Will the real Ross Sapote reveal itself?

[Mike T]

I know canistels and there are dozens of forms I see with great fruit variation.I look at my canistel with narrow foliage, a particular flowering habit and fruit taste and do the same with my ross sapote and think yeah I get it. The finest pouteria minds looked at many pix I posted, discussed seed shape and Oscar showed pictures of his ross sapote.Saff and others with pouteria prowess brought their intellectual firepower to bear on the matter and I thought I was a happening dude with ross and canistel. The truth is I still am not sure with many fruit I see.
 

These look like Ross sapote and I eat them today and tomorrow.


My ross sapotes are different but still not canistels.



The first fruit on my special canistel that has had generations of selective crosses.


These ross sapotes are a good type.


The giant Ross, is it really a ross?



It makes me wonder if some of the odd canistels could be hybrids themselves.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

yes i believe there are several varieties of Ross...my friend has one with a very unusual foliage, much different than the one I have....I'd like to taste the fruits...they looked slightly more elongated, but had the same round Ross shape.

there's got to be hybrids out there too, but I haven't noticed one in FL yet.

will try to post pics of my friends ross, fruits and foliage

[Guanabanus]

My 'Ross', grafted with wood from Bill Whitman's tree, is spindly in growth habit.  Fruits are small, flattened-rounded, and fall when soft, leaving the entire top portion of the skin hanging in the tree.  Fruits are moist and very flavorful.

[clannewton]

My 'Ross', grafted with wood from Bill Whitman's tree, is spindly in growth habit.  Fruits are small, flattened-rounded, and fall when soft, leaving the entire top portion of the skin hanging in the tree.  Fruits are moist and very flavorful.

This year my ross sapote put out about 10 fruit that stayed on until maturity.  Like above poster related, when they are ripe they fall to the ground leaving the top portion with some skin hanging.  The first one I had was kind of chalky but the second that ripened was awesome! I have several left on the tree getting very close to ripening maturity.  My question is, can the fruit be picked just prior to full ripening and before it falls and will it continue to ripen on the kitchen counter or do they need to stay on the tree until full maturity and let them fall themselves?  Any expertise on this question will be appreciated.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I figured out how to pick them this year

Wait until they are yellow (can still have slightly green color, but must have primarily yellow.)

when you squeeze them, they will be hard, but they have the slightest amount of give.

But the dead giveaway is the farty smell they have (like pumpkin innards).   They will have an unmistakable odor when they are ready to pick...it's hard to smell all the fruit if you have a large tree, but I was able to sniff out the ripes ones using my ladder, after I spotted fruits that looked yellow enough to pick

My 'Ross', grafted with wood from Bill Whitman's tree, is spindly in growth habit.  Fruits are small, flattened-rounded, and fall when soft, leaving the entire top portion of the skin hanging in the tree.  Fruits are moist and very flavorful.

This year my ross sapote put out about 10 fruit that stayed on until maturity.  Like above poster related, when they are ripe they fall to the ground leaving the top portion with some skin hanging.  The first one I had was kind of chalky but the second that ripened was awesome! I have several left on the tree getting very close to ripening maturity.  My question is, can the fruit be picked just prior to full ripening and before it falls and will it continue to ripen on the kitchen counter or do they need to stay on the tree until full maturity and let them fall themselves?  Any expertise on this question will be appreciated.

[clannewton]

Wow, not to enthused about sniffing "farts" lol.  I will give this a try.  Thanks for the advise.

[starling2]

Mike how do these compare to green sapote? Would you rate them as good as these or even mamey? Or are they closer to canistel?

[clannewton]

Mike how do these compare to green sapote? Would you rate them as good as these or even mamey? Or are they closer to canistel?

I can at least answer part of your question.  I don't know about the green sapote, but the ross sapote taste very, very much like a canistel.

[starling2]

Mike how do these compare to green sapote? Would you rate them as good as these or even mamey? Or are they closer to canistel?

I can at least answer part of your question.  I don't know about the green sapote, but the ross sapote taste very, very much like a canistel.

I think I'll pass in that case. I really don't have room for both, and mamey/GS is definitely nicer than canistel IMO.

[BMc]

It's a moist canistel. Main difference is that they are 100x more attractive to bats.

[starling2]

It's a moist canistel. Main difference is that they are 100x more attractive to bats.

Strikes two and three right there.

[Mike T]

Ross just seem like a variety of canistel and are a bit sweeter than most canistels.Some canistels are on par in quality but not most.Mamey is over rated in my opinion even pantin and I would prefer a Ross sapote or nice canistel.I have only had a couple of green sapotes and they were dry custard, instead of sweet  pumpiny like canistel or Ross or sweet sweet potato like mamey.Give me a Ross or top moist sweet canistel if there is a choice between them for eating fresh out of hand.

[Guanabanus]

Ross and other canistels are good producers. 

Mamey-sapotes usually produce way less per year, and green sapotes rarely survive or grow well enough to produce here in south Florida.

[bsbullie]

Ross just seem like a variety of canistel and are a bit sweeter than most canistels.Some canistels are on par in quality but not most.Mamey is over rated in my opinion even pantin and I would prefer a Ross sapote or nice canistel.I have only had a couple of green sapotes and they were dry custard, instead of sweet  pumpiny like canistel or Ross or sweet sweet potato like mamey.Give me a Ross or top moist sweet canistel if there is a choice between them for eating fresh out of hand.

While i agree, a Ross is very good i fe r l a good mamey is better.  From the way you describe them, i wonder if you haven't had a real good mamey.  Pantin and Pace seem to be the norm and more common, Lorito is definitely better and the Cepeda Especiale may be even better.  I have had some excellent Green Sapote from Miami-Dade County.