first canistel ripened

[brian]

My grafted Bruce canistel set a single fruit that I've been watching for months.  It finally dropped on its own today and I found it on the greenhouse floor.  It is really tasty, outermost flesh is a bit dry but gets significantly moist towards the inside and much better than the ones I found lying on the ground at Fruit & Spice park (which were more dry and latex-ey). 

I'm very pleased!  There are many more new fruitlets that have formed in the past month so I expect a significant crop next year.





here it is on the tree a month or two ago when it started becoming yellow.  This tree is about 4ft tall and wide

[Gulfgardener]

I have a Bruce from Top Topicals but after looking at yours, I'm not so sure. Did it always have the point on the bottom or did it come a while later? Mine is holding 2 fruits but they are almost tomato shaped and are growing in a cluster from near the trunk.  Maybe it is actually a mislabeled Ross instead.

Nice tree. It looks happy!

[CarolinaZone]

Hey Bryan,
How long from flower to fruit. I have several canistels. All of them from 2 to 4 years old. Any tips on fertilizer and lighting?

[elouicious]

Great accomplishment brian!

I enjoy canistel quite a bit but never had a bruce

[CowboyFig]

Looks great! Are you able to plant directly into the ground in a greenhouse up north? Well done, bud!

[brian]

Mine definitely has the pointy-heart shape and looks exactly like the ones I had in Hawaii, and the pictures of Bruce I see.  I picked Bruce because it looked the most like whatever canistel I tried the first time and really liked.  I got mine from TopTropicals also.  I have been thinking about getting a grafted Ross... so if you become convinced you received Ross instead of Bruce I'll be happy to trade budwood with you.

I am not sure exactly how long it took from flower to ripe fruit, it feels like six months or more.  I have it planted directly into the dirt in the greenhouse, mostly-clay soil with no amendments.  Mine is in full sun, though the glazing probably absorbs 30% or so but it is still enough for part-shade plants to become sunburned.  It has been trouble free aside from a bit of scale on the new growth.  I have been feeding it 25-5-15 citrus fertilizer simply because I have a big bag of it, I'm not sure what the proper ratio is for pouterias.

I'm really happy to see it thriving.  I was worried about not enough light, short winter nights, etc. but it hasn't been an issue.

[brian]

My second year of canistel fruits are ripe now.  This year I got about a dozen without any hand or insect pollination.  The flesh is even more moist than last year, to the point of being slightly wet/translucent looking near the seed.  The tree continues to be problem free and medium vigor, I'm really happy with it.

It needs to be fertilized, haven't since last year

[fruitmonger]

Beautiful tree and fruit.
Thank you for sharing the images.

[sc4001992]

Congrats Brian, looking good. How long did it take for your tree to start to fruit? I have one in a pot but the roots are in the ground now and never had flowers on it yet (over 5yrs from seed).

[brian]

I bought mine as a grafted 1gal and started flowering first year or so.  I got a grafted 1gal sapodilla and green sapote that did the same.  I am not sure how long pouterias will take from seed but it sounds to be long enough that I was happy to pay for the grafted tree shortcut.

[sc4001992]

Yup, I will need try to graft a branch again.