Giant Purple Starapples (Caimito) and Baseball

[fruitlovers]

Since some of you think i have a small hand, and you like to compare fruit size with a baseball, i got this baseball just for you:



I think you will be able to see these starapples are closer to soft ball size. I'll get one of those next. 

[RICBITAR]

VERY NICE !!!!

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Those are gorgeous Oscar!

[HMHausman]

Could you please describe the growing conditions for the baseball, its eating quality and also please favor us with some pictures of it once you cut it open.  Thanks in advance.  Oh and really nice star apples too.

[fisherking73]

Could you please describe the growing conditions for the baseball, its eating quality and also please favor us with some pictures of it once you cut it open.  Thanks in advance.  Oh and really nice star apples too.

BWAH!!!!!! Flesh to leather ratio too!

[Bob407]

Could you please describe the growing conditions for the baseball, its eating quality and also please favor us with some pictures of it once you cut it open.  Thanks in advance.  Oh and really nice star apples too.

Oh! What a great laugh to start the day, thanks Harry!

[Mike T]

Great pitcher as always and I thought this variety looked bigger in past threads.I think the message in the shot is that over indulgence can give you the runs.Or is that beware of bat problems?

[ScottR]

Beautiful pic Oscar, I've never eaten Caimito can you describe taste

[fruitlovers]

Could you please describe the growing conditions for the baseball, its eating quality and also please favor us with some pictures of it once you cut it open.  Thanks in advance.  Oh and really nice star apples too.

The best growing conditions for a baseball are in S. Florida, aka Little Havana. Not sure why Cubans are so in love with baseball? But it seems in a lot of Floridian threads fruit sizes get compared to a baseball. So i thought i would add the baseball for all you Floridian/Cubans. About its eating quality, i think you would like it Harry because it's not at all soft or mushy, like some jackfruits, it's more like the crunchy type . HAHA

[fruitlovers]

Great pitcher as always and I thought this variety looked bigger in past threads.I think the message in the shot is that over indulgence can give you the runs.Or is that beware of bat problems?

Yes you're right. The photo i posted in past threads of starapple weighing 535 grams was quite a bit bigger. But since i was holding that one in my hand, and some questioned whether i had dwarf hands, i thought i would lay that argument to rest. 

[fruitlovers]

Beautiful pic Oscar, I've never eaten Caimito can you describe taste

Scott, i'm not very good at describing tastes, but i'll give it a go. The fruit is quite juicy with areas surrounding the seeds being a bit gelatinous in texture. The taste is very sweet. In Vietnam starapple is called Breast Milk Fruit, or something like that. It does taste a bit like a fruity milk shake. There are some tones of grape and berry in the taste. I think it's a fruit most people would like if they taste it in its prime.

[HMHausman]

About its eating quality, i think you would like it Harry because it's not at all soft or mushy, like some jackfruits, it's more like the crunchy type . HAHA

Thanks, Oscar. Some one once mentioned that you had a a lot of balls.  Now, I know what they meant.  Thanks for remembering my proclivity with regard to soft/mushy avoidance and crisp/firm selection.  I guess I should say that you hit a home run with your star apple pictorial.  Good job, as always. 

[forumfool]

Beautiful pic Oscar, I've never eaten Caimito can you describe taste

Scott, i'm not very good at describing tastes, but i'll give it a go. The fruit is quite juicy with areas surrounding the seeds being a bit gelatinous in texture. The taste is very sweet. In Vietnam starapple is called Breast Milk Fruit, or something like that. It does taste a bit like a fruity milk shake. There are some tones of grape and berry in the taste. I think it's a fruit most people would like if they taste it in its prime.

I only got to try this fruit once (in Costa Rica) but it tasted very similar to what you described. We all enjoyed eating it.

[HIfarm]

Scott, i'm not very good at describing tastes, but i'll give it a go. The fruit is quite juicy with areas surrounding the seeds being a bit gelatinous in texture. The taste is very sweet. In Vietnam starapple is called Breast Milk Fruit, or something like that. It does taste a bit like a fruity milk shake. There are some tones of grape and berry in the taste. I think it's a fruit most people would like if they taste it in its prime.

