The Tropical Fruit Forum

What about Jaboticaba? I knew a guy in Indiana who had one for years. A few more that meet the hardiness requirement but might require pruning are Loquat, Pomegranate, Fig, and some of the high quality mulberries.

I have never grown that variety of White Sapote, but I can tell you that they fruit better with another variety for pollination.

The papaya looks ok to me. At the moment all the trees in my yard a leaning...Thank you Mr. Ian. Lol!

To put it another way, mass selection allows you to select for the genetics that you want. It is not a means of creating new genetics. You have to work within the genetics of the species that you are dealing with.

Here are my recommendations.

1). Use common sense to observe your yard and house. If you wouldn't drive down the highway at 60, 80, 100 mph with the thing in the bed of your truck, strap it down or put it away. One thing people often forget about is that outdoor fans should be taken down.

2). Although I have never bothered with it myself, some very knowledgeable people recommend reducing tree canopies by about 1/3. That is usually enough to keep them from blowing over. Also remove any limbs that could touch your roof and any fruits that are close to ripe or that could become projectiles.

3). Remember that some damage is preventable and some is not. Pool cages and screen porches are among the most commonly damaged parts of the house that might have been prevented. Slashing or removing the screen is often enough to save the structure and replacing the screen is a lot cheaper than replacing the metal frame.

4). Taping your windows does basically nothing other than waste your time and tape. If you only have boards for a few windows, put them on the windows facing the prevailing winds (windy.com can show a prediction of what direction that will be).

5). Be careful after the storm. More people die each year from running generators in a closed garage or from falling off a roof than from the storm.

If it helps any, there are at least 2 Ilamas in Sebring. They would have gone through 28 at a minimum this last winter (one is bearing fruit this year). I would say they are approximately equal in hardiness to mango and maybe slightly harder. They appear to be more resilient/long lived than sugarapple.

Quote from: Jack, Nipomo on September 22, 2022, 11:13:22 PM

I have 4 grafted white sapotes that are dwarfed and at 15 years old or more, no larger than 8 ft, one is only 5 ft.  All produce normal sized fruit.  I have posted this before:  Using casimiroa tetrameria (yellow sapote) for rootstock, the white sapote (casimiroa edulis) is dwarfed and remains so.  Each is planted in the ground, but would be perfect size for a 15 gallon container.  I also have a collection of white sapote trees that tend to be very large.  I don't think one in a container would be happy due to their size. My Suebelle white sapote is about 10 ft tall, and has fuzz on the bottom of its leaves potentially indicating hybridization with a yellow sapote.  All of the yellow sapotes have the fuzz, and are sometimes called fuzzy leafed sapote. My yellow sapote on its own roots is about 15 ft tall, my Vernon white sapote is a giant 30 ft or more and equally as broad.  For yards with limited space, dwarfing might be a solution to be able to enjoy this excellent fruit.

So I live in 9b and my white sapote takes little damage in the winter. If I use yellow sapote rootstock (canistel), which has less cold tolerance is that going to be an issue? I like this idea, but not sure if it is suitable for 9B.
Thanks.

I think they were talking about
casimiroa tetrameria (yellