Author Topic: Is this white sapote ripe in June?  (Read 2602 times)

funlul

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Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« on: June 25, 2022, 02:09:51 PM »
Dear TFF family,
I'm super new to white sapotes, my tree gave exactly one edible fruit last year, but this year it's really pushing to the limits and I started to feel sorry to the yellow leaves.
Would you think these fruits are starting to ripen already? I thought they are meant to ripen around October...

Thank you so much,
Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

achetadomestica

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2022, 02:29:07 PM »
Looks like your going to have plenty to experiment with
Last year I had a bunch on a few trees and they started to soften.
Some even dropped on the ground if I didn't get to them.
After they started to soften I picked them and they got
very soft in 1-3 days on the counter

funlul

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2022, 02:33:20 PM »
Socal is in the middle a heat wave, could it be sunburn?
White sapote has the reputation of almost year-round blooming, would the fruits ripen in certain months only? Or almost year-round too? Thank you so much
Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

achetadomestica

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2022, 03:05:10 PM »
is it getting soft?

sc4001992

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #4 on: June 25, 2022, 03:12:55 PM »
My white sapote fruits ripened in Sept-October but you should be able to tell when they are ripe by just softly squeezing the fruit. If it gives then pick it and let it finish ripening on the counter. I had some green fruits that were large, picked them and just let it sit on the counter for 2-3 days until it got a little soft, tastes great even if the skin is still green color.

Here's a ripe green fruit (1.2 lbs) that dropped from the tree (9/11/21)


« Last Edit: June 25, 2022, 03:18:53 PM by sc4001992 »

funlul

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2022, 08:12:34 PM »
All fruits are still hard, but I went ahead to pick a medium one. Time will tell...

Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

ScottR

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2022, 11:13:09 AM »
My trees fruit at all times of the year but biggest crops come in Fall-Winter. This year because of my cool climate big crop came in Winter -Spring. You'll know if your picked fruit starts to shrivel before it becomes soft it was picked to early. But some times will still be edible but know as good as could be.

Oolie

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2022, 07:28:29 PM »
You will know it is not ready to pick if the sampler fruit never softens up well/ stays firmish, or if it is lacking in sweetness.

Many cultivars will ripen fruit throughout the year.

JoshuaTilaranCR

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2022, 02:23:51 PM »
I found one of these in my town here in Costa Rica and tried it. I had seen the fruit falling for years and asked people if you could eat it and no one had an answer for me. One day my wife's mother gave me a fruit and told me what tree it was from and it took me a couple minutes to realize what it actually was.

I took a bite to try it and the first flavor i got was weird, Thanksgiving turkey and gravy. After that initial taste it got sweet and I tasted a little bit of the strawberry tree, Muntingia. I can't get over that turkey taste though. I've eaten more and it's always there. It's pretty funny to me that it tastes like that. Has anyone else ever tasted that in a white sapote?

This one here is probably from seed and it's super old. The tree is probably 5-8 feet around the trunk and maybe more. Definitely not a named selection.

Oolie

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #9 on: June 28, 2022, 05:29:01 PM »
I love turkey, spread that cultivar around!

fyliu

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2022, 01:24:47 PM »
WS could have alternate June or November crops. I don't remember which cultivar tends to do this. When I went to visit Bob Chamber's grove in 2011, one of the cultivars was dropping lots of ripe fruit in the summer. I was told that tree's not going to have a November crop that year. Most cultivars have a main November crop and maybe a small number of off season fruits, maybe a small June crop.

ScottR

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2022, 07:58:47 PM »
Could have been Cuccio variety when a group of CRFGers when down in 2011 to collect varieties from Bob to save them that variety was ripe that year and I think that was around May.

sc4001992

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2022, 10:58:04 PM »
Robert, my photo of the ws above is the Cuccio (from Jonah scionwood). It had many large fruits on my grafts, taste was sweet. This variety seems to be very productive here in SoCal.

ScottR

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #13 on: June 30, 2022, 11:49:06 AM »
Kaz, nice pic of your Cuccio fruit yes, they are tasty fruit and productive as you say in S.Ca.

Gulfgardener

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #14 on: June 30, 2022, 02:43:30 PM »
So are some white sapote only productive in CA vs FL? If so, I wonder why? As a distant relative in the citrus family, I wouldn't think humidity would bother it but maybe it does. Or it could be the rain. For the folks growing it in FL, have any failed for you? Same with the growers in CA, have any varieties of white sapote known to grow well in FL failed to thrive in CA?

I planted out a lot of seedlings early spring in ground. In full sun, the leaves are yellowish and not doing as well as I thought they would. I might have to put up some shade cloth. The seedlings in pots are doing well in full sun so I don't get it. Until I understand what is happening, I'm keeping my grafted ones in pots.

Fun fact - The Giant Swallowtail butterfly still acknowledges it as a member of the citrus family. I keep catching them laying eggs on the white sapote. I don't think the babies like it that much though so I relocate them to my calamondin tree.

sc4001992

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #15 on: June 30, 2022, 05:38:36 PM »
funlul, how was the fruit you picked, did it get ripe/soft. Did you taste the fruit?

Gulfgarderner, I had 34 varieties grafted on one tree (now gone) and I noticed certain varieties were more productive or consistent fruit set each year. The Cuccio is a winner, also the others with fruits were Younghan's Gold, Fairhaven, Fiesta, Lemon Gold, Leroy, McDill, North Park, Rainbow, Santa Cruz, Sunset, Supersweet, Bonita Springs, Walton. Since I had to transplant my multi-grafted tree, I had to cut off all the branches so don't have any of these varieties which had lots of fruits earlier this year.

ScottR

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #16 on: June 30, 2022, 07:42:57 PM »
Gulfgardener, I have many varieties of W. Sapote and my location is Central Coast of Ca. within a few miles from coast as the crow fly's. My main producers are Vernon,Pike, Nettie, Tremont I get a few from Cuccio,Redlands,Pritchard,Salad,Refugio. Now my area has cool Summers we get fog in mornings but not as wet of fog that we used to get. Now, the area where I obtained many varieties from was down in De Luz by Kaz in Filmore area of Ca. Maybe it is the soil or high humidity for Gulfgardener my place is ancient sand dune  so?? W. Sapotes are from Central Mexico I believe which would be hot.I think they fruit better in warmer area's.

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #17 on: July 01, 2022, 01:09:11 PM »
Thank you Kaz and Scott for the reply.  I really apologize for highjacking this thread. White Sapote are one of my favorite fruits. It's sad you can't really find these cultivars in nurseries. Thanks to members of this forum I was able to buy some grafted plants this year. I'm really looking forward to some fruit and seeing what thrives. Lemon Gold is doing really good so far.

Pouteria_fan

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #18 on: July 03, 2022, 01:28:23 AM »
All fruits are still hard, but I went ahead to pick a medium one. Time will tell...


Any luck?

funlul

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #19 on: July 18, 2022, 06:29:44 PM »
You will know it is not ready to pick if the sampler fruit never softens up well/ stays firmish, or if it is lacking in sweetness.

Many cultivars will ripen fruit throughout the year.



Finally softened up after nearly a month.
Not bitter, not sweet, definitely too early.
Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

socalbalcony2

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #20 on: July 18, 2022, 06:32:58 PM »
You will know it is not ready to pick if the sampler fruit never softens up well/ stays firmish, or if it is lacking in sweetness.

Many cultivars will ripen fruit throughout the year.



Finally softened up after nearly a month.
Not bitter, not sweet, definitely too early.

I've picked white sapotes 2-4 weeks early before too, sometimes they still end up quite sweet though. With time you'll get a hang of it!

sc4001992

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #21 on: July 19, 2022, 05:42:59 AM »
Next time, you should be able to squeeze the fruit while it's on the tree. If it gives a little, then its ready to pick. It should get ripe on the counter within a week after you pick it. My white sapotes have small fruits on them now, only a few varieties have fruits about the size of a golf ball. My Younghan's Gold seems to be very productive this year, all the grafts have small fruits on them. Last year my Cuccio was the best productive variety but now I don't have my large, grafted branches and will need to start over. My large tree that I transplanted (20 ft tall) seems to be dying so only have my two smaller trees (McDill seedling and Yellow sapote seedling). The ones with fruits are Walton, Lemon Gold, Rainbow, Younghan's Gold, McDill seedling, Supersweet, Malibu.

funlul

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #22 on: July 19, 2022, 02:51:46 PM »
Several fruits on the tree are quite large and light golden in color. They are, however, rather hard still.
Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

Pouteria_fan

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #23 on: July 19, 2022, 03:01:13 PM »
Several fruits on the tree are quite large and light golden in color. They are, however, rather hard still.

Same with mine. I picked one early, it ripened in about 1 week, planning to try today.

sc4001992

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Re: Is this white sapote ripe in June?
« Reply #24 on: July 19, 2022, 03:04:11 PM »
If you use a fruit bag it works well since it will catch the fruit if it gets too ripe and fall off the tree. The fruits will get ripe on the tree and fall on the ground even if you check them every few days.