal.
For a long time now, Im looking for seeds and cuttings of Gac plant. Will you be kind enough to send me if you still have? Im very willing to pay for the cost.
Please contact me thru 09994540445 or 09165038931 or thru marivicrivera2004@yahoo.com or marivicsoilscience@gmail.com.
In case your location is near my place, Im very much willing to visit you.
Thank you so much and hoping to hear from you soon.
God bless.
Marivic
Unfortunately I no longer have the plant or the seeds. I hope someone else will be able to help you in your quest.
We have gac fruit in Kuching, Sarawak. The beautiful thing is that we have the male and female flowers on the same tree! For more information pm 011 1856 4616 Tanny Lee