I've been playing with Green Sapote in the 9b San Jose area. Last year I had a tall spindly one in the ground that was killed by frost, but it was a weak plant with foliage only at the top, planted in an open area at the bottom of a slope. This year I planted another one near the top of my slope under the canopy of a big oak tree. It's not the sunniest spot but it's got frost protection. I also have a few more Green Sapotes in pots which are currently in an open area. We've had such a mild winter there hasn't really been an opportunity to test their hardiness yet.

I should also note that 4 of my potted Green Sapotes flowered like crazy this year but there was no fruit set. It could be that being pots was a factor in that, or it could be that our cold summer nights were the cause.

My Sapote's are all potted, and they're doing well.
Only issue with potted plants is they need to be beaten up once in a while or provided with plenty of worms.

Sue/Ver Sapotes grow very easily here in our area Bush, take some of my fruit if you'd like, not many of us eat it anymore.
I was thinking about grafting the Green Sapote on half of the tree since it's growing so vigorously and very cold hardy.

Hell, I can give you scions if you'd like.

Waxy, Thats amazing you found a local nursery to sell Green Sapote tree's near San Jose. Those seeds are in high demand , especially cold acclimated. Are you starting a bunch of seedlings or trading any?

I made a confusion with the skin green and not the name green.
Both Suebelle and Vernon are green to me.

The actual "Green" Sapote Pouteria Viridis, I only have a small tree and hasn't fruited.
Sorry for the mix up.

Give it full sun.

Mine is in full sun, no shade.
Deals with frost no problem.

Fruiting out of control, they're just dropping all over the place.
Tastes like sweet avocado!

Quote from: waxy on December 07, 2017, 12:03:34 PM

Quote from: fruitlovers on December 07, 2017, 01:52:44 AM

Quote from: Finca La Isla on December 05, 2017, 08:02:41 PM

Does Langsat really have a chance in California?

About the same chance as mangosteen in California, and nobody, as yet, has been able to fruit either there.

Getting it to fruit is like winning a lottery.
I'll be surprised if it ever flowers in my lifetime.

My tree is grafted one and was 3 meters high before i cut out all the wood with bad bark. It have never bloomed but always looks good. I like to know how many years before fruit or what size.

I'm just growing mine for fun, along with a few seedling mangosteens with very low expectations.
It's eventful to see them grow, especially in such a harsh (windy, cold, lack of humidity) environment.

Sunny's response

My tree is grafted one and was 3 meters high before i cut out all the wood with bad bark. It have never bloomed but always looks good. I like to know how many years before fruit or what size.

My longkongtree has insect under the bark...i cut all branches where i could see it but now it came back.

How can that be treated?

Assuming your langsat consists primarily of brown bark.
- Get a microfiber cloth, or a cloth towel
- Mix 1:1:5 Horticulture:Orange oil:Water
- Soak the towel in concoction
- Gently wipe the bark
- If on or under leaves, spray with mister or use a fogger in containment

I did this both my langsat trees and they're fine.

I also paid $9/lb at fruit specialty store in Westminster, CA.
She said it’s locally grown, it tasted ok; my own Dr. White and Honey heart
are a lot better...
By the way, some members here saying that Cherimoya from Chili
are really bad, and I agree, I wouldn’t buy those again, having
bought some of those myself in the past...

+1, don't buy them very bland, grainy and no flavor.
$9.99 a pound and a ton of seeds.

I bought it from H-Mart in Buena Park and Irvine

There's a stick on it with ID wrapped in Foam.

I used 5-6" of mulch for my greenhouse.
Weeds never seem to be a problem.
They're more of a problem in the containers than the ground itself.
I do soak the mulch with orange/neem oil to deter any pests they enjoy hiding in the mulch.
Don't use dirt, it's terrible in my experience, dusty and overall mess to deal with when moving potted plants or routine maintenance.

those look great! how do you germinate the seeds? do you just crack them open and plant?

I usually let the fruit ripen then eat it, once all the flesh is gone I crack the seed open.
The embryo usually starts growing by that time, 99% germination for me.

Sometimes I get a polyembryonic seed and 2 seedlings appear, I just snip off the slower grower.
Allows energy to focus on a single branch for optimal growth.

I've actually shipped out some seeds to several folks on here already rooting not too long ago.
Just full sun and they're trying to reach for the sky.

I ordered wiggle wire channels from farmtek and they only had one size.  I looked at GH megastore and almost went with the deep stuff for end hoops but decided I like the farmtek stuff better and am assuming it can hold 2 plys.  It says good to 20mil.

White paint is a pita but I think you guys are right, it is worth the effort. 

I will not be doing double poly but I am thinking the end wall poly and top poly will have to double on the end hoops.  Is that how you did it?  Poly on end walls?  Do you use the same rail to hold the end wall and top poly on the end hoops?  That part is not clear to me how people are connecting the end wall poly.

I'm not sure if I understand your question but I'll try my best.

On each end, what you can do is slightly bend the spring lock base (SLB) to an arch, in tandem with the 2 ends.
With the deep SLB you can wiggle wire the sides on first, then the ends.

That way, when it's really warm out you can remove the ends.
Allowing it the air ventilation needed, then cover when it's snowing

The standard SLB will hold 2x 6mil poly and 2x WW very tightly.
The deep SLB will double that, with room to spare.

My greenhouse isn't a hoop, it's a 20x20 barn shape roof with vents.
I seal mine up just to fog with Horticulture/Neem/Orange oil for the annoying pests.

Unfortunately you will kill many desirable birds if you just scatter rat traps around intended for only rats.  Birds will be attracted to peanut butter and other baits, especially in the fall when other foods are scarce.  Harmless possums and raccoons also become victims.  Rat Zappers and a caged rat trap with an opening will be much more selective.  Sadly, I learned the hard way with a woodpecker, blue jay, and several unidentified beautiful birds.  My traps are attached to an 8 ft pole for hanging in the tree and baited with a macadamia nut (or piece of avocado).  Enclosing most of the trap with wire mesh (bottom open, hole for rat) has eliminated the unhappy discovery of a killed bird.  I do have a  Rattus rattus rat (tree, attic, palm, etc.) problem, especially with my macadamias.  I have 16-20 traps on poles in the trees running at any one time.  Three years ago I killed 96 rats in the year.  Some years are better than others.  Poison baits will kill many secondary consumers including my free-range chickens and possibly a dog or cat.  Eradication is not possible (your neighbors are raising them too), just work on minimizing the population and effects.  Neighbor had them in her attic (common for this rat) and had to poison the attic and seal all openings using professional help.  Reminds me of the snail issues before the drought reduced that population.  The Internet has some interesting information on this species of rat that is now common in CA.

Very true, I've caught more birds in the live traps than I could count.
Luckily they're live traps, after catching live birds on sticky traps I felt very bad.

These rats are getting smarter and smarter every year.
For some reason they don't even want the fruits in my yard anymore, they just eat the papaya leaves or my chili plant leaves.
I have over 40 varieties of chili pepper plants and they're all down to just the nub.
Not only they eat the leaves and stems, they bite off large 1/4 to 1/2" branches off all my trees, Jabos, Longan, Mangosteen and make a nest out of it. When I discover the nest it see all sorts of leaves and branches. They definitely travel far to collect those branches.

I've tried the following:

- Bucket roller with Elmer's glue
- Live bait trap
- Plank and water
- Very large snap traps, enough to break your finger
- Sticky traps
- Water Cannon (Sprinkler animal repellent)
- Zapper

I've literally killed hundreds of rats, no thanks to the sewer drain down the street, they come out every night.
Think by next year I'll hit a milestone, 1000+ rats killed, it's a relentless battle and you'll never beat the swarm.

Now I'm actually taming some feral cats, it's my last resort and hopefully they'll fix the problem for good.

Depending on large your tree is, I'd advise buying a sheet metal 2x2 feet, large if you have rats the size of your forearm.
Wrap it towards the middle of the trunk, and then get some foil and place it on the lower part.
This will prevent the rats or squirrels to climb up the tree, if the foil doesn't already scare them away.

Rooting, I never have any success even in a controlled environment.
Unless they're small plants or herbs.

Air-Layer, is so easy and almost 99.99% successful. (.01% from misfire)
I usually do it around Spring time, works better than summer for me.
- Guava 1-2 months
- Various citrus (Finger limes, Grape fruit, Yuzu, Sudachi, etc) 1-2 months
- Longan 2-4 months
- Jaboticaba 1-2 months

Months = root time

It can be from uneven moisture levels, lack of Calcium or other minerals, changes in weather such as going from heat waves to cold weather and also from fertilizing at improper times. If you randomly fertilize, the fertilizers can cause rapid expansion of the fruit which can split the Fruit.

You may also notice splitting of fruit when trees go from fruiting to vegetative growth. Do you have a picture of your tree?

Simon

Spot on Simon, mine cracks very frequently at the highest part of the tree.
Anything lower in the shade, deep below the canopy did not crack.

Cracking did occur during cold and hot swings here in San Jose.
They do prefer a consistent temperature whether or below or high, saturation is no different.

The best way for me to avoid this issue is bag up the fruits or keep them in the greenhouse.
Although I avoid keeping them in the greenhouse, otherwise when winter comes they are too used to the warmth and have difficulty transitioning to colder temps.