I think Oscar is right that the vast majority of people would like the flavor.  However, there is a little latex, especially if you try to scrape every little bit of pulp off the skin.  I think some people who are used to temperate fruits might find it a little off-putting but it is something you get used to -- I don't mind a little latex.

John

[fruitlovers]

Beautiful pic Oscar, I've never eaten Caimito can you describe taste

Scott, i'm not very good at describing tastes, but i'll give it a go. The fruit is quite juicy with areas surrounding the seeds being a bit gelatinous in texture. The taste is very sweet. In Vietnam starapple is called Breast Milk Fruit, or something like that. It does taste a bit like a fruity milk shake. There are some tones of grape and berry in the taste. I think it's a fruit most people would like if they taste it in its prime.

I only got to try this fruit once (in Costa Rica) but it tasted very similar to what you described. We all enjoyed eating it.

Thanks. Thought i'd add that when eating starapple in the filed i poke a small hole and suck it out, similar to eating orange and squeezing juice out. Otherwise it's very messy.

[ScottR]

Thanks for taste description Oscar, sound delicious

[carcarlo]

Hi Oscar pics. are great, I ate many of those when I was a kid. I have been growing a Caimito tree for 2/3 yrs. and it doesn't seem to grow, is your tree grafted,can the plant be grafted and what are the success rate.
Carlos O.

[From the sea]

Hi Oscar pics. are great, I ate many of those when I was a kid. I have been growing a Caimito tree for 2/3 yrs. and it doesn't seem to grow, is your tree grafted,can the plant be grafted and what are the success rate.
Carlos O.

Maybe too cold for it to be happy up there

[fruitlovers]

Hi Oscar pics. are great, I ate many of those when I was a kid. I have been growing a Caimito tree for 2/3 yrs. and it doesn't seem to grow, is your tree grafted,can the plant be grafted and what are the success rate.
Carlos O.

My giant purple trees are seedlings. But do have grafted types of green starapples. Not easy finding grafted plants, especially in Florida. If you want grafted you might have to do it yourself.

[From the sea]

I think Lara has them.

[murahilin]

Hi Oscar pics. are great, I ate many of those when I was a kid. I have been growing a Caimito tree for 2/3 yrs. and it doesn't seem to grow, is your tree grafted,can the plant be grafted and what are the success rate.
Carlos O.

Excalibur has three different types of grafted star apples. One being a grafted green variety named 'Jaco Beach'.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Is there a big taste difference between the green and purple?

[Raulglezruiz]

Is there a big taste difference between the green and purple?

I have only try 3 diferent purple ones which are good but the only one green I got it was out ofthis world,  bigger,  and sweeeter!, I could be wrong but I notice on fruit who has pulp with dif color ilama,  reticulata,  etc most of the time the white ones are sweeter,  perhaps the color in the pulp takes part of the sweetness elements...

[HMHausman]

Is there a big taste difference between the green and purple?

I think it varies from tree to tree, and is not so much based upon color.  I have had great fruits and lousy ones of both colors.

[Kona fruit farm]

Oscar I have never seen star apples this big anywhere.   And they are in all the farmers markets...nice work!   

Do your seedling trees grow up true to seed?   I mean do you feel confident that those seedlings will grow up to be giant starapple?   Or would it be best to graft off the parent tree?  I've held off buying a starapple tree waiting for the right one.   It sounds like this is the one for me.    Let me know if you have available to purchase and I will come over.

Great pics by the way.

[fruitlovers]

Is there a big taste difference between the green and purple?

I think it varies from tree to tree, and is not so much based upon color.  I have had great fruiits and lousy ones of both colors.

Yes Harry is right on. It's equivalent to asking what are better red colored mangoes or green colored mangoes. Remember colors are not cultivars. You have to be more specific than asking about colors and ask about cutivars.

[fruitlovers]

Oscar I have never seen star apples this big anywhere.   And they are in all the farmers markets...nice work!   

Do your seedling trees grow up true to seed?   I mean do you feel confident that those seedlings will grow up to be giant starapple?   Or would it be best to graft off the parent tree?  I've held off buying a starapple tree waiting for the right one.   It sounds like this is the one for me.    Let me know if you have available to purchase and I will come over.

