Questions on growing Caimito or Star Apple in California

[BestDay]

Hi all, I bought a grafted Star Apple purple variety on Ebay.  I have never tasted the fruit. My wife is from Costa Rica and she said these were her favorite fruit as a kid growing up.  She really wanted me to get one so I did.  You know the saying "A happy wife is a happy life". 

From reading posts in this forum and others I know they can be grown in Southern California.  I was wondering if anyone has first hand knowledge of how they grow or fruit in SoCal.  When do they fruit here?  Does the fruit properly sweeten up here? Is the tree a fast grower?

I've read that the tree is very nice looking which is good since I plan on putting it in the front yard.  I figure even if the fruit isn't very good grown here, the wife will be happy because I tried and I'll have a nice looking ornamental in the front yard.

Any info will be appreciated.
Bill

[JF]

Hi all, I bought a grafted Star Apple purple variety on Ebay.  I have never tasted the fruit. My wife is from Costa Rica and she said these were her favorite fruit as a kid growing up.  She really wanted me to get one so I did.  You know the saying "A happy wife is a happy life". 

From reading posts in this forum and others I know they can be grown in Southern California.  I was wondering if anyone has first hand knowledge of how they grow or fruit in SoCal.  When do they fruit here?  Does the fruit properly sweeten up here? Is the tree a fast grower?

I've read that the tree is very nice looking which is good since I plan on putting it in the front yard.  I figure even if the fruit isn't very good grown here, the wife will be happy because I tried and I'll have a nice looking ornamental in the front yard.

Any info will be appreciated.
Bill

Bill I'll give you an address close to you that fruits them

[CGameProgrammer]

I didn't think Caimito survived winters here. Who is successfully growing them here? Or are they just growing it in a greenhouse?

[JF]

I didn't think Caimito survived winters here. Who is successfully growing them here? Or are they just growing it in a greenhouse?

Mark Lee for one, Chula Vista. Bill should do fine he's solid 10B with no Santa Ana winds

[OCchris]

I agree with Frank. I know a lady in Orange who has a beautiful 6 foot green variety but last I checked she hasn't got a fruit to full maturity. I will stop by and check back with her. Chris

[bsbullie]

I agree with Frank. I know a lady in Orange who has a beautiful 6 foot green variety but last I checked she hasn't got a fruit to full maturity. I will stop by and check back with her. Chris

6 feet?  That seems mighty small to be fruiting by star apple standards.

[OCchris]

Well, I said "to maturity"...this was 2 years ago as well. Chris

[bsbullie]

Oh, of course, i should hsve known.  You know a lady who has one but you haven't seen the tree for 2 years but you know it was 6 feet and didnt hold fruit to maturity.   Well, i will clarify, not only is 6 feet small for setting fruit , in addition i have not seen them set fruit and not have the fruit mature due to size/age.  Once they set fruit they usually hold to maturity so long as the tree is healthy,  even those grown in large pots.  But hey, what the hell do i know...now where did i put that Mamas and the Papas CD...

[OCchris]

Fair enough Rob. I was just taking her word for it since she is in the tropical fruit biz. I was wondering though, is a 6ft. caimito the same age as a Florida caimito the same size and would that explain the fruiting? Chris

[CGameProgrammer]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

[fruitlovers]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

I think you're right. Starapple is very marginal in California. The person succesful in fruiting it, Mark Lee, lives about as far south as you can get without entering Mexico: Chula Vista. Also he is very close to the coast. I think with a lot of care if you are in coastal southern Cal you could pull it off.
There is a lot of diversity in this fruit, and also different species, so it would be good to experiment with different types and maybe find one that is more cold tolerant.

[luc]

I am a lot further south than Mark and I have problems because of the altitude ( 300 meters ) both the purple and green took a long time to even start flowering , no fruit this year .  At sea level they do great here in Puerto Vallarta , Mexico .

[CGameProgrammer]

Mark and I are in the same climate. Is his tree grown outdoors, and not in a greenhouse? If so, that gives me some hope...

