White sapote cold-hardness?

[bovine421]

I know what AI says but I'd like to hear from people with experience. I have a tree it's about 4 ft tall. Can it take temperatures below 32° for over 8 hours to consecutive nights. It's on today's dig up list  and bring inside.

[Galatians522]

My Dad's ~10' white sapote was not bothered by a brief dip into the high 20s earlier this year. It is probably in one if the coldest spots in his property. Longan trees nearby got some leaf burn.

[kengland]

I have a 10ft tree with a 4" trunk. I'm very close to Tampa. Expecting 27 degrees with sustained winds. That will probably put things into the high teens. Nothing will survive that. Plan is to dig every tree I have up, put root ball in plastic bag, stick in house, garage, where ever, and hope for the best.

Good luck to you

[RS]

Mine have also been fine upper 20's with no protection besides normal mulch.

Under 26 F or extreme wind chill I'm protecting them.

[elouicious]

18F killed a mature tree

[RS]

I wouldn't dig up unless absolutely necessary since white sapotes have deep tap roots. I've already damaged a couple doing this that probably won't survive now (our forecast is low 20's with single digit wind chills which is why I was digging up smaller ones).

Going to try using bricks + heat packs, cover with cardboard box then heap with mulch for the rest.

[quinoah]

you can put a barrel filled with water next to the tree and cover them with fleece or something else. I think the water will buffer short temp. drops, but not prolonged freezes. good luck!

[Galatians522]

For the record, wind chill has a minimal effect on plants. Now, wet bulb temperature that can be a factor if you are using water for freeze protection.

[Flgarden]

We had 31f and white sapotes small in pots or in ground did not lose a leaf. I did not cover them.
Only younghans lost newly pushed growth, but mature leaves  look green.
Tomorrow night will be 24f.

[K-Rimes]

My big one did fine to 26f. Just some leaf loss.

[Than]

At what temperatures do they lose their leaves? I want to plant one for the fruit but also to shade the garden. Winter minimums in my garden are usually about 28F / -2C.

For reference, my Inga edulis lost all its leaves although it will probably survive. Guava on the other hand kept its leaves even though it's still very young.

[K-Rimes]

Between 28f and 25f you'll see leaf loss, from my experience.

[mahraja786]

I've seen it down to the 30s this winter without any issues (leaf loss etc)

[RS]

Unwrapped the in-ground trees today. They all look great after that 24 F degree mini-hurricane!

UF says young trees are damaged or killed at temperatures at or below 24°F (-4°C) and mature trees damaged or killed at temperatures at or below 26°F (-3°C). I don't understand why young trees would be more cold hardy?

There's some good info about cold hardiness of different WS varieties during the 1990 CA freeze where temps hit 20°F (-6.7°C) followed by 21°F (-6.1°C) and then two weeks of 25 to 28°F (-3.9° to -2.2°C) nights: https://www.growables.org/informationVeg/GoldenberryNewCropPurdue.htm#Table_1
Suebelle and Vernon had 100% survival rates above the graft, with varying success among others.

[Flgarden]

Well... I got  here as low as 24f.and nights 26 and 30
 Uncovered  larger redlands definitely has all leaves destroyed. Grafted golden globe on that tree looks like leaves are damaged but way less than redlands
Covered MacDill and yanghands look ok, just list new growth
Covered Campbell, the same size as above, looks totally fried...
Covered hunter is totally fine

[DocTropical]

Fig, where did you buy all of these white sapotes? Trying to buy a sizable (15+ gal) tree. Realized I need to be more realistic with my plantings in north Orlando.

[Flgarden]

Some from xains nursery, some from everglades nursery, some i grafted scions received from Marta,

[Coconut Cream]

All of mine took some damage. I'm not sure how low it got, probably mid-20's but I also had a lot of unblocked wind from a huge corridor. The larger Denzler and Campbell trees in the ground will defoliate, I am unsure if they can recover. The potted Fruit Hunter's looks OK and the Younghans in a pot probably won't make it. I expected a great degree of cold-hardiness, that's for sure. Sapodilla fared much better than White Sapote.

Here's the Denzler tree yesterday. It probably looks worse today as the damage becomes more evident. Before the freeze, it was pushing new growth and setting fruit:

[kgilbert]

Not related to cold damage, but I cut the tap root entirely off of two seedling white sapotes in 7 gallon pots in an attempt to stunt them, and both defoliated completely but regrew leaves after about a year. I did notice that they had leaf buds show up pretty early on and laid dormant for about 9 months. So if the buds show up, there could be hope even if it looks like a stick for quite some time.

[bayareatropicals]

All of mine took some damage. I'm not sure how low it got, probably mid-20's but I also had a lot of unblocked wind from a huge corridor. The larger Denzler and Campbell trees in the ground will defoliate, I am unsure if they can recover. The potted Fruit Hunter's looks OK and the Younghans in a pot probably won't make it. I expected a great degree of cold-hardiness, that's for sure. Sapodilla fared much better than White Sapote.

Here's the Denzler tree yesterday. It probably looks worse today as the damage becomes more evident. Before the freeze, it was pushing new growth and setting fruit:

interesting, imo the cold you get in florida is not the same cold we get in the west (california). ive seen white sapote survive to 22F

[Galatians522]

All of mine took some damage. I'm not sure how low it got, probably mid-20's but I also had a lot of unblocked wind from a huge corridor. The larger Denzler and Campbell trees in the ground will defoliate, I am unsure if they can recover. The potted Fruit Hunter's looks OK and the Younghans in a pot probably won't make it. I expected a great degree of cold-hardiness, that's for sure. Sapodilla fared much better than White Sapote.

Here's the Denzler tree yesterday. It probably looks worse today as the damage becomes more evident. Before the freeze, it was pushing new growth and setting fruit:

interesting, imo the cold you get in florida is not the same cold we get in the west (california). ive seen white sapote survive to 22F

You are correct our cold comes in bursts that don't allow for trees to harden off and go dormant.

[XCA]

I have a black trash bin full of water next to my campbell white sapote to help with temperatures at night, the water works as a heat battery. here's a vid about it but they use the concept with citrus in here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iBohqx9ch8