Author Topic: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?  (Read 4457 times)

bradflorida

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Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« on: July 13, 2014, 11:46:55 PM »






The tree was sold as a suebelle but I'm suspicious that it might not be.  I wonder if it's a wooly leaf / tetrameria. 

The top sides of the leaves have developed a yellowing this summer, despite my unchanged irrigation and fertilization over the past year. 

Brad
« Last Edit: July 13, 2014, 11:48:29 PM by bradflorida »
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nch

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2014, 12:52:47 AM »
I am very bad at identifying plants, but I have a Suebelle, and it just shed all its leaves, replaced by many healthy young shoots. So I think it's OK, but I don't know for sure.

lazygardener

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2014, 04:15:46 PM »
The leaves look very much like Sapote leaves.  That is what mine Sapote tree look like.
The underside of the Suebelle leaf is fuzzy, I think that is what see from the picture.
Sapotes will take about 4-5 years before they start to fruit.  Once they start, watch out!

Californiatropicals

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2014, 04:21:19 PM »
It's most likely suebelle.. suebelle is one of the varieties that has fuzzy felt under it's leaves.. kind of nice to touch!   I have a suebelle, quite prolific in flowering, now that it's in the ground it looks like it's going to hold more fruit!

bradflorida

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2014, 06:58:22 PM »
Thanks for the info!

Does suebelle have medium amount of fuzz on the lead undersides and also slight fuzz on the top sides?
Brad

luc

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2014, 07:16:53 PM »
Here's a picture of a wooly leaf

Luc Vleeracker
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20 degrees north

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2014, 07:25:34 PM »
Brad

you are a real skeptic... ;D  I like it...it's smart not to just take people's word for it.

suebelle leaves are not like yours....they are a bit less stiff...(more flimsy) the leaves of your variety are too perky looking.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i54/Racor66/Backyard%205-1-10/DSC06641.jpg
« Last Edit: July 14, 2014, 07:27:17 PM by ASaffron »
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nch

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2014, 09:09:04 PM »
I just went out to feel my Suebelle leaves (assuming my tree bought from HD is correctly labelled). They are fuzzy on the bottom side, and very, very slightly fuzzy on the top side. The leaflets are a bit more elongated than yours. Here are the pics.
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 The tree dropped all the leaves just about 2 weeks ago, and is now full of new leaves again. I read that they do that when stressed by extreme weather. Here's the link to the article.
http://rfcarchives.org.au/Next/Fruits/WhiteSapote/WhiteSapote8-81.htm

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #8 on: July 14, 2014, 09:35:34 PM »
Nch,

yours is the correct ID!

very beautiful too!!

they are better suited for CA, but still kick ass in FL!
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nch

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #9 on: July 14, 2014, 09:53:20 PM »
Nch,

they are better suited for CA, but still kick ass in FL!

No kidding, Adam. It's doing better than any of my other trees, 3 year old, 3" trunk, and it's in an 18g pot! I haven't killed it yet with my over watering tendency, because it loves water.

bradflorida

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #10 on: July 14, 2014, 09:56:42 PM »
Thanks for the pics nch.  Those are better pics than I have been able to find on the web so I appreciate you posting them. 

Adam - this posting was a last ditch effort before I bit the bullet and dealt with the situation as I should have a while ago.  Here's why.  My interes in suebelle started about two years ago when my wife and I were at Excalibur and we tasted a fruit from their suebelle tree.  We both noticed the hint of lemon and really liked it.  I purchased a small grafted suebelle from Excalibur.  However due to my inexperience I nearly killed the tree. So i got rid of it. 

I figured I could just locally obtain a suebelle from treehouse.  But apparently it's not the same thing. 

So I realized that I really didn't need to be chasing down a specific cultivar name. I just needed to get a grafted tree from that Excalibur suebelle, regardless of whether it's the same suebelle that others have.  So I bit the bullet today and took the 6 hour round trip drive to Excalibur and purchased a small grafted suebelle from them. 

At Excalibur I told the worker that I enjoyed the fruit from that particular tree because of the
Hint of lemon. She said "yes, that is how the fruit from this tree tastes". Interestingly I can't find any other descriptions of suebelle having a hint of lemon.  So I'm not even sure if Excalibur has a true suebelle but that really doesn't matter anyway. 
Brad

bradflorida

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Re: Is this a Suebelle White Sapote Tree?
« Reply #11 on: July 14, 2014, 09:58:19 PM »
I took leaves from my supposed suebelle and compared it to the Excalibur suebelle.  Mine had smooth tops and fuzzy undersides. The Excalibur one had fuzzy bottoms and slightly  fuzZy tops.  Definitely different varieities.

Adam - I realized I wasn't seeking suebelle.  I was seeking a grafted version of the tree at Excalibur. 

Brad
« Last Edit: July 14, 2014, 10:30:22 PM by bradflorida »
Brad