The Tropical Fruit Forum

Congrats to Aaron!
The number was 50.
Contest is over.

Awesome! Thanks!

44

Aaron - forum member here
has a bunch of cool stuff.
He is in CA?
I got some cool ksu stuff from him.

Thanks, Ryan, yeah, I sell pawpaw trees. I’m a licensed propagator of KSU Trademarked varieties:
KSU Atwood TM
KSU Benson TM
KSU Chappell TM
Trees are going dormant now. Grafted in May of 2022 and in 12” pots. Asking $50 each + shipping.
Personally, I’ve found pawpaws to be tougher than a lot of what I’ve read online. But some people with more experience than myself (and in different climates) caution that pawpaws are better planted in the Spring than in the Fall. Something about the way they’ve evolved dormancy. The roots apparently aren’t actively growing in the Winter and may be prone to rot or some kind of problems. I may have some of that wrong. Anyway, I planted trees here in zone 9b in Napa, CA in the Fall with no negative impact. I’m happy to sell dormant trees now, or active in the Spring. I might have a few other named varieties next Spring too. If interested, feel free to reach out.

A friend of mine yanked out a root sucker and offered it to me. I have grafted Honey Jar to it. It grows, but slowly. I think the root sucker has little roots at present. I’ve only eaten the odd jujube that shows up at the grocery store. So far, I’ve never really enjoyed them. Probably they’re low quality? People seem to like Honey Jar.

I am a licensed propagator of the KSU Trademarked varieties: KSU Atwood, KSU Benson, and KSU Chappell. I have some small trees that were grafted last year that I’ve been selling for $50 each. They look a bit rough here at the end of the season. I would have to check inventory to be certain what’s available now. Some are already going dormant. I’ll have these and other varieties for sale in the Spring as well.

Quote from: aaronn on October 04, 2023, 02:14:33 PM

Quote from: hin00n on September 29, 2023, 02:50:22 PM

… currently starting some cherimoya from seed.

Jack, since you’re starting cherimoya seeds, when they’re large enough to graft, you’ll be able to find several scion wood varieties of cherimoya, atemoya, and other hybrids here on the forum. If you’ve got enough seeds going, you can experiment grafting lots of different annonas to see what works well in your location. Generally, I’ve found grafting cherimoya to be easy, but have had some fail after a season. Extra grafts have been useful.

Thanks Aaron, thats a great idea. I've been a little intimidated with grafting since trying on citrus, but I'll give it another shot. I've got 14 seeds started. What size is large enough for grafting?

The thickness of a pencil is the classic recommendation. But you can definitely do larger of smaller. I increasingly favor cleft grafts.
I haven’t tried citrus but think that I’ve heard it is more challenging than other fruits.

Quote from: aaronn on October 02, 2023, 08:47:31 PM

Quote from: ScottR on October 02, 2023, 02:57:58 PM

aaronn, what varieties of Paw Paw are you growing? You must be warm inland because by paw paws are still sizing up!

I’ve got a bunch of pawpaw varieties. The 3 in the picture, from left to right are a seedling I started like 15 years ago, Allegheny, and Potomac. First year fruiting for those last two. I also have Wabash, Susquehanna, Tallahatchie, Shenandoah, Atwood, Benson, Chappell, Green River Belle, Lehman’s Delight, Maria’s Joy, Prima 1216. I’ve got a multigrafted tree with Overleese, Tropical Treat, 275-56, VE-21, Jerry’s Delight, Halvin, Halvin’s Sidewinder, plus I added a bunch more varieties to it this year and grafted several individual trees of new varieties. I’ve gone a bit overboard.

Selling any? I dont mind driving to Napa to buy some pawpaw fruits.

Sorry, no, not selling any pawpaw fruits currently. This is my first year getting fruit from several of these, most still not fruiting. I probably will have some to sell in the future.

Got a “Sapote” from Whole Foods, pretty sure it was a Mamey Sapote. It had these two big, beautiful, sprouting seeds. I can’t grow Mamey here. Anyone want these? Happy to ship in the U.S. if you cover postage of $10.

I hope so, I wish everyone could be eating Achachairu’s.
It sounds like it will be a success either way for you having gone through the experience.

It took me awhile to figure out growing cherimoya from seed and getting them up to grafting size.
Some things take awhile to dial in where within your own microclimate things thrive.

Plant a paw paw orchard! That is the annona family that will do great with 90 and 100’s and low 20’s .

Well it’s hardly a whole pawpaw orchard, but my trees are starting to bear fruits!

I think it is more cold incompatibility than anything else as Cherimoya is the only Annona that has a chance outside a heated greenhouse that far north and inland. And you'd still need some protection and the right variety to fruit Cherimoya in Napa.
It was a crappy year for Cherimoya in nor cal this year with the cold wet winter.
Aichacharu maybe with a heated greenhouse but will take a lot of dedication and years.
mangosteen you need a greenhouse in south Florida . so you can watch it grow for a season in CA, like growing durian , but it is an experiment that has 1 final outcome.

Quote from: aaronn on October 01, 2023, 03:46:24 PM

Quote from: hin00n on September 30, 2023, 09:46:17 AM

Quote from: aaronn on September 29, 2023, 10:19:04 PM

I’m in Napa and my cherilata died at the graft last winter. I don’t think it was an issue of climate. More like something to do with the graft failing or something like that. But I’m not sure about that.
For true mangosteen you’ll probably need a greenhouse. All my small Garcinia seedlings died last winter (no purple mangosteen), but I’m trying again with some Achachas.
Good luck!
Aaron

Shame to hear. I was planning on just bringing the mangosteen inside during late fall. Where did you get your cherilata from? I've been having trouble finding them with shipping.

I got it from a friend on this forum. But, like I said, I doubt it’s a climate problem. It was doing great through the coldest part of the winter but declined suddenly, prior to flushing in the spring. I’ve had a few annona grafts decline after growing well for a season. I’ve heard there are weird graft compatibility and graft failure issues with annonas so I assume it’s something to do with that. I’ll give it another try.

I hear great things about Achacha (Achachairu), a relative of the purple mangosteen. I think it’s worth trying to grow here. I have several going and will provide more protection than I have in previous years in an effort to get one old enough to hopefully handle our winters.

I think longans should do well here.

My results with Garcinia seedlings last year confirm your Achacha prediction. But, Joe Real told me a couple small Achacha seedlings survived outside last winter for him. I think he’s in Davis? Anyway, I’m only about half a scientist, so I’m happy to pick and choose my data sets and I don’t really have much invested in the project so hopefully I’ll be eating Achachas and you’ll be eating your words! Lol, just being silly. I’m definitely pushing it and will be willing to admit defeat… eventually.

I’m in Napa and my cherilata died at the graft last winter. I don’t think it was an issue of climate. More like something to do with the graft failing or something like that. But I’m not sure about that.
For true mangosteen you’ll probably need a greenhouse. All my small Garcinia seedlings died last winter (no purple mangosteen), but I’m trying again with some Achachas.
Good luck!
Aaron

I’ve been hemming and hawing about planting a white sapote or two in my yard. I’ve read the seeds are deadly poisonous and that they could kill a dog chowing down on fallen fruits. My son has a dog and it would be truly a tragedy if this is the case as he might be likely to chomp on “available” fruits.

Is this a real concern? Or a limitation to the available information? Does anyone have actual experience with this?

Thanks!