How to Grow Ice-cream Beans UK | Complete Growing Guide

Ice-cream Bean (Inga edulis)

An opened ice-cream bean pod showing the white cottony pulp around the seeds. Photo: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Also known as: Pacay · 2 sources cited

Ice-cream beans (Inga edulis) — Evergreen tropical tree, fruiting from about two years old.

Quick Facts

A hand holding a long green ice-cream bean pod — “Vaina de Jinicuil” by Koffer is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Vaina de Jinicuil” by Koffer is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Factor	Value
Soil pH	5 - 6.5
Soil texture	Tolerates a wide range of soils
Drainage	Well-drained
Lifecycle	Evergreen tropical tree, fruiting from about two years old.

Soil & Growing Conditions

A mature ice-cream bean tree with a broad spreading crown — “Inga edulis 04” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga edulis 04” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Water: High; prefers 1200-2500 mm mean annual rainfall

Soil pH range

5 6.5

Span reflects genuine variation between the cited authorities, not a single agreed figure.

Harvest & Storage

A single ribbed ice-cream bean pod hanging on the tree — “Inga edulis 08” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga edulis 08” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

When to pick: Seedling trees can begin fruiting at only two years old. The pods reach up to 100 cm; it is the white, translucent, jelly-like pulp around the seeds that is eaten.

Ice-cream bean through the season

An opened ice-cream bean pod showing the white cottony pulp around the seeds — “Inga edulis in Armenia” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga edulis in Armenia” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

What you actually eat

The white, translucent, jelly-like pulp packed around the seeds -- sweet and perfumed, sometimes with a note of cinnamon. The seeds themselves are not eaten.

The scale of it

ICRAF records pods up to a metre long. A hand gives the measure.

On the tree

Ribbed and cylindrical, straight or often spirally twisted.

Ice-cream bean pods hanging against the sky — “Inga edulis 13” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga edulis 13” by Burkhard Mücke is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

In quantity

Seedling trees can begin fruiting at only two years old, which is fast for a tree crop.

The white powderpuff flowers of ice-cream bean — “Inga Flowers” by Haplochromis is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga Flowers” by Haplochromis is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The flowers

White powderpuffs of long stamens, typical of the mimosoid legumes.

An ice-cream bean branch in full flower — “Guamo macheto (Inga edulis - Inga ynga) (14800886034)” by Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Guamo macheto (Inga edulis - Inga ynga) (14800886034)” by Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

In flower

Freely borne along the branches and heavily worked by insects.

An ice-cream bean leaf showing the winged rachis between leaflets — “Inga edulis to show extrafloral nectaries 01” by KATHERINE WAGNER-REISS is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Inga edulis to show extrafloral nectaries 01” by KATHERINE WAGNER-REISS is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

How to know it

The rachis between each pair of leaflets is winged -- the quickest way to recognise an Inga.

A young ice-cream bean sapling planted out on red soil — “שתיל צעיר של שעועית הגלידה” by שעועיתהגלידה is licensed under CC0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “שתיל צעיר של שעועית הגלידה” by שעועיתהגלידה is licensed under CC0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Planting out

Fast-growing and nitrogen-fixing, which is why it is planted to shade coffee and cacao.

A mature tree

ICRAF gives 30 m and 60 cm diameter at breast height, with a broad, flat, moderately dense canopy.

The dense canopy of an ice-cream bean in leaf — “Guamo macheto (Inga edulis - Inga ynga) (14802905442)” by Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons — “Guamo macheto (Inga edulis - Inga ynga) (14802905442)” by Alejandro Bayer Tamayo from Armenia, Colombia is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The canopy

Its slow-rotting, nitrogen-rich litter builds organic matter and suppresses weeds beneath.

References

2 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.

Frequently Asked Questions

What soil pH do ice-cream beans need?

A pH of about 5–6.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.

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How to Grow Ice-cream Beans UK | Complete Growing Guide

Ice-cream Bean (Inga edulis)

Quick Facts

Soil & Growing Conditions

Harvest & Storage

Ice-cream bean through the season

References

Frequently Asked Questions

Where To Go From Here

Plan the next step

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How to Grow Ice-cream Beans UK | Complete Growing Guide

Ice-cream Bean (Inga edulis)

Quick Facts

Soil & Growing Conditions

Harvest & Storage

Ice-cream bean through the season

References

Frequently Asked Questions

Where To Go From Here

Plan your veg garden before you dig a single inch

Plan the next step