The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hey y’all. A small grafted avocado of mine is in distress. Can anyone help? The tree has been in this raised bed for about 4 months, not growing (winter break?) but looking good nonetheless. About 3 days ago, its leaves began to droop and lose turgor pressure. It has developed a few brown spots, too.

I grafted the tree about a year ago. It’s on hass seedling rootstock. Soil is very loose and rich in organic matter, plenty sand, and a little clay. Rainy winter, but soil is not waterlogged.

Ideas?

Thanks,
Alastair

I found this in my photos, too. What is it? Doesn't appear to be a Pouteria. And I'm pretty sure it's not just a Chupa with the pit visible. Any ideas?

Hi all,
There seems to be increasing interest in white sapotes, as I think there should be. It's one of my very favorite fruits. I very near Sebastopol, Sonoma County Calif. and have planted 11 white sapote trees outdoors (and 1 in a greenhouse).

But I am becoming more and more doubtful that these trees will ever be very productive. The largest of my trees keeps aborting its blossoms. I have heard similar stories from others, plus stories of trees dying back badly in cold snaps. In fact, I have never heard any verified accounts of large and consistently productive trees north of the SF Bay watershed. There is (or was) reportedly an orchard of white sapote near Chico, Calif., but I don't know if the trees were ever productive.

All the accounts I've heard of wildly productive white sapotes come from SF, Richmond, Fremont, the Peninsula, other bayside cities, and south.

So, does anyone know if there any large and productive trees -- OUTDOORS -- in Sonoma County? Napa? The cities of Davis, Woodland, or Sacramento?

I've put too much work into these trees to back out now but I wonder if they might wind up being fruitless conversation starters.
Alastair

I’m putting it in the ground now, full sun. Should I set up a shade structure? If so, how long should I keep it in place?
Thanks.
Alastair

Howdy. I’m planning to put 2 carob trees in the ground soon. I wonder if I need to fuss over the soil’s properties the way many of us do when planting avocados. Does anyone have experience with carob they can share? Should I mound up with sand and loam before planting? Are carob trees as sensitive as avocados to mucky soil? I ask because the literature, as with most tree species, says carob trees require well drained soil.

Background: My soil is relatively heavy clay-sand loam. Figs, apples, pears, grapes, persimmons, stone fruit, mulberries, and citrus do very well in this native soil. Avocados have grown very slowly, leading me to believe mounding is necessary.

But is it necessary for carob?

Thanks for any feedback.
Alastair

Hi all. I found these fruits at a small market in San Francisco. The fruits were not labeled and the vendor and I had a language barrier between us. Can someone tell me what Pouteria species this is?

Ants have descended upon (well, ascended) my small Vernon white sapote's blossoms. I assumed they were just gathering up nectar until I noticed today that the tiny little "fruits" in the middle of the blossoms are starting to turn brown. They have not yet fallen off but I fear they will, and I'm wondering if the ants are in some way damaging the blossom. Could this be the case? Do I need to repel them in any way? I know that some ants are considered beneficial for avocados. I hope it's the same for white sapotes.

Thanks.
Alastair

Hi all,
I'm looking for lucuma seeds. I'm in Sonoma County, northern California, and am interested in growing a lucuma tree or two. I have never seen lucuma fruit in California markets, so I am pondering the best approach. Any recommended sources?

And while we're talking lucuma, has anyone in northern California had success with lucuma?

Thanks,
Alastair

Hi everyone. My largest white sapote tree is struggling to put out new growth, and I can't understand why. For at least a month it has been pushing buds from the tip of its main stem (which last year grew about three feet). But continuously, the new growth seems to dry up, fizzle out, fail - however you want to describe it. I have checked the tree at night and have seen no earwigs (though last year they were all over this tree). I also have seen no slugs on the tree. Can anyone guess what is happening to these new little buds and why they won't grow beyond this stage? Notice in the pics how the ends of the tiny leaves are blackened. We have not had a hard frost here for about 6 weeks.

Thanks,
Alastair

Hi everyone. I have 7 small white sapotes in the ground. They are young but have grown rapidly in the past year. Now, a couple of them are showing dark patches on their leaf ends. What’s going on? My soil is loamy clay, so it tends toward damp heaviness. But most fruit trees thrive on my property. - figs, mulberries, apples, stone fruits, etc all very productive. But I’m worried that the white sapotes are suffering from wet feet. What would the symptoms of this be? Though my soil is heavy, I am on a 10 percent slope with little or no ponding of water. The past 3 weeks have been very very rainy. I did not plant my white sapotes on mounds.

Photos are attached. If you think you know what’s going on, please offer advice. Thanks,
Alastair

Hi everyone. I am zone-pushing with white sapote as well as cherimoya in Sonoma County, California. I would love to find some good data on variety-specific frost tolerance in white sapote. Information on cherimoya would be great, too, though I suspect it is even scarcer.

We read in nursery literature that Mexicola avocado is hardy to 18, Stewart to 18, Bacon and Zutano to 24 and 26, respectively. Etc...

So, what about white sapote varieties? Which ones can withstand the most severe blasts of frost? And how low can they go? Anyone have data? I ask as someone who has 6 seedlings in the ground and wants to graft the right cultivars this spring.

Thanks very much!
Alastair

Hi everyone,
I joined this forum a few days ago. I own a piece land in Sonoma County, California and have planted it with figs, Asian pears, persimmons, pawpaws and other temperate fruits. I have also planted avocados and white sapotes -- and it's the white sapotes that I would like to discuss. I want to know if other people in my climate zone -- 9B -- and especially in my immediate area have had success with white sapote and, if so, what extra care (if any) they require. I planted a Vernon white sapote three years ago. In its second spring in the ground, it set blossoms, and it made 8 nice fruits in the fall of 2021. I do not recall the coldest temperatures we had that year -- maybe around 30 or 31. So, it can be done, at least in favorable years. But we do have considerable frost here. In February 2022, temperatures dropped to 27 degrees here. While the literature suggests white sapotes will withstand 22F, my 5 young trees were defoliated. They have rebounded nicely, but they made no blossoms this spring. I am wondering if I am facing a future of sporadic white sapote production, at best.

A few questions:

Is it common for white sapote trees to thrive in Zone 9B but very rarely make fruit? (This is the case for many avocados in my neighborhood.)
At what temperature do white sapote blossoms suffer frost damage?
Have any of you seen white sapotes fruit on an annual basis even when subjected most springs to high-20s frost?

Thanks for any advice, encouragement or specific info you can offer.

Sincerely,
Alastair