Abiu is a very nice tasty sweet fruit, and it is easier to grow than it has been reported!
Here is my detailed experiment
1) I grew 3 abiu trees in pots until they reached approximately 6 to 7 feet tall. They spent the Winters in a nice and protected area.
2) Last year when they were approximately 7 feet tall two trees were planted next to each other. I gave the third tree to a fellow collector, a my friend of mine.
3) The trees were planted in a rich organic mound and received city water every single day through an irrigation system.
4) Both trees flowered and fruited this year. Each tree produced approximately 30 fruits each. Tree # 1 usually has one 1 seed, and tree # 2 has 1 to 3 seeds.
5) Tree # 1 produced very sweet fruits. The fruits weighs between 200 grams to 380 grams. My wife did not like the fruit. She said it is too sweet for her taste. Both types have very thin skin and almost no latex.
6) Tree # 2 produced fruits that were sweet, but not as sweet as tree # 1. My fruit collector friend prefers this one. He said that the flavor is more like abiu flavor. The fruits weigh between 280 grams and 430 grams.
7) My friend's tree flowered profusely, but it did not set one single fruit. Now, all three trees are approximately twelve (12) feet tall.
My conclusions are that abiu can take some cold weather if they are big enough, at least 6 to 7 feet tall, before planted in the ground.
9) Two (2) trees next to each other help with cross pollination.
10) They should be planted in high organic matter and get plenty of water regularly.
11) I believe that my two trees are descent of Z2 abius.
12) I have a few packs of seeds, each pack with four (4) seeds each for sale. Interested parties please send me an email to
bertonsilva at Hotmail dot com
Make sure to write the email using the @ and the . symbols otherwise it will never reach southwest Florida....