Great pics by the way.

Yes the giant size is a dominant trait, which means seedling will produce giant fruits. There may be other slight differences. For example, two seedling giant purples have slightly different shape, but both are giant. I don't have any plants available right now, but could send you seeds or scion wood to graft.

[Mike T]

There is more than purples and greens out there. There is a suite of transitional ones between including reds.The golds and pinks seem to be a different line and are substantially better in a number of ways, in my opinion.Big is good however and Oscars purples are impressive. There is a big spherical purple here that I posted pix of before, that routinely are around 500g and bigger.

[Kona fruit farm]

How about the juicy pearl variety?  Recently picked one of these up from Micah.  Still deciding on where to plant it.  How does it compare in size, taste, latex content, etc. 

Also about how big does a star apple tree get would you guys say?

[fruitlovers]

There is more than purples and greens out there. There is a suite of transitional ones between including reds.The golds and pinks seem to be a different line and are substantially better in a number of ways, in my opinion.Big is good however and Oscars purples are impressive. There is a big spherical purple here that I posted pix of before, that routinely are around 500g and bigger.

Yes, people like to oversimplify everything. Really there is a lot of diversity out there in the fruit kingdom. When it comes to mangoes i think that is realized on this forum. And nobody asks, "which type is better, a red mango or a green mango?" "Are there really yellow mangoes and pink mangoes?". We know there's a lot of diversity in mangoes. But have yet to realize this applies to other fruits as well.
BTW, the giant starapples i have aren't just big, they're darned tasty. The Haitian, the only variety most people know (kind of like the situation of only knowing Haden or Tommy Atkins), really pales in comparison. I've also compared it to 2 green starapple cultivars i have, and the giant purples are way better.

[Mike T]

Kona the juicy pearl is similar to Oscars version of the same thing. Chrysophyllum argentium subspecies auratum is where we landed with its name.They are a different but closely related species that compares favorably with regular starapples.Juicy pearl has low latex but still a milkiness is present.They are a real hit here with people who try them.

[Raulglezruiz]

Kona the juicy pearl is similar to Oscars version of the same thing. Chrysophyllum argentium subspecies auratum is where we landed with its name.They are a different but closely related species that compares favorably with regular starapples.Juicy pearl has low latex but still a milkiness is present.They are a real hit here with people who try them.

Are those Argenteum the gold and pink ones,  that taste like condensated milk?

[fruitlovers]

I have seeds right now available of the giant purple starapples (caimito) if anyone is interested? You can buy them right on my seed page: http://fruitlovers.com/seedlist.html
They are true to seed in terms of guaranteed very large size. I've only seen small differences in shape of fruits in the seedling trees i have. But all are giant.

[ofdsurfer]

Hi Oscar,

How long did it take for your seedling Giants to start fruiting?

[gozp]

Was wondering if these will fruit in California (zone9b /10a) m

[fruitlovers]

Hi Oscar,

How long did it take for your seedling Giants to start fruiting?

5-6 years.

[fruitlovers]

Was wondering if these will fruit in California (zone9b /10a) m

Difficult without winter protection. Some members have fruited it in Chula Vista and Orange county.

[gozp]

Was wondering if these will fruit in California (zone9b /10a) m

Difficult without winter protection. Some members have fruited it in Chula Vista and Orange county.

Do u have an idea of how old is the tree?

[fruitlovers]

Was wondering if these will fruit in California (zone9b /10a) m

Difficult without winter protection. Some members have fruited it in Chula Vista and Orange county.

Do u have an idea of how old is the tree?

You mean the ones that fruited in California? If you do a search you can find the previous threads.

[CGameProgrammer]

I bought and planted a 4' tall purple caimito from Top Tropicals last summer, here in San Diego. It survived the winter just fine, going dormant but keeping its leaves intact, and is now growing again. I don't know how well it will flower or fruit; it's too soon to tell.

[JF]

Gonz
They grow and fruit just fine in North Orange County 10b zone, in the valley I doubt it. Do a forum search and see the pix I posted a few years ago.