Matoa (Pometia Pinnata)

[Cherimoya]

A friend of me gave me this fruit,taste like rambutan + longan + lychee and has a hard skin ,after google search then i know its called Matoa 
Its very rare in my place and this is my 1st time saw it. I planted the seeds and hope it will grow soon   

[Cherimoya]

Matoa (from Google)

[Cherimoya]

Matoa tree (from Google)

[Finca La Isla]

Very interesting.  Is that fruit sold in the market?

[Tropical Farmer]

I actually have seeds from this fruit; planted 4 seeds all in the same pot since the 28th of August 2017 and I have yet for them to actually sprout. I dug up the seeds thinking that they were rotted as the seeds each rested half out of the soil and half in. I found that each seed had a very large tap root (actually broke the seed off of two of the roots in the process but left them planted anyhow thinking that with some miracle they may still grow leaves) and wonder if this is normal for them to take so long to sprout?

Thanks

[Raulglezruiz]

I actually have seeds from this fruit; planted 4 seeds all in the same pot since the 28th of August 2017 and I have yet for them to actually sprout. I dug up the seeds thinking that they were rotted as the seeds each rested half out of the soil and half in. I found that each seed had a very large tap root (actually broke the seed off of two of the roots in the process but left them planted anyhow thinking that with some miracle they may still grow leaves) and wonder if this is normal for them to take so long to sprout?

Thanks

Matoa seeds are some of the most recalcitrant seeds ever, I have bought several times through EMS and at least half of the time I got them rotten, the survivers usually germinate and send up shoot and leaves within 15 days, if you receive them since August and they hasn't come up yet is not a good sign,
They should have shoot and leaves by now...

[Tropical Farmer]

Was hoping that was not the case. I guess I will leave them and hope for the miracle.....

Thanks

[sahai1]

I have one tree, not sure if it is grafted or seed.. have to take a closer look.  Spent quite a bit on it here, above average for nursery trees.  In Thailand it is marketed as "Lamyai Crystal" -- ลำไยคริสตัล  more than plenty on the market now.  Lamyai = Longan.

It seems to be doing fairly well with the weather and rain at my place, in potting soil now, mix of cow manure, coconut husk, composted chicken manure and rice hulls, and crushed rock.

[Cherimoya]

Very interesting.  Is that fruit sold in the market?

Not really. Very hard to see in market.

[Cherimoya]

My Matoa seeds can see leaves after 15 days ... so excited   

[Cherimoya]

My Matoa baby tree after 22 Days 

[Mike T]

Thsy are most common and diverse in the Melanesia area based on PNG.I see yellow ,green, red, purple and black varieties. in north queensland due to the proximity of Melanesia but hey are still not common.Good ones have larger size and thicker flesh, smaller seeds with a thinner shell. The seeds rot very easily and need to be packed without too much moisture.
One of my white whales is the giant form which is baseball size with thin and pliable skin and very thick flesh. I posted a picture on a past thread as giant Fiji longan, This giant is in NG, New Britain and Fiji with some plants brought to Queensland. I have seen references to them and know of one tree that hasn't has fruit in 3 years.

[Tropical Farmer]

The purple matoa fruit that Cherimoya posted, I think are the same as the seeds that I wrote about in my original post. At least his pictures matches those pictures of the fruits for the seeds I bought.

Believe it or not, the stem from the roots of my two seeds that broke off before the embryonic leaves could pop out are still green showing signs of life. While one seed is still attached to the roots, it does not look like that seed pocket for that will open anytime soon. I am wondering if this is a tree that could possibly continue to grow from the roots?

Mike T,
I think that I may have some variation of your white whale. I have 11 trees right now and I am hoping they will bear within the next year.
I received the seedlings from a friend and his fruits are not quite the baseball size but about or slightly bigger than a golf ball; they have a very thin green skin which on the inside has a little bit of a rind almost like you would find on a tangerine, the flesh is thick and they are very delicious. They are much better than longans or lychees for sure. His trees are currently with blossoms and fruit twice per year. The seedlings grow really fast and his has fruited after just 2 years. See the attached picture of one of my 15 month old trees.

[Mike T]

Very Interesting TF.

The fruit my friend pictured with some good sized longans were a few late stray fruit from the ground that were not representative of the larger fruit. None-the-less they are distinctive, large and seem to be a different form of the species,

[Tropical Farmer]

Here are some pictures from a fruit I had when I first got the seedlings from my friend.
I have spoken to him and he has promised to call me when fruits are ready which will be around the end of January to mid February.
I will use another item in the picture to show scale and will measure.

[Mike T]

OK TF they are looking similar and may have a bit of diversity themselves. With that fruiting season you must also be in the southern hemisphere? I think feb/march is the fruiting season here.

[Tropical Farmer]

I live in the Cayman Islands.

My friend is claiming the fruits are larger than I indicated; he has 5 fruiting trees. The two oldest trees are almost five years old and are about 15 ft tall.

[Mike T]

The tree I know is around 50 feet tall and is not looked after.

[arvind]

There tonnes of these fruit here in market during peak season in sarawak malaysian borneo.locally known as buah kristal or crystal fruit.seems to have lots of variety in color,fryit size and skin thickness.1kg of it cost about 12 malaysian ringgit here.even at my neighbourhood there are more than 10 trees planted by various neighbours

[Tropical Farmer]

Believe it or not, my purple matoa plants look like they may actually grow. I know it is still early and anything could happen but as the seed shell broke off all of them at varying stages, I was very doubtful of even seeing leaves. The larger seedling now has two small leaves and was the last to lose its seed case (it broke off last week as well) and the two smaller ones that are just stems (see the two red arrows) are at least still green. I am hoping that I will be able to save at least one of them, if not all three.