Question: Silas Woods Sapodilla

[fruitnoob]

I have an interesting issue: my almost 2 y-o Silas Woods sapodilla tree (bought 25 gallon) has not stopped fruiting. About a month ago, i had to get rid of about 100 small to medium fruits from the tree because we thought the tree was getting stressed out from all the fruits - it did not look particularly happy to me with the leaves looking dull and sparse. The tree has grown a bit but it does not look much bigger than when we bought it - it receives regular fertilizer and water.
After we removed the fruits, the tree started to put out new leaves, and tiny fruits flowers - A LOT of them. I am leaning towards thinning out the fruits, or completely removing them again.
Has anyone experienced a similar situation? How did you address that issue?
Thanks.

[Timbogrow]

My tree does the same thing, it was a 15gal about a year ago but planted in the ground. I do thin the fruit as well. It's really a nice tree though.

[fruitnoob]

Thanks for your input. I’ll thin the fruits later on. My tree is in ground.

[Cookie Monster]

That's typical of both makok and silas woods (I believe the latter is offspring of the former). I think alano may also be in the same family.

Silas woods has the added problem of brittle branches. So very common to lose a portion of the crop to branch breakage. Raccoons climbing the tree doesn't help.

But the good thing about silas is that the tree stays small. Small is a good thing once you've been growing tropicals long enough. And year round production is great. Also highly precocious. Same with offspring generally (plant a seed of a silas or makok and it seems to have tendency to be precocious).

I've found that harvesting the fruit a tad green produces a smoother flavor.

[CGameProgrammer]

Is anyone growing this in California? I wonder what its harvest season is here. My Alano just ripens in a fairly short period in late summer / early fall. Basically one crop per year.

[roblack]

SW is a good producer and slow grower, so your experience sounds typical.

Timing picking right is hard for saps in general (for me), but SW always seem to soften up and taste good no matter how early or late picked. Based on Cookie's experience, will pick greener with confidence!

[fruitnoob]

Thanks all!

[Seanny]

A friend nearby said his SW won’t grow much after many years in ground.
I saw the tree.
It held nearly as many fruits as leaves.

[fruitnoob]

A friend nearby said his SW won’t grow much after many years in ground.
I saw the tree.
It held nearly as many fruits as leaves.

At one point, this was my tree. I thought I saw more fruits than leaves.