Author Topic: Soursop - flower to ripe fruit time?  (Read 1109 times)

Coach62

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Soursop - flower to ripe fruit time?
« on: September 05, 2018, 11:13:57 PM »
Well, I went out in TS Gordon the other day to better brace my soursop tree, it's about 7' tall and seems very happy, growing surprisingly well for a soursop. 

I had a pleasant surprise, it has about 10 large, immature flowers.  It makes me a bit nervous letting it fruit this late, as I know they can lose their leaves and go dormant in the winter. 

The tree was planted to replace a tree killed by Irma, so it's maybe been in the ground for 6 months or so. 

Should I let it fruit based on the fact that it's almost fall?  I would love to get one or two off of my tree, but if it won't make it to maturity since it's fall, I prefer to remove the flowers now.

Also, do you pollinate these just as you do an atemoya?  The flowers are quite different for sure. 

Thanks!
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Bruce

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Re: Soursop - flower to ripe fruit time?
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2018, 12:25:33 AM »
Sounds too young to set fruit. Keep it well fed with potassium to help with winter cold resistance. Anecdotally, I noticed mine fared a lot better when fed up on K before winter.

Sometimes soursops can take a couple of years worth of flowering before they finally set fruit. Per Har's guidance, I've found that Zinc and Boron help with fruit set (via foliar sprays). Also per Har's guidance, allowing the scale and other insects to munch on my tree actually increased fruit set (I think they are responsible for pollination). So, resist the temptation to make it look pretty by treating it with insecticide. They also like to be watered regularly.

Oddly, my two "miami" grafted soursops have been shy bearers, but a random seedling from a neighbor often produces dozens of fruit per year, even though all trees are roughly the same size and enjoy the same treatment regimen.

You can hand pollinate, which for me results in gigantic and perfectly shaped fruit.

And yah, I think fruit setting now is at risk of hanging over the winter.
Jeff  :-)

Coach62

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Re: Soursop - flower to ripe fruit time?
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2018, 01:10:10 PM »
Jeff, thank you for that well written and thorough response. 

I'm actually getting ready to do my fall potassium feeding anyway, so I'll do that, as well as a foliar, might as well do an iron drench also I guess.

While I've got you, can you please expand on your gypsum application statement you made a while back on mangoes?  About 3' down on parts of my property I have a very gypsum-like layer, I assume it's similar to your calcareous rock layer, but I can bust thru it fairly easily.  I assume it's calcium carbonate??  Can that be used instead of gypsum?

I was just very surprised that these trees need gypsum, seeing how we have so much calcium already in our soil, or so I thought anyway. 
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Re: Soursop - flower to ripe fruit time?
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2018, 02:34:47 PM »
I'm not familiar with your soil, but most of us here in Southeast Florida (Broward and Dade) have sufficient calcium. My case is a bit special, as my soil is not the native soil.

Deep sand can present an issue. Remember that feeder roots typically stay in the top soil. The anchor roots venture down deep. If you're having issues with jelly seed or low brix, then low calcium can be the culprit.

Also, note that nitrogen increases the need for Ca, and other cations, such as K and Mg, can compete for available Ca. So, what was previously sufficient calcium can be insufficient when K is introduced. I found this out the hard way when an application of sul-po-mag caused a break out of jelly seed one year. Nutrient levels cannot really be judged in isolation. Ratios between them is very important.

Jeff, thank you for that well written and thorough response. 

I'm actually getting ready to do my fall potassium feeding anyway, so I'll do that, as well as a foliar, might as well do an iron drench also I guess.

While I've got you, can you please expand on your gypsum application statement you made a while back on mangoes?  About 3' down on parts of my property I have a very gypsum-like layer, I assume it's similar to your calcareous rock layer, but I can bust thru it fairly easily.  I assume it's calcium carbonate??  Can that be used instead of gypsum?

I was just very surprised that these trees need gypsum, seeing how we have so much calcium already in our soil, or so I thought anyway.
Jeff  :-)