Growing atemoya, sugar apple and mamey sapote in 25 gal pots.

[Vincent]

Here is the deal- I have some really low laying land. Not like the Everglades or anything, but the sand just gets too waterlogged after a downpour (by August there is a little standing water in spots) to grow fruit trees. To build an adequate mound for each tree is expensive and maintenance is time consuming. So I have the following question and thanks in advance for advice/feedback: Can you get decent yields on atemoya, sugar apple and mamey sapote from a 25gal size pot?

[shot]

Just buy fruit save the hassle ,yea that's the ticket , yea buy my ,I mean just buy fruit$$$

[skhan]

Depends on what you define as decent. I'm sure atemoyas and sugar apples do fine in pots.
Not to sure about mameys since it's pretty vigorous.

Keep in mind that pots, good potting soil, irrigation and fertilizer is also expensive. I'd at least price out a few cubic yards of soil.

[achetadomestica]

One option?
Get your plants and start growing them in pots. Meantime ask Asplundh to dump their mulch at your property. In 3 years your potted trees
can be planted in your new raised yard. I would still use mulch and build mounds. I know someone who planted a section of trees on mounds of free mulch from Asplundh. After several years the trees look great. Hopefully you don't have a fence blocking access to your low area and the trucks can pull close?
Mike

[TheDom]

Rent an excavator and dig a deep ass pond in the middle, then use what you dig out to build some mounds. That or pay a few hundred bucks per dump truck load of fill dirt.

Seriously, fill ain't that expensive, neither is equipment rental in the broad scheme of things.

[Vincent]

Really good info. Contacted tree companies a week ago. Heard nothing yet. One of the best gardens I've seen was one in which there was a couple feet of mulch. The owner said that he does not irrigate or add fertilizer. This is the way to go. The fruit tress looked incredible. I will keep potting up some trees until I get a lot of material from the tree companies. They can just back up and dump.

[OCchris1]

Just a note. I have an Atemoya in a 24" box that (with hand pollination) pumps out a good dozen 2+lb. fruits each year. I cut it back every March and it cranks out just enough tasty fruits for all to be happy. Chris

[Vincent]

Won't it get root bound at some point? Or can it stay in a pot long term?

[Mark in Texas]

Here is the deal- I have some really low laying land. Not like the Everglades or anything, but the sand just gets too waterlogged after a downpour (by August there is a little standing water in spots) to grow fruit trees. To build an adequate mound for each tree is expensive and maintenance is time consuming. So I have the following question and thanks in advance for advice/feedback: Can you get decent yields on atemoya, sugar apple and mamey sapote from a 25gal size pot?

Bottomless RootBuilder pots if you can let them root into natural soil which I recommend.  Works really well for me.  You can start with small pots and when need be add panels.  I have large avocado trees growing in 30" diameter pots.  Believe I finished out at 15 panels total, each pane being about 14" long and of course connected in a roll.  http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=21887.0

Be a helluva lot less expensive and hard on your back to work with each one rather than a "fix" to a large area.  They'd probably hit that sand and take off!  Also, as you water/fertilize the pot you're doing so to the adjacent sand under and around the pot.  I use a slow release encapsulated food mostly.

[achetadomestica]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

[Mark in Texas]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

He needs to build up not down.  That mulch would be mush in his low spot.  I do mulch the tops of my pots about 4-6" deep with pine needles and fallen leaves.

[RichardN]

Few years ago my Vietnam sugar apple was in 25 gallon pot  producing good amount of fruit.
Here's some pictures few years back.

[WaterFowler]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

Don't you guys ever worry about that stuff having weed killer in it, and wiping out your trees? Those trucks pass by my house all the time, in fact my sister's ex boyfriend is a manager for a tree trimming service but I'm afraid they might have chemicals in them. Am I just paranoid?

I bought a chipper, and keep it at my parent's ranch. There's no shortage of stuff to dice up there but admittedly it can be a lot of work.

[demingcr]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

Don't you guys ever worry about that stuff having weed killer in it, and wiping out your trees? Those trucks pass by my house all the time, in fact my sister's ex boyfriend is a manager for a tree trimming service but I'm afraid they might have chemicals in them. Am I just paranoid?

I bought a chipper, and keep it at my parent's ranch. There's no shortage of stuff to dice up there but admittedly it can be a lot of work.

Not sure I understand the concern - if a topical had been applied it'd have to still be wet for it to come into contact to have any effect, and the contact would have to be on something that hasn't lignified or the leaves which seems unlikely given the application of mulch. If it's a systemic they are almost universally targeted at specific weeds, typically broadleaf or types of grasses. If a tree or bush that had been chipped has absorbed some of the chemical I cant imagine it would be in a stastically significant amount to cause any hard. I think the only real concern is seeds of invasives like Brazilian pepper but those are abundant enough to likely already be present anyway.

[Mark in Texas]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

Don't you guys ever worry about that stuff having weed killer in it, and wiping out your trees? Those trucks pass by my house all the time, in fact my sister's ex boyfriend is a manager for a tree trimming service but I'm afraid they might have chemicals in them. Am I just paranoid?

Yes, you're being paranoid and speculating based on feelings not facts.  It's manure from horses grazing fields that have been treated you have to worry about.  Most if not all spray, at one time or another, broadleaf herbicides.  Some are short lived like 2,4-D.   Some are long lived (but being phased out) like picloram, which WILL kill any broadleaf plant whether it be tomatoes or bananas.   Chemicals like picloram are never found in your big box or nursery herbicide mixes.  It's usually stuff like 2-4D.

Get to know conventional gardening/farming chemicals even if you don't apply them.  They are not all the same.

Mark

[achetadomestica]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

He needs to build up not down.  That mulch would be mush in his low spot.  I do mulch the tops of my pots about 4-6" deep with pine needles and fallen leaves.

The first layer of mulch won't do much but if he adds mulch for a couple years he'll add inches to his top layer.
The mulch breaks down so fast in Florida. I add a thick ring of mulch around every tree at least twice a year for
6 years. I have a couple inches of black soil above the white sand.  It's amazing how fast the mulch breaks down.

Mike

[Cookie Monster]

Agree. This is exactly what I'd do. I was getting 18 cu yard loads of nice loamy sand for $250 a pop. With 250 cu yards, I was able to raise a full 1/4 acre lot by a foot.

Rent an excavator and dig a deep ass pond in the middle, then use what you dig out to build some mounds. That or pay a few hundred bucks per dump truck load of fill dirt.

Seriously, fill ain't that expensive, neither is equipment rental in the broad scheme of things.

[Cookie Monster]

If you're having a problem with drainage, I wouldn't go with pure mulch. You'd want something sandy.

Also, don't rely on mulch for your fertilization needs. Ca-K balance is not right. It also locks up some micros eg, copper, making them LESS available than before mulch / compost was applied. Net result is fruit with lower brix and trees with some nutrient deficiencies. You really want to do both -- compost + fertilizer.

[Cookie Monster]

I've laid down over 1,000 cubic yards of mulch on my lot over the course of about a decade (that translates to over 50 dump trucks full of mulch from about 10 different companies), and I've never once had a problem.

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

Don't you guys ever worry about that stuff having weed killer in it, and wiping out your trees? Those trucks pass by my house all the time, in fact my sister's ex boyfriend is a manager for a tree trimming service but I'm afraid they might have chemicals in them. Am I just paranoid?

I bought a chipper, and keep it at my parent's ranch. There's no shortage of stuff to dice up there but admittedly it can be a lot of work.

[Vincent]

Do you also have a nursery? I would like to buy some atemoyas and a couple others.

[Mark in Texas]

If you're having a problem with drainage, I wouldn't go with pure mulch. You'd want something sandy.

Or do what I suggested and use raised pots, custom made.  I just don't see how the cost of all that fill is justified.  Like my first greenhouse avocado or lime your first mango fruit  must have cost $30,000! 

[Vincent]

Lot of info. Just got around to reading about your innovative way to grow in pots and greenhouse. Pretty cool! Do you know where I could get a couple of those pots? Also, does it harm the tree if it rooted out in that pot and you were to move it?

[Mark in Texas]

Lot of info. Just got around to reading about your innovative way to grow in pots and greenhouse. Pretty cool! Do you know where I could get a couple of those pots? Also, does it harm the tree if it rooted out in that pot and you were to move it?

You're better off calling the company rootmaker.com   Yes if bottomless and you move it you will tear the root system.  Why would you want to move your trees?  If it occasionally floods here's the solution.  Rootmaker sells pots and bottoms for the RootBuilder product.  I just thought you might want it to be permanent like my  trees are in my greenhouse.  Another option for root tip pruning is MicroKote.

Here's a Moro blood orange rooting into my rock hard concrete like clay loam.  Notice no root spin-out.  This was June 2014 during my expansion of the RootBuilder pot to its final size, about 32" in diameter X 16" tall.  It is doing really well with plenty of fruit and a huge mass of flowers now.

[Cookie Monster]

That's pretty close. But there are more expensive hobbies out there :-).

The raised pot may not work in the long term. When the tree is 20 foot tall and wide, only about 1% of its root mass will be confined to that little pot area.

If you're having a problem with drainage, I wouldn't go with pure mulch. You'd want something sandy.

Or do what I suggested and use raised pots, custom made.  I just don't see how the cost of all that fill is justified.  Like my first greenhouse avocado or lime your first mango fruit  must have cost $30,000! 

[WaterFowler]

When you see a Asplundh truck (usually orange) in your area. Approach the crew and ask them for the mulch.
They always want a local place to dump. I have never had them say no. You will be swimming in mulch in no time!
Mike

Don't you guys ever worry about that stuff having weed killer in it, and wiping out your trees? Those trucks pass by my house all the time, in fact my sister's ex boyfriend is a manager for a tree trimming service but I'm afraid they might have chemicals in them. Am I just paranoid?

Yes, you're being paranoid and speculating based on feelings not facts.  It's manure from horses grazing fields that have been treated you have to worry about.  Most if not all spray, at one time or another, broadleaf herbicides.  Some are short lived like 2,4-D.   Some are long lived (but being phased out) like picloram, which WILL kill any broadleaf plant whether it be tomatoes or bananas.   Chemicals like picloram are never found in your big box or nursery herbicide mixes.  It's usually stuff like 2-4D.

Get to know conventional gardening/farming chemicals even if you don't apply them.  They are not all the same.

Mark

Hmmm maybe you are right. I remember watching a YouTube video, I think it was from Phoenix grower Shamus O'leary blaming tainted mulch he had delivered by a landscaping or tree service company, for killing some trees, including a rare $3000 tree. That probably didn't ease my fears.