3 Types of Green Sapote (Pouteria viridis)

[Felipe]

 Hi Oscar,

 Hundreds of dry flowers later, this one seems to have beaten the odds...

Ola Sergio, did you harvest this green zapote?

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I really enjoy the green sapote...it has a melon flavor, unlike any mamey I've tasted.
I've been sharing some with my friends, and people who don't even like tropical fruit...this fruit has been well received.  If you like sweet potato, you will like this fruit.  It's like a sweet potato flan with a melon aftertaste.

[emegar]

Such beautiful flesh! Makes me wonder how long I'll have to wait. My largest tree is about 3' tall and staying to branch.

[fruitlovers]

I don't detect any melon flavor in any green sapote, and i've eaten many hundreds of them over here from different trees and types. To me they taste almost identical to mamey sapote. I think blind folded most people couldn't really tell the difference between mamey and green sapote.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I don't detect any melon flavor in any green sapote, and i've eaten many hundreds of them over here from different trees and types. To me they taste almost identical to mamey sapote. I think blind folded most people couldn't really tell the difference between mamey and green sapote.

that's funny, everyone who's tasted the fruit I have, said they detect the melon flavor.

[Felipe]

Adao, are the ones on the picture Whitman green zapote?

[siafu]

Yay! One full year later, green sapotes are ripening and they are tasty!

[fruitlovers]

Yay! One full year later, green sapotes are ripening and they are tasty!

Great to hear Sergio! Are they from seeds i sent you?
BTW, are you stealing my dishes? Have same exact dishes over here?! 

[siafu]

Yay! One full year later, green sapotes are ripening and they are tasty!

Great to hear Sergio! Are they from seeds i sent you?
BTW, are you stealing my dishes? Have same exact dishes over here?! 

Yes Oscar. It's from the seeds you sent me.
A second tree that I gave to a friend, from the same batch, just finished blooming. It's
the second time it blooms and we're hoping some will set...

Looks like this species is perfectly adaptable to the subtropics.

Mamey grows much more slowly in my climate and is prone to some winter dieback.
I have a grafted Pantin that I now doubt will be able to hold its fruits in the winter, if and when it ever decides to bloom.

edit: corrected Pantin spelling...

[fruitlovers]

Yay! One full year later, green sapotes are ripening and they are tasty!

Great to hear Sergio! Are they from seeds i sent you?
BTW, are you stealing my dishes? Have same exact dishes over here?! 

Yes Oscar. It's from the seeds you sent me.
A second tree that I gave to a friend, from the same batch, just finished blooming. It's
the second time it blooms and we're hoping some will set...

Looks like this species is perfectly adaptable to the subtropics.

Mamey grows much more slowly in my climate and is prone to some winter dieback.
I have a grafted Panting that I now doubt will be able to hold its fruits in the winter, if and when it ever decides to bloom.

Good to hear. FYI seedlings here are extremely slow to fruit, even though they grow great. Better to go with grafted trees for that reason. Green sapote flowering here also this time of year.

[gnappi]

Hello all.
Could somebody with a bit of Green Sapote experience talk a bit about plant care.  I have a small plant approximately 3 ft. tall.  I don't know the first thing about fertilizer needs, PH preferences or water requirements, etc..  Sure I could "Google it" but it is more fun here.
Thanks in advance!!

My "soil" is a mix of organic matter and sand with shell rock sand more than 2'-3' below the surface. My soil PH is ~7.2-7.4 and I use organic mulch periodically, water twice weekly (It's been dry here) fertilize maybe a bit more than quarterly, it's REALLY healthy but still small ~5' tall. It still has two of the three fruits noted below.

Here's a past comment on my green sapote:

"For the last 2 years my green sapote has flowered but had not set fruit and has not grown vertically at all, though the trunk and branches have thickened.

This year was a banner year for it flowering. The tree was covered in blooms from literally the dirt to the branch tips and all fell off, or so I thought. Today I found that three little fruits have set.  I think the tree will hold the fruit as the trunk and branches have thickened nicely, but if not at least I know the tree is on the path to deliver.

I figure it's about 6 years old and grafted. So if you have a GS and it's in similar circumstances as mine maybe you should give it some more time. "

[Nisp66]

Great looking fruit Sergio. I am still waiting for my 9 year old seedling to flower. When is the flowering season for Green Sapote?
Raul

[fruitlovers]

Sergio, how old was that seedling green sapote before it fruited?

[siafu]

Sergio, how old was that seedling green sapote before it fruited?

Checked the Paypal receipt and it's from Apr. 8, 2009 02:32:31 PDT.
First bloom produced a small fruit that aborted.
The second bloom produced 8 fruits that are ripening now, while the tree is finishing its third bloom.

I sowed the seeds in tall pots. I planted this one well before it became root bound.

I never pruned it and allowed it to branch naturally. Consequently, the tree is tall and first branches are
at about 1.5 m. It has been a rather fast grower.

On the down side, it shows some chlorosis from my alkaline soil and water.
I give it chelated micros from time to time.

[Felipe]

Congratullations Sergio! That's great news 

I did order and receive my seeds from Oscar in June 2009. So far I did not detect any flower. This is a picture made on December 14 of one of my seedlings.



Sergio, can you post a picture of your plant? What kind fertilizer do you use?

[fruitlovers]

I'd say in your climate 6 years to fruit from seed is great! Felipe, i have a green sapote seedling tree that is about 5x as big as the one in your photo and it has still not fruited. I'm just now starting to give it doses of 0-0-50 and hope that gets it to flower. It has never flowered.

[Felipe]

Finally two of three seedlings are fruiting for the first time! Seeds received in 2009 

Seedling #1

[Felipe]

Seedling #2

[fruitlovers]

Well done Felipe! Great to see them fruiting in Canary Islands. Hope you enjoy them.

[druss]

Do you still get seeds of these Oscar?

[fruitlovers]

Do you still get seeds of these Oscar?

Yes but i usually sell out very fast and have a waiting list of prepaid customers.

[Felipe]

A few month later the trees aborted most fruits, but two are still growing. fingers crossed 

[00christian00]

Oscar is there difference in time required to ripen between the 3 types?

[fruitlovers]

Oscar is there difference in time required to ripen between the 3 types?

I don't know. But would guess that yes there is, even if the difference is only a slight one.

[Nisp66]

When do green sapotes flower? I keep reading some people say spring while others say fall. Maybe depending on the variety?