Best White Sapote Variety? (California)

[LycheeLust]

So I've been looking at all the white sapote posts, but it seems like there's no clear white sapote winner.
Has anyone tried enough varieties to say one they like best? I don't like the bitterness that some varieties have.

[giorgosgr.]

So I've been looking at all the white sapote posts, but it seems like there's no clear white sapote winner.
Has anyone tried enough varieties to say one they like best? I don't like the bitterness that some varieties have.

This is a very interesting subject, i have the same problem with finding out what is the best in California like climate.
But what would you consider best,
Best pulp/seed ratio, texture, fruit size?
Or purely best taste, with some distinct flavours?

[LycheeLust]

So I've been looking at all the white sapote posts, but it seems like there's no clear white sapote winner.
Has anyone tried enough varieties to say one they like best? I don't like the bitterness that some varieties have.

This is a very interesting subject, i have the same problem with finding out what is the best in California like climate.
But what would you consider best,
Best pulp/seed ratio, texture, fruit size?
Or purely best taste, with some distinct flavours?

For me it’s flavor. I really like white sapote but the bitterness in some varieties annoys me. Sort of like how you can sometimes taste the astringency in persimmons. I’m not growing any white sapote yet, so I’m doing research lol

[LycheeLust]

Bump. Can anyone help me choose which variety to grow?

[Mike T]

I am at the warmer limit for them with Reinecke and the belles dominating and they are good but could have better appearance and flesh yield. A couple of years ago a friend brought a fruit from his parents place that was bright yellow, immaculate skin and a real globe. I don't think it was golden globe but it was the best I ever tried and I suspect the globe style ones that are clean and bright might have the jump on many others.

[ScottR]

Vernon is a very rich tasting fruit, nies can be excellent if leaf on tree till close to ripe, santa cruz, and more bland side suebelle which if true variety should have some fuzz on bottom side of leaf. Many nurseries sell suebelle but not true variety which was mixed up long ago so look for woolly underside on leaf for true suebelle. Lemon gold is supposed to be good one and cuccio is also good. It all depends on what you can find in area best of luck. 

[giorgosgr.]

Vernon is a very rich tasting fruit, nies can be excellent if leaf on tree till close to ripe, santa cruz, and more bland side suebelle which if true variety should have some fuzz on bottom side of leaf. Many nurseries sell suebelle but not true variety which was mixed up long ago so look for woolly underside on leaf for true suebelle. Lemon gold is supposed to be good one and cuccio is also good. It all depends on what you can find in area best of luck.

Could you describe santa cruz fruit? Size, colour and taste?

[ScottR]

Hard to explain taste but size varies from small 2" diameter up too 3" diameter color yellow to yellow with some lime green when ripe. Taste is sweet but not as complex of a flavor as Vernon. Also taste depends on ripeness when over ripe can go into semi-rich caramel flavor. 

[giorgosgr.]

Hard to explain taste but size varies from small 2" diameter up too 3" diameter color yellow to yellow with some lime green when ripe. Taste is sweet but not as complex of a flavor as Vernon. Also taste depends on ripeness when over ripe can go into semi-rich caramel flavor.

Thank you very much!
So Vernon has the richest caramel like flavour in your opinion ?

[shpaz]

Though I haven't tasted any of these, in my notes I have marked the following as potentially great varieties following various discussions on this forum throughout the years:

1. Fairhaven
2. Sunset
3. Vernon

In that order.

This thread has a lot of great info about these varieties: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=22429.0

if you manage to find a Fairhaven or Sunset, please let me know 

[ScottR]

Hard to explain taste but size varies from small 2" diameter up too 3" diameter color yellow to yellow with some lime green when ripe. Taste is sweet but not as complex of a flavor as Vernon. Also taste depends on ripeness when over ripe can go into semi-rich caramel flavor.

Thank you very much!
So Vernon has the richest caramel like flavour in your opinion ?

Yes, off all my varieties I like the rich taste of Vernon,Nies the best but some varieties I have have not fruited yet so might be another excellent tasting variety out there. Plus taste is different in everyone, have heard that Chestnut is supposed to have caramel flavor but mine hasn't fruited yet. Also depends on your growing climate I live close to Ocean within 2-3 miles as crow fly's, so have cooler Summers and wind.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Always interesting to have a discussion on a favorite fruit, car, politician, etc.  Seems like one needs to gather a bunch of scionwood varieties, graft them on a single tree, in a given environment, water accordingly, and sample the fruit.  I was fortunate to participate in the collection of Bob Chambers' scionwood extravaganza and have sampled many of the varieties mentioned.  Most are grafted on existing trees (they graft as easily as apples, very forgiving).  In my opinion most are too sweet (like cherimoyas).  I prefer one that has ripened on the tree, has fallen, and is warmed by the sun.  It reminds me of custard.  Cut into large pieces and dried in my dehydrator, they are an excellent dried fruit which I use when backpacking.  One of my trees is over 40 years old (Pike/Vernon/Nettie) and is a true giant.  Grafted on a yellow sapote (Casimiroa tetrameria) it is a managable size about the size of a peach tree. I would not plant one near the house/septic tank/walkway.  At least they are quite drought resistant.