[BestDay]

I gave Mark a call today and left a message. I'm hoping to talk to him soon. I live about two miles from the beach so that's good. I also live about two blocks from the San Gabriel river. I'm told that cold from the mountains flows down the river during winter nights so our neighborhood gets colder than it should. This past winter we got down into the high thirties several times. The winter before we hit 31 and 32 degrees about 5-10 times. My plan is to put lights on it to keep it warm during the cold spells. It probable won't fruit those years. But with a mild winter like the one we just had I'm hoping it will fruit. But does it get enough sun and heat during our winters to sweeten up?

Bill

[BestDay]

Aloha Nursery in Oceanside also lists them for sale in 3.5" pots. That sounds like a seedling to me.  I called them too trying to get some info but all I got was an answering machine.

Bill

[JF]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

I think you're right. Starapple is very marginal in California. The person succesful in fruiting it, Mark Lee, lives about as far south as you can get without entering Mexico: Chula Vista. Also he is very close to the coast. I think with a lot of care if you are in coastal southern Cal you could pull it off.
There is a lot of diversity in this fruit, and also different species, so it would be good to experiment with different types and maybe find one that is more cold tolerant.

This has been done for decades in OC. Oscar you need to look beyond Costal San Diego where it  rarely reaches above 80F degrees

[fruitlovers]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

I think you're right. Starapple is very marginal in California. The person succesful in fruiting it, Mark Lee, lives about as far south as you can get without entering Mexico: Chula Vista. Also he is very close to the coast. I think with a lot of care if you are in coastal southern Cal you could pull it off.
There is a lot of diversity in this fruit, and also different species, so it would be good to experiment with different types and maybe find one that is more cold tolerant.

This has been done for decades in OC. Oscar you need to look beyond Costal San Diego where it  rarely reaches above 80F degrees

JC i lived in California for over 25 years, and in different parts, so pretty well aware of the different climates there. Yes interior temperatures higher than coastal, but then you get the trade off that interior is more subject to colder winter temperatures and even occasional frost. How many people have fruited starapple in Orange country, and how old are the trees? Question is how long they can survive outdoors in OC before a really cold winter rolls by?

[JF]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

I think you're right. Starapple is very marginal in California. The person succesful in fruiting it, Mark Lee, lives about as far south as you can get without entering Mexico: Chula Vista. Also he is very close to the coast. I think with a lot of care if you are in coastal southern Cal you could pull it off.
There is a lot of diversity in this fruit, and also different species, so it would be good to experiment with different types and maybe find one that is more cold tolerant.

This has been done for decades in OC. Oscar you need to look beyond Costal San Diego where it  rarely reaches above 80F degrees

JC i lived in California for over 25 years, and in different parts, so pretty well aware of the different climates there. Yes interior temperatures higher than coastal, but then you get the trade off that interior is more subject to colder winter temperatures and even occasional frost. How many people have fruited starapple in Orange country, and how old are the trees? Question is how long they can survive outdoors in OC before a really cold winter rolls by?

You must be 100 years old Oscar. You lived 25 in CA 40 in HI and ?? In Argentina
I said it has survived decades and it rarely gets below 40F in part of OC

[fruitlovers]

I'm still very skeptical and still have not heard any first-hand accounts of people growing it, but I've gone ahead and ordered one so I'll see how it does. I suspect it will marginally survive San Diego winter but abort any fruits it may have had, and it sounds like the fruits require almost a full year to ripen.

I think you're right. Starapple is very marginal in California. The person succesful in fruiting it, Mark Lee, lives about as far south as you can get without entering Mexico: Chula Vista. Also he is very close to the coast. I think with a lot of care if you are in coastal southern Cal you could pull it off.
There is a lot of diversity in this fruit, and also different species, so it would be good to experiment with different types and maybe find one that is more cold tolerant.

This has been done for decades in OC. Oscar you need to look beyond Costal San Diego where it  rarely reaches above 80F degrees

JC i lived in California for over 25 years, and in different parts, so pretty well aware of the different climates there. Yes interior temperatures higher than coastal, but then you get the trade off that interior is more subject to colder winter temperatures and even occasional frost. How many people have fruited starapple in Orange country, and how old are the trees? Question is how long they can survive outdoors in OC before a really cold winter rolls by?

