Would you purchase alano or silas woods sapodilla?

[AndrewAZ]

I have run out of planting room at my place, but, I still want to plant a few more trees in a pot for my patio.  One of is sapodilla.  I read these are the best 2 varieties for a pot and I only want one.  So, for people with experience....which one would you buy and why?  Would there be another dwarf variety you would recommend?

[astronics1]

silas wood is better in pot , because smaller  size plant then alano

[Das Bhut]

For a pot definitely silas woods, fruits small and doesn't grow a lot. You could also go with a jaboticaba or fig if you're not married to a sapodilla.

[achetadomestica]

Sapodillas are all good.
I like Makok the best but it is not as good of a producer as SW.
SW and alano are similar in taste but the SW sure is hard to beat for
overall production. The makok has a distinct taste I like. Before you decide
hopefully you can get your hands on one to taste.

[roblack]

lol

I have both, in-ground. Alano has only produced a few fruits, whereas Silas Woods produces well and consistently for me. SW fruits are a bit on the smaller size, but delicious.

[barath]

At one time I grew both in containers in Northern California but found that Silas Wood grew way too slowly.  Alano put on a lot of growth and even set fruit (though I didn't have enough heat for it to ripen).  Eventually I lost both trees to winter weather (not really frost, but I think just prolonged cold).

[Cookie Monster]

Silas woods. It's more precocious, more dwarf, and I tend to like the flavor better.

I believe Alano, Silas, and Makok to all be related in some way. My guess is that silas and alano are seedlings of makok, but that's purely speculation based on similarities of the 3.

[JF]

I would go with alano bigger fruits and just as productive as SW and Makok. The tree has to mature before it pumps out hundreds of fruit but once it does it puts SW and Makok to shame.

[bradflorida]

Silas woods has a much slower growth habit.  5 year in ground tree is 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide.

My Alamo tree has been in the ground 5 years and is 15 feet wide and 12 feet tall.  Not a dwarf tree.

Here in southwest Florida, Silas woods is a very heavy producer. Alamo produces well but not as heavy as Silas woods.

Brad

[Cookie Monster]

JF, your alano bearing habit is atypical, at least for the ones I've seen in FL. That looks more like what a silas woulid do here.

For pot culture, silas woiuld be the winner hands down. Small habit and precocious. Makok also has the same characteristics, but the flavor is too strong for me.

[WGphil]

How big does butterscotch get

[simon_grow]

Alano is a beast of a producer here in SoCal but as Frank stated, it has to establish and get some size before super heavy production. Alano is also one of the faster growers here in SoCal so if you want to keep it small, other varieties may be better in the long term.

Personally, I would still go with Alano for pot culture because Sapodillas grow much slower here compared to warmer areas. I want more fruit production at a faster rate. Some of the slower growing Sapodillas will grow very slowly and the precocious varieties will fruit at such a young age that it will delay growth even more.

Alano will establish faster in a pot and will fruit at a small size so it will slow its own growth down by bearing fruit. You can prune it to keep it the size you want and when it’s trunk gets too big to maintain, you can sell it for a really good price and buy another you g tree and repeat the process.

Good sized potted Sapodillas trees cost a fortune here in SoCal. If anyone has a nice one for sale, please let me know.

My friend that has an orchard has a large Alano that is extremely productive and he highly recommends this variety for SoCal growers.

Frank, what are your top three varieties of Sapodillas you recommend for SoCal?

Simon

[palmcity]

Topic: Would you purchase alano or silas woods sapodilla?
Yes. I've eaten both & also have never had a bad variety.

I have enough larger specimens to get about 1 per day at this time of the year. But, I did try planting a seed about 3 years ago... lol ... Today it's about 8 inches tall outside in the yard next to a jaboticaba... I talked to it and said I would gladly cut down the jaboticaba next to it if it decides to grow larger and bear fruit... lol... waiting waiting waiting....

[Mugenia]

Simon et Al,

Is the Haysa sapodilla any good in southern California? People say it's more vigorous. I have two trees that I planted this spring. I also have two Alano trees that were planted one and two years ago. The two years old is flowering right now.

Here's my row of sapodillas. Still have room for 6 more. Thanks.

[simon_grow]

I don’t have a Hasya and I only just got my Alano so I’m not sure how well the Hasya grows and produces here. I have to check with my friends that are growing different Sapodilla varieties.

I used to not like Sapodillas but now I’m addicted to them.

Simon

[Samu]

Simon et Al,

Is the Haysa sapodilla any good in southern California? People say it's more vigorous. I have two trees that I planted this spring. I also have two Alano trees that were planted one and two years ago. The two years old is flowering right now.

Here's my row of sapodillas. Still have room for 6 more. Thanks.

I don’t have a Hasya and I only just got my Alano so I’m not sure how well the Hasya grows and produces here. I have to check with my friends that are growing different Sapodilla varieties.

I used to not like Sapodillas but now I’m addicted to them.

Simon

I planted a 15G that was already flowering Hasya in 2014, (Simon is right, I spent $225 for it!)  it was about 9-10 ft high on it's one lone main trunk. I pugged about 2-3 ft off that main trunk, now almost 5 yrs later, it only reach about 8-9 ft high today albeit wider lateral branches.

Hasya is exceptionally stingy in setting it's fruits, and took 12-13 months to mature. For this reason, I have been trying to slowly cut off the Hasya branches and graft with other varieties on the sprouts that come out.
My Alano branches seem to be more productive, as already mentioned.
Taste wise, I found Hasya has stronger flavor and sweeter than Alano, however. I have Makok and Silas Wood branches on this tree also, but the fruits are not yet ripe. In general, I found it's trouble free/easy to grow it in SoCal, no observable disease that I can tell so far -remind me of growing Guavas and Persimmon- .

Please keep in mind, that these are what I observe growing sapodilla in my yard; I understand folks in Florida experience a lot faster growth and fruiting on saps, so your result may vary...

Here's my tree looks today; good luck with yours!

[AndrewAZ]

Thanks for the great information every one!

[simon_grow]

Andrew, just get both!

Too bad its rare to find fresh Sapodilla fruit in the markets here. There is a strong demand for them.

Samu, nice looking tree. That’s good to know about the Hasya.

If anyone knows where I can get a Gigantea Sapodilla, please pm me. I don’t even know what it tastes like or if it’s productive, I assume not with such a large fruit, but it would be nice as a conversation piece for Sapodilla lovers. I’d love to get a Sapodilla that’s as big as a mamey sapote.

Simon

[Mugenia]

I am also curious about this Gigantea Sapodilla. Top Tropical sells them, but I am not sure if I trust them.

Shamus,

Thank you for the information!

Andrew, just get both!

Too bad its rare to find fresh Sapodilla fruit in the markets here. There is a strong demand for them.

Samu, nice looking tree. That’s good to know about the Hasya.

If anyone knows where I can get a Gigantea Sapodilla, please pm me. I don’t even know what it tastes like or if it’s productive, I assume not with such a large fruit, but it would be nice as a conversation piece for Sapodilla lovers. I’d love to get a Sapodilla that’s as big as a mamey sapote.

Simon

[simon_grow]

Here is a picture of my friends Alano Sapodilla full of fruits again. This is a great variety for SoCal growers.



Simon

[AndrewAZ]

Simon, if I had room I would, lol!!  But, sadly I have really reached my limit.  So, sapodilla will stay in a pot and maybe just a couple other potted plants.   Next thing I may be doing is removing trees and shrubs that are either unproductive, like my burgundy beauty plum and shrubs that produce fruit I do not like, like my Florida sweet Barbados cherry.

[Samu]

Too bad its rare to find fresh Sapodilla fruit in the markets here. There is a strong demand for them.
Simon

Fyi, today I found fresh Florida's sapodilla fruits at "Thien Phat" Tropical fruit store in Westminster, CA: 9291 Bolsa Ave. You're right, they don't always have them...Still rather hard to touch, I am told they are from Florida, looks like from different varieties, (home grown?) selling at $7/lbs, I grabbed a bag: