Greenhouse Cherimoya needs taming

[TropicalFruitHunters]

This is one of the largest trees in the greenhouse and has certainly become a project.  Probably around 8 years old or more.  4 varieties grafted onto it...Pierce, Honey Hart, Mcpherson, Behl.  The tree is a poster child for fertilizing with too much nitrogen...crazy non-stop growth, very little fruiting, usually small fruit that drop early.  Was a real challenge getting to blooms in the upper canopy when I could find them in all of the foliage.  So I decided to knock it back to a more manageable height.  This will allow more sun to hit other plants as well.  I started off with close to 30 fruit developing and ended with a dismal 6...2 small ones have already dropped.  In my zeal to lop off branches, I unfortunately cut one that still had a big Honey Hart hanging on.  These last 4 have been the biggest fruit to date.  Still 3 on the tree.  Any further nitrogen given will be in ultra low amounts.  Hopefully will make a difference next year.

[behlgarden]

Prune it down to no taller than 5 feet if possible, then it will grow into summer to 8 to 9 feet, after fruits are set and golf ball size, give another haircut around Sep. Its normal for Cherimoya to grow this aggressive.

[JF]

Jay don’t feed it just mulch....cut off all nitrogen if you want it to bloom