Chupa-Chupa (Quararibea cordata)

[70Malibu]

Is anyone growing the Chupa-Chupa (Quararibea cordata) tree and have gotten fruits yet?

I think I saw a private party nursery selling this tree and it had nice fruits on the tree. I might buy the tree but wanted to know if the fruit tastes any good.

[elouicious]

reportedly really good-

there was a seller on here a while ago that was mailing fruit- maybe some HI members can chime in-

if the price was reasonable id grab it

[Jaboticaba45]

They've been fruited in FL, but I haven't heard of them in CA.
Supposed to be a great fruit.

But that is interesting, if there is a fruited tree in CA.
Would love to see a picture!

[Lumi-Ukko]

From my opinion, it is a good fruit with a complex flavor mix of cantaloupe, buttery sweet potato, and canistel. I have tried fruit in both Guatemala and Costa Rica, each time being good. I have several very small seedling trees, and one larger one year old seedling tree at about 3 feet high. The seeds sprout fast but then are a bit slow to put on much growth, and appear prone to damping off. But once the tree gets going it seems to be a fast grower. Unfortunately, I think I will be waiting a while until I get my first fruit, with reports of 5-7 years from seed in optimal conditions, but it is a good enough fruit for me to keep it around growing.

[ben mango]

The majority of chupa chupa I came across in Costa Rica were bland. The one time I tried it from Frankie’s it was amazing. His is a named variety called Dulce from Ecuador (if I remember correctly). Like a lot of fruits I think it may be best to grow these from selected varieties

[endemic2earth]

We have a mature in-ground chupa chupa seedling tree, probably about 7 years old, has flowered profusely 3 times, never set a single fruit. I read somewhere only about 1 out of ten seedling chupa chupa will set fruit if a solitary tree. My friend has Frankieʻs selection and we have a stout rootstock. You can figure out the rest. 

[70Malibu]

Ok, then it sounds like something I need to get if the tree already has fruits on it like the one I saw. I will need to ask the seller what variety it was. I just took a photo with my phone since I didn't know what it was and it looked different. I'm sure if it was chupa-chupa the guy will be asking for over $200 for the tree. He had a few of them with fruits. If it is the tree, I will update everyone on it.

[akimbo]

Maybe ask if you can purchase a cutting of that cultivar to graft onto your existing tree instead of paying so much for a whole tree?  Then you can air layer that branch into a separate tree...

[70Malibu]

No, the person is a private seller. They do not cut off branches to sell. They move the trees fast, then replace with more of the same. Also, I do not have a rootstock tree to graft it.

[akimbo]

Oh, my bad.  I must have mixed up your posts with someone else's... I'll slink back to my corner now LOL

[Finca La Isla]

I grow what we call sapote Colombiano in Costa Rica.  Some are pretty good, others not so.  I do consultations and planting design around CR and I’d say that chupa chupa does not like dry.  In good, wet conditions it is a fast grower but when it starts to get dry it’s the first tree in the grove to start looking sad.  So I would be cautious about California.
Peter

[70Malibu]

Ok, thanks for all the feedback. I did ask the seller what it was, he said no he does not sell any Chupa Chupa tree. It must have been some other fruit tree. I will go back and take a photo of the fruit and leaves next time.

I decided to get the Miyazaki mango tree instead. He has the Golden Queen mango as well, but when I asked him which one tastes better, he said Miyazaki. He also said it is not the same Irwin, but he believes it is an improved variety of Irwin. I thought I read some online reports that it could be a seedling of Irwin so I'm not sure of the exact variety, but the outside fruit color looks real nice. Hope it tastes as good as it looks.