Author Topic: New dwarfing white sapote variety?  (Read 1291 times)

BonsaiBeast

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New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« on: January 13, 2021, 09:43:12 PM »
A friend of mine showed me a mysterious white sapote tree on his property in Solana Beach. He says that the tree could be up to 50 years old.

Whats interesting is it appears to be incredibly dwarfing by white sapote standards. The tree has never been pruned.

Any white sapote experts to weigh in on whether or not this tree might have some potential for propogation?







« Last Edit: January 13, 2021, 10:03:28 PM by BonsaiBeast »

Bush2Beach

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2021, 01:27:27 AM »
Looks interesting,Hows the fruit?
Trunk size is not that big for an old tree.
Any fuzz on the leaf underside indicating possible Tetrameria hybrid?

ScottR

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2021, 12:13:23 PM »
Must be some poor soil conditions there because I have a tree that's maybe 25+ years old that's my rainbow seedling that was planted from seed that's twice as big in trunk size as that tree in pic. But like Jonah mention how's the taste that's what is important. Not that size isn't important the only tree that I have out of collection from Bob Chambers collection (40 varieties) that is some what dwarfing so far are 'Salad' and 'Bravo' those two trees have stayed small compared to other varieties.
You should get scion wood and graft onto seedling rootstock and see how it grows for you.

Jack, Nipomo

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2021, 02:43:26 PM »
I have a number of Sapote trees here in Nipomo.  My oldest tree is a monster, 2 ft diameter trunk.  It is grafted with Pike and Vernon, bushels of fruit everywhere enhanced with fruit flies.  I also have two dwarfed trees, one a Pike, one a Vernon.  Both produce normal sized fruit.  Each "tree" is approx 4 ft tall, and is over 15 years old.  These are the same varieties in the monster tree nearby.  The difference is that the C. edulis "Pike and Vernon" are grafted on yellow sapote rootstock C. tetrameria.  Obviously no incompatibility with more than 15 years since grafting.  One is in the ground, one in a half barrel.

Conversely, yellow sapote, c. tetrameria, grafted on c. edulis results in a semidwarfed tree, about the size of a peach tree.  I have both #6 and #7 varieties of C. tetrameria grafted on white sapote, C. edulis.  Each tree is approx 15 years old or more.

It seems that the size of white sapote, C. edulis, could be controlled with the use of a C. tetrameria interstem a technique used in apple dwarfing.  Perhaps then, a white sapote tree would fit in the average city-sized lot. 

BonsaiBeast

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2021, 06:55:24 PM »
Here are some photos taken last week of the tree. It looks a lot better than in winter, but still, growth flushes seem to be quite small.

The leaves are very fuzzy.'

I've taken some scions to graft and I await to see how it grows on fresh rootstocks.











JoeP450

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2021, 10:57:52 PM »



Not trying to cause any grief but looking at the branch angles of the tree I have a hard time believing that the tree has never had some form of pruning done 🤔. Regardless if the tree is in fact 50 yrs old it is incredibly small for white sapote.

-joe

Oolie

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2021, 12:07:02 AM »
Looks like it lacks the strong vertical habit of many WS varieties and is instead showing more weeping habit like all of my Chestnut grafts.

sc4001992

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2021, 01:19:49 AM »
I have 2 seedling yellow sapote that are about 5 yrs old, the branches on them all weep down. I was able to get the central leader branch to grow upwards after trimming the weeping branch tips and forcing a straight branch from it to grow up with some help. Even then all the new branches try to weep again. I grafted 5 other white sapote varieties on this tree and they seem to grown fine but the main branches of the yellow sapote have a downward curved from all the weeping growth. This tree is 7-8ft now, my other white sapote seedlings (McDill) grown at the same time grew over 20 ft and I had to cut it back a few times to keep it under 15 ft.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2021, 07:14:37 AM by sc4001992 »

BonsaiBeast

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Re: New dwarfing white sapote variety?
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2021, 03:19:58 PM »



Not trying to cause any grief but looking at the branch angles of the tree I have a hard time believing that the tree has never had some form of pruning done 🤔. Regardless if the tree is in fact 50 yrs old it is incredibly small for white sapote.

-joe

Definitely!

And as the owner says, the tree was there before he moved in. Maybe the previous owner did some pruning, that seems probable.