You must be 100 years old Oscar. You lived 25 in CA 40 in HI and ?? In Argentina
I said it has survived decades and it rarely gets below 40F in part of OC

Never said i lived 40 years in Hawaii. I lived almost 1/2 my life in California and 1/2 here, Only spent short childhood in Argentina. No i'm not 100, not even 60 yet! 

[TheWaterbug]

Bill I'll give you an address close to you that fruits them

JF, could I trouble you for that address? I'm in Palos Verdes, with the same climate as Long Beach.

[SocalKoop]

Hiya, revisiting this topic of interest to me.  Chris, Did you ever get around to visiting that lady in Orange? is her Caimato still alive? Did she ever get it to fruit?  Has anyone noticed if green or purple varieties have different growth characteristics or more cold tolerance?

[OCchris1]

Hi SocalKoop, I told her I wanted the tree and she is holding onto it for me since I was out of the country for a month and I have some house problems to sort out. I will let you know how it goes when I complete the deal. Take care, Chris

[NewMoon]

I bought one from Florida a little more than two years ago as a grafted tree. When I got it, did look for the graft union but didn't see any. Neglected it until this past summer. Right now, it is outside, behind a big grape fruit tree for cold wind protection, in a 7 gallons pot. It is in a stand still mode (no new grow) but the leaves are dark glossy green. Pretty good looking.
I did see an air-layer tree (very small) with flowers last September at Exotica in Vista that they just got from Florida. I didn't know what happen after that because they sold the tree. So, I do think Caimito can grow in Southern California.

[tqn626]

I had 2 caimitos trees, one died in 2014 and one just died in December. Not a bright idea trying to grow it in the San Gabriel Valley. One frost day pretty much ended it life for me. I'll probably get another one and grow it at my Grandmas in Orange County where it protected by brick walls.

[gozp]

Any updates or anyone had success growing caimito here in California?

[Guayaba]

Bump.....I am with Gozp.  Any updates Californians have on how their Caimitos are performing?

[Cookie0208]

I have a grafted green variety. If I cover it with frost blanket and give it heat during the cold winter whenever weather forecast below 40%, will this survive and fruit?

[CGameProgrammer]

I have a grafted purple Caimito from Top Tropicals that I bought a bit over two years ago, planted in my yard in San Diego and completely neglected aside from irrigation. It is maybe 9' tall now and growing very well but has not flowered. Of course I won't keep it if convinced it will never flower but I'll give it a few more years maybe, but the tree does survive without any apparent issue here.

[Mikey]

I brought a grafted green star apple tree from ong' nursery last winter and it still lives.  And I live 5 minutes from ong and my tree is outside.  It is small but it is still growing.  I think it will be bigger next year once the roots get established. 

[Guayaba]

I have a 7 gal. green Caimito from Plantogram and a 5 gal. purple seedling that is a little over 2 years old. The green Caimito has yet to see a full winter, but has really grown well this year, and is now in bud. The purple seedling has been slower growing but is making progress this year. Also hoping Oscar's giant purple seedlings continue to do well at 3 months old! 

[boxturtle]

any update on caimito in california?

[OCchris1]

I currently have two. One is green and unknown if its grafted...I actually can't remember where I got it from, and its been out side in a large rootmaker pot for the last 2-3 years. That one is about 6 feet tall and full of flowers (no fruits yet). I also have a 3 foot grafted purple in a 5 gal. full of flowers and its been outside in the same spot for 2 years and hasn't had the least bit of cold damage- they both look great all year round.

[Seanny]

Chris, post some pictures?

[OCchris1]

No can do. For some reason it won't allow me to post a pic?

[Eggo]

This is an old thread but has there been any updates.

Did Chris get fruit?  Did anyone else get fruit?

Attach is a tree that's been in the ground for at least 5 years, started out as a small seedling(Not mine though). This tree has yet to flower but I recently heard that u need 2 varieties to get fruit set and cross pollination.  I wanted to graft either mature scions or other seedlings onto it. It's a good size tree. 8ft or so with multiple trunks. Picture taken a few days ago.