New(ish) Rollinia

[gnappi]

My Rollinia (unknown cultivar) was put in ground 2 years ago as a 7 foot stick and has grown almost none.  I read they are fast growers and fruit early, and this one is not living up to the former but has to the latter.

During dry spells I water infrequently say every two weeks, and fertilize every few months. I have surprisingly good soil for south Florida so none of my other trees (several annona) have issues. What say you rollinia owners on my water / fertilizer regimen?

[mangokothiyan]

I have a Rollinia in the ground that I got from Brandon. The tree has grown like a weed and produces hundreds of flowers. Set some fruits last year, but they fell off before maturity. I am told that Rollinia, as well as other annonas, love water and also fertilizer that has a lot of boron and zinc. I fertilize it with 8-2-12 slow release fertilizer.

[Tommyng]

Gary, you are doing everything right. Whatever lives in your yard should flourish, so likely something wrong with the tree itself, maybe a girdled root or planted too deep, or some other ailment. This is not rollinia related but the juicy Lucy I got from you has turned into a nice tree and is full of baby fruit. Thanks.

[roblack]

You may need to water it more, especially if the roots are not as diffuse and healthy.

[Epicatt2]

Agreed that Rollinias can be water hogs.  They are from the Amazon Basin and never really dry out.  In fact many of them may get some flooding annually.

I bought mine from Top Tropicals and they make you sign off that you accept that Rollinias don't ship well.  I went for it because the tree is only in the shipping box for one or two days from Ft. Myers to Tampa.

When it arrived the leaves were alive and dark green but were small and deformed, curled at the edges, crinkled and leathery.  I gave it water and sat the pot (3 gal.) in a saucer and filled the saucer with water.  It drank all the water in a single day.  I refilled the dish the next day and it drank all the water again.

I kept the saucer filled pretty much all the time and it started to grow with a vengeance.  The new leaves it produced were flat and velvety looking, more yellow green, and much larger, looking like the healthy Rollinia leaves shown in many photos.  I'm sure the plant had not been getting enough water at the nursery. 

It's now in a seven gallon pot and six feet tall with about a one inch+ diameter trunk.  It went deciduous during the cooler weather here and has now just re-leafed itself in the last week.  Now that it's growing I'll keep the saucer filled again with water.  It seems happy now sitting out in full sun. Hopefully it will flower soon and maybe give me a couple fruit this season.

I'm convinced that ample water provided to this species is one key to success with it.

Paul M.
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[Guanabanus]

I agree with Epicatt, except that I haven't observed Rollinia deliciosa in flooded or swampy conditions.  They like well-drained soil, usually on hillsides in the Amazon region, and plenty of rain, preferably every day.  They are not drought hardy.

[Epicatt2]

I agree with Epicatt, except that I haven't observed Rollinia deliciosa in flooded or swampy conditions.  They like well-drained soil, usually on hillsides in the Amazon region, and plenty of rain, preferably every day.  They are not drought hardy.

I too have found this species to not be drought hardy.  That is why I have the 7 gallon pot that it is growing in sitting in a saucer which I fill about every other day.  And if the temp. is 80º or above it can drink that water in about 8 hours, in my experience.

Meanwhile, I have today posted to the TFF Online Library a reference to a book called

"AMAZON RIVER FRUITS: Flavors for Conservation" by Nigel Smith.

On page 34-35 of this book there is a very helpful discussion of R. mucosa and its habitat in the Amazon Basin which describes its water needs.

OK – HTH

Paul M.
==

[gnappi]

Gary, you are doing everything right. Whatever lives in your yard should flourish, so likely something wrong with the tree itself, maybe a girdled root or planted too deep, or some other ailment. This is not rollinia related but the juicy Lucy I got from you has turned into a nice tree and is full of baby fruit. Thanks.

I've increased my watering and the one stem that has blooms on it is keeping the flowers.  Keep me posted on the Juicy Lucy. My GF's son has one also that's gone crazy giving fruit the last two years.

[Mike T]

Big tree handle prolonged dry spells pretty well.

[gnappi]

Big tree handle prolonged dry spells pretty well.

Good to know. Mine is only about 7 feet tall, and I've neglected on a few occasions... I'll no longer do that. 

