How quick do grafted sapodilla bear fruit?

[Filozophr]

Gonna buy one soon, a 1 gall grafted. I’d like it’s final pot size to be 25-30 gallon so I’d be priming it a lot, it’s grafted so I should expect fruit in 3-4 years right?

[Jaboticaba45]

I've seen little runt 3 gallon trees flowering. Your guess is probably the best bet although I wouldn't be surprised if it started to flower sooner. These do well in pots anyway.

[brian]

I found a flower on my 1-gal grafted sapodilla, so very fast it seems

[Midwestfruitjungle]

I have a silas woods grafted that pushed out around 30 flowers, setting baby fruits which I had to pluck off as it is only 2 feet tall. It does depend on the cultivar, but generally they fruit really quickly, and I would definitely recommend pinching off set fruit till it is large enough. I think mine is in a 1/2 gallon pot. 

[Gulfgardener]

I bought one from Sow Exotic in 2020. Since then it has produced 5 leaves. That's it. I've fed, watered and babied that tree. I'm not sure if they grafted it too young or what. It's about to go in ground for a sink or swim scenario. The fruit isn't my favorite so not really a big loss.  Please take care if you order from them. 

[Midwestfruitjungle]

I bought one from Sow Exotic in 2020. Since then it has produced 5 leaves. That's it. I've fed, watered and babied that tree. I'm not sure if they grafted it too young or what. It's about to go in ground for a sink or swim scenario. The fruit isn't my favorite so not really a big loss.  Please take care if you order from them.

I have purchased from sow exotic a few times and never had any issues, but Silas woods is a very slow grower, like, 5 inches in a year or two. I would give putting it in the ground a shot. Good luck!

[JR561]

What variety?

[Gulfgardener]

It's a Makok. I heard about Silas Woods being slow but I never heard the same about Makok. It's not rootbound and gets full sun. I just keep telling myself that it is adjusting or that "by the 3rd year they leap" saying. The seedlings I started last year are starting to catch up. I'm half tempted to graft it on to one of them for the vigor. Maybe the nursery just had crappy rootstock.
Trees are so expensive now I really don't want to try to buy another.

[MarktLee]

My grafted Makok from Frankies fruited at about 3 feet tall.

[MisterPlantee]

I think you got a bad one. I have a grafted Makok in a container, bought it last year only a couple feet tall and its put on probably 100+ leaves since then and has flowers/fruits and thats inside a greenhouse too.

It's a Makok. I heard about Silas Woods being slow but I never heard the same about Makok. It's not rootbound and gets full sun. I just keep telling myself that it is adjusting or that "by the 3rd year they leap" saying. The seedlings I started last year are starting to catch up. I'm half tempted to graft it on to one of them for the vigor. Maybe the nursery just had crappy rootstock.
Trees are so expensive now I really don't want to try to buy another.

[GreatLakesRareFruit]

I bought one from Sow Exotic in 2020. Since then it has produced 5 leaves. That's it. I've fed, watered and babied that tree. I'm not sure if they grafted it too young or what. It's about to go in ground for a sink or swim scenario. The fruit isn't my favorite so not really a big loss.  Please take care if you order from them.

Did you check out its roots when you got it? I bought A LOT from Sow Exotic last year, and nearly everything died due to the worst  root binding I've ever seen. Everything was stunted, and lasted about a year until the slow decline finally took them out.  I will never buy from them again, and I'll never refer anyone their way.

[Gulfgardener]

There were hardly any roots and it is the same size it was last year, just with more leaves. I think they grafted too young and stunted it. I have seedlings that are taller so next year I might try to approach graft the top.

I agree, trash nursery and I will never buy from them again. There are many more nurseries like Lara Farms that have rare varieties and quality stock. Even Top Topicals (which people talk crap about) are better than these clowns.

[Orkine]

In my experience, Makok is notoriously slow grower.
I have two (seedling, not grafted trees) that I have had for 4 years and they are not over 3 feet tall.  One is better than the other which tells me location could be a factor in my case but it certainly is shaping up to be a slow grower, and more of a bush than a tree (at least for now).

[roblack]

Fruiting in pots can be considerably quicker than in ground. I've had several trees (not just saps) that were flowering/fruiting in a pot, and then after planting in ground, took their time to start flowering again. When the roots can grow freely, thats where much of the energy goes. I'm convinced that a confined root system is one of several stressors/triggers for flowering.

My guess is that a sap tree would produce well for how ever many years, then decline, if in a pot. Proper care could mitigate the decline. Having a new tree ready to take its place would be ideal imo.

Yes, many saps will flower when small. But they cannot support adequate fruit development, and will miss out on needed growth if putting energy into fruits. Wait until branches are numerous, and can support some weight.

Based upon the 3 I've grown (Alano, Silas Woods, Butterscotch), they all seem to be slow to moderate growers. Alano was the most coy in flowering. Silas Woods is a consistent producer, and is still about 9 - 10 feet tall. Beautiful tree. BS is flowering now too, and hopefully will hold a few fruit. Its only 6 feet tall and skinny, so would only let it hold 3 or less.

Your protection of 3-4 years is reasonable, in most situations.

[Pasca]

I have found that, since sapodillas are slow growers, buy the biggest tree that you can.  And for me, at least, having it in the ground with good organic soil and moisture really helps to grow.  As other members have pointed out, the cultivars will determine how well they fruit.  Having a lot of flowers don't equate to having fruits because my trees would put out a lot of flowers and they just wither without producing fruits.  Good luck.