[giorgosgr.]

Always interesting to have a discussion on a favorite fruit, car, politician, etc.  Seems like one needs to gather a bunch of scionwood varieties, graft them on a single tree, in a given environment, water accordingly, and sample the fruit.  I was fortunate to participate in the collection of Bob Chambers' scionwood extravaganza and have sampled many of the varieties mentioned.  Most are grafted on existing trees (they graft as easily as apples, very forgiving).  In my opinion most are too sweet (like cherimoyas).  I prefer one that has ripened on the tree, has fallen, and is warmed by the sun.  It reminds me of custard.  Cut into large pieces and dried in my dehydrator, they are an excellent dried fruit which I use when backpacking.  One of my trees is over 40 years old (Pike/Vernon/Nettie) and is a true giant.  Grafted on a yellow sapote (Casimiroa tetrameria) it is a managable size about the size of a peach tree. I would not plant one near the house/septic tank/walkway.  At least they are quite drought resistant.

How does the dryed fruit compare to the fresh? Any new flavours develop?
Thanks

[LycheeLust]

Though I haven't tasted any of these, in my notes I have marked the following as potentially great varieties following various discussions on this forum throughout the years:

1. Fairhaven
2. Sunset
3. Vernon

In that order.

This thread has a lot of great info about these varieties: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=22429.0

if you manage to find a Fairhaven or Sunset, please let me know 

Yeah I always hear about those varieties. I’ll keep looking for them. Thanks!

[nexxogen]

Guys, if you had to pick 5 of these 8 varieties, which ones would you choose? I'm primarily looking for flavor and the lack of bitterness. Sweetness and fruit size aren't important.

1. Suebelle
2. Vernon
3. Walton
4. Lemon Gold
5. Santa Cruz
6. Leroy
7. Younghans Gold
8. Nies

[Chica_Sepote]

Also, if anyone has experience with Nettie, I'd be curious to hear. I have one growing but haven't tasted the fruit yet. I hope I didn't blow it with getting that variety.

[K-Rimes]

Also, if anyone has experience with Nettie, I'd be curious to hear. I have one growing but haven't tasted the fruit yet. I hope I didn't blow it with getting that variety.

Everyone says Nettie is delish, just small.

[LycheeLust]

Guys, if you had to pick 5 of these 8 varieties, which ones would you choose? I'm primarily looking for flavor and the lack of bitterness. Sweetness and fruit size aren't important.

1. Suebelle
2. Vernon
3. Walton
4. Lemon Gold
5. Santa Cruz
6. Leroy
7. Younghans Gold
8. Nies

Sc400 once told me
here's what seems to come up a lot (as the best varieties):

- Rainbow

- Malibu

- Sunset

- Fairhaven

- Leroy

- Lemon Gold

- Cuccio

- Santa Cruz

- Redlands

[RB]

I was at Exotica nursery on Friday and picked up a grafted Sunset in a 5 gallon container.  There were a bunch if anyone is looking for this variety.

[marklee]

I wasn't a big fan of yellow sapote until I found a tree planted in a vacant field in Escondido in San Diego. The fruit is the yellow and a bit on the small size, but they taste like butterscotch or caramel. I've grafted up a few, I just call it Mary Ln.

[Jack, Nipomo]

As far as I know, there are two "Malibu" cultivars in CA, Malibu#1, and Malibu #3.  Collected by past member John Moore from selected trees.

Nettie is a good fruit, has an interesting shape and looks like a pear hanging on the tree.  Seeds are smaller than some (like Pike).

There are different cultivars of the yellow sapote in CA; #7 and #8.  These were selected from a CRFG taste testing years ago, it was written up in an old yearbook.  The yellow sapotes grown here resemble a large mango, yellow and with small seeds.  Seeds are different than the white sapote in size and shape, being more compact.  Fruit taste is different than white sapote too.

[sc4001992]

Thanks Jack for the clarification. Yes, I'm new to growing the white sapote, only 4-5yrs, have not tasted more than a few of the varieties.

I appreciate the members who have contributed to my collection (up to 27 different ones) on my multi-grafted trees.
- Jack
- Robert
- JF
- Jonah
- Mike
- and many others

I did notice that some of my grafted varieties seem to like to produce flowers/fruits more frequently than others. The following 4 seems to flower well.
1. Cuccio
2. Nettie
3. Younghan's Gold
4. Fairhaven

Getting some small fruits on the Cuccio, Nettie, Fairhaven now. I need my grafts to grow larger so I can taste some good size fruits.

[sc4001992]

Here's my Cuccio fruits on my grafted branch. The fruits on my small branch which is only 3 ft long are getting very large. There were 6 fruits on this cluster but it was just to crowded so I removed one so now it has 5 fruits. I'm not sure how much bigger these fruits will get but it is still growing. The largest fruit measured 12-3/4" in circumference. I will let you know how the taste is when I pick one when it gets a little soft/ripe.

Thanks to Bush2Beach who supplied this scion variety to my collection (28 varieties).

[Jack, Nipomo]

Many varieties of white sapote are mentioned in this thread.  A great number were obtained from the massive collection of Bob Chambers and he generously allowed many of us onto the property to collect scionwood.  There is another variety of white sapote called Clytia, named after his wife who was involved in the annual CRFG yearbook.  All of these are worth propagating to continue Bob's legacy.  The collecting trip is http://www.whitesapote.com/index.htm  thanks to Harvey.

[LycheeLust]

Here's my Cuccio fruits on my grafted branch. The fruits on my small branch which is only 3 ft long are getting very large. There were 6 fruits on this cluster but it was just to crowded so I removed one so now it has 5 fruits. I'm not sure how much bigger these fruits will get but it is still growing. The largest fruit measured 12-3/4" in circumference. I will let you know how the taste is when I pick one when it gets a little soft/ripe.

Thanks to Bush2Beach who supplied this scion variety to my collection (28 varieties).

Awesome!

[Calreef18]

Any tips on how to pick at the proper ripeness? Can they hang for too long on the tree? I have one that was labeled as “Vernon white” but it had yellow flesh. Tasty but not what I was expecting, wondering if I waited too long.

[LycheeLust]

What were you expecting?

[Calreef18]

From the all the descriptions online I thought the Vernon whites were white inside vs yellow? Of the varieties I’ve had I seem to prefer the white ones overall compared to the yellows.

[MasonG31]

My Vernon fruit has very white flesh.  It's very rich and delicious too.  I like it better than Suebelle, but I don't think I have a true Suebelle.

[Pedroboy]

I was at Exotica nursery on Friday and picked up a grafted Sunset in a 5 gallon container.  There were a bunch if anyone is looking for this variety.

And just as an update for the late arrivals (like me) - Steve says he's currently sold out of Sunset for the rest of the 2021, but that he'll make it available again come Spring '22.

[californicus]

Here's my Cuccio fruits on my grafted branch. The fruits on my small branch which is only 3 ft long are getting very large. There were 6 fruits on this cluster but it was just to crowded so I removed one so now it has 5 fruits. I'm not sure how much bigger these fruits will get but it is still growing. The largest fruit measured 12-3/4" in circumference. I will let you know how the taste is when I pick one when it gets a little soft/ripe.

Thanks to Bush2Beach who supplied this scion variety to my collection (28 varieties).

What varieties are best for rootstocks, aka base tree in your experience? I hear that it is difficult to multi-graft some varieties as they tend to stunt any grafted branches. Is that true? On a similar note, do you get way too much fruit (I know its subjective, but I mean it as too much for a family of 4 to consume) with just one tree?

[sc4001992]

sorry for seeing this question so late.
My reply is to grow out seedling white sapote trees, I did. I used the McDill fruit and the yellow sapote fruits from my local arboretum when they sold some fruits.

Once the tree is established, like 6-7 ft tall, they will be plenty of branches, then you can graft on most of the branches. My seedling McDill tree grew to 18 ft in 7 yrs, then I topped it and used all the branches for grafting and left a few big ones alone for seedling fruit. Today that tree is gone, but I still have the scionwood of the seedling McDill that fruited so it should fruit for me again soon. All of my seedling trees planted have flowers now so I should be able to taste the new yellow sapote fruit as well. I restarted my collection and now I back up to 27 varieties.

[K-Rimes]

I would also like to add in that white sapote is SUPER easy to graft, either cleft or bark grafts. I was able to do tons of bark grafting on the trunk just peeling it down and inserting a scion at about 65˚ and then folding the bark back around the scion. This is nice because white sapote can be really leggy sometimes. I wouldn't hesitate to top them personally. They can grow out of control.

[sc4001992]

Yes, I agree. The bark graft and side graft works well for white sapote, after a few years the graft union blends in nice on the side graft.

[ScottR]

Pike and McDill are both vigorous growers and make good rootstock.