[gnappi]

Well, as mentioned I have increased the watering and it's shot up nicely, so much so I removed the sturdy stick which was keeping it from flopping over. It always produces dozens of flowers which have not set any fruit yet. No problem, I'm patient.

Thanks all.

[Guanabanus]

They often flower for three years before holding fruits.  By then the base of the trunk is usually at least 4-inches.

[cbss_daviefl]

I did not hand pollinate my big rollinia tree this year and got zero fruit. This year, my atemoya trees nearby set an above normal amount of fruit via insect pollination. Last year, I got around 10 fruit with light hand pollinating.

This article from 1988, by Gerhard Gottsberger, has a chart that shows that atemoyas are pollinated by the same insects as rollinias.

Are rollinia are pollinated by different insects than atemoyas(article is wrong), does the proximity of the atemoya trees cause the rollinia to be ignored, was I just unlucky, or is something else to blame?

There is plenty of rotting fruit in my yard to attract pollinators. As with almost everything else in life, if I want something done right, I have to do it myself.  If I want more annona fruit than I can eat, I need to hand pollinate.   

[Guanabanus]

Interesting questions, Mr. Brandon!  I don't have any suggestions, yet.

Age and size?

[cbss_daviefl]

The rollinia tree has been in the ground for over 8 years. It is roughly 18ft tall and 16 ft wide. It has blown over multiple times and has damage from large roots and branches that have broken in wind events.  I looked at the tree this morning and found a single pollinated fruit, 3/4 of an inch in diameter.  There are also flowers that will be opening in the coming days. The foliage is a healthy green.  Winter rollinias are typically disappointing so I will not hand pollinate. The smaller geffner near it has around 20 insect pollinated fruit of varied size.

Interesting questions, Mr. Brandon!  I don't have any suggestions, yet.

Age and size?

[Guanabanus]

Rollinias are way not hardy to hurricanes and tropical storms, which don't occur in most of their natural range, in Amazonia and adjoining areas.

[yoski]

I was never able to keep Rollinia trees alive. I tried in full sun which was a total disaster and semi shade which didn't work either. Everything else does fine (Mangos, Avocados, Sapodilla, Lychee, ...) but Rollinias just won't make it. Not sure what the problem is. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I love Rollinias but for now I have killed 4 trees and pretty much given up on growing another one.

[Epicatt2]

Maybe the soil where you are in Sebring is too alkaline for Rollinias.  Have you checked that?

Much of the soil in the Amazon Basin is flooded annually so it may be leached of many minerals.  I'd wager that the soil that Rollinias prefer may be more acid than alkaline.

Amending the soil where you are to make it more neutral or slightly acid might solve your problem.

Just pondering, FWIW . . . .

Paul M.
==

[yoski]

I will try with peat, maybe that's the ticket. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Guanabanus]

Sebring gets cold.  The species that you mentioned doing well are somewhat more cold hardy.

[Epicatt2]

Sebring gets cold.  The species that you mentioned doing well are somewhat more cold hardy.

Har,

Have you a sense of how many degrees of cold a Rollinia can take once the tree is approaching maturity?

I'm thinking that between being in zone 9b (near the edge of 10a) and global warming that my R. mucosa should survive with occasional protection if we have a bad cold snap, even if the tree's eventual size only allows for wrapping its trunk and base with insulation.

Paul M.
==

[Guanabanus]

It may depend upon where the seed came from.

I have seen reports of outdoor survival and fruiting in northern Argentina--- mild Temperate Zone.  Varieties from the Amazon region don't seem to have that hardiness.

[Epicatt2]

It may depend upon where the seed came from.

I have seen reports of outdoor survival and fruiting in northern Argentina--- mild Temperate Zone.  Varieties from the Amazon region don't seem to have that hardiness.

Thanx for the reply, Har.

I wasn't aware that that Rollinia ranged that far south in S. America, but if that is the case then it sounds like natural selection is at work to impart a bit more cold tolerance to some of that species.

Paul M.
==

[yoski]

The cold was never the problem. My Rollinia always did well until the beginning of June. Couldn't take the full sun. In the shade they recovered somewhat. Some I grew out of seed and 2 I bought at nurseries where they were grown in full sun. I am ESE on the lake. With the cold wind usually coming from the NW it's not too bad here. Got some very big Mango trees in the neighborhood that must have lived through the harsh frosts of the 80's. With global warming that's hopefully a thing of the past