The Tropical Fruit Forum

Do seedling Lucuma trees flower for many years before setting fruit? I ask because I have a tree that has flowered heavily for 5 years and never set a fruit.

@Seanny. What months did they fall into the bag?

The fruits on my tree are in various states of development including one that may be ripe. They set pretty well without hand pollination. Hope they taste better than styrofoam this season.

Louie’s in Riverside probably has some annonas.

Those varieties require 700 and 800 chill hours which is way more than you get in most areas of Southern California. I would plant a variety that is low chill and more likely to give you fruit. You could always search out some scions of those 2 varieties to graft to whatever you plant. A nonproductive branch or 2 is no big deal.

When it is up Bananas.org has some good resources, particularly their bananawiki. The site is so slow and clunky. Really a shame as they have good info archived and many photos. Would love it if this forum created a banana subsection.

My experience with ground squirrels over the past 3 years in the San Diego area has been eye opening. I am in a semi rural area, Bonsall. Moved here 5 years ago. Property was largely barren but well populated with Squirrels. Have planted about 200 trees. First year the trees were decimated by squirrels. Got an air rifle, Benjamin Marauder, and started hunting. Got about 10 in a week but it did not make a dent. Got a squirrelinator trap. Wow!! Captured and euthanized over 100 poor souls over the next 6 months. Some of those were undoubtably reinfestation from adjacent properties.

Since that eradication the trap is put out whenever I see them on my property. Have gotten about 2 per month since. My property is 2.5 acres.

First I have heard of this hybrid. My main concern would be chill requirement for flowering and fruit set.

Ha ha ha. Looks like green tomatoes. WS fruit are surprisingly variable in size and shape.

@mcoambassador my trees have had the good fortune to have only rare exposure to either light frost or extreme heat residing 5 to 15 miles from the coast. Luciida, Nata, and Orton have been weak growers for me. Other than those all other varieties have thrived and fruited well on strong cherimoya rootstock. For me rootstock vigor has trumped variety in determining how an individual tree has done. With late summer heat all of my cherimoya have shown some stress such as burned leaves and burned fruit when not under the canopy. Not growing it now but Booth has been my most bullet proof variety in the past.

I Know Anthony well. He is a good man and would not knowingly misrepresent his trees. When prices are particularly favorable it is more profitable to buy from another grower than go through seedling and graft process. Mislabeling can occur at any stage of the process. It is a lot of time and work. When he does it himself he makes sure the scion wood expresses the said phenotype.

Sorry for anyone who has mislabeled trees. I have at least 4 cherimoyas trees that are not what they were sold as. Amazes me because they were well grafted strong plants. Someone thought they were doing good.

Not really acreage Ollie. I have between 1 and 1.5 acres of orchard. Any more would start to feel like work.

I will now have a Suebelle seedling and the Vernon in ground to accept grafts in future years. May plant a third WS to replace a useless landscape tree on a moderate slope. Regardless,I am sure just one white sapote will produce more fruit than I can shovel within a couple years. Just one more fruit crop to keep he chickens fat.

Would like to plant Mcdill or Younghans gold. Open to most others except Suebelle which I already have. Thanks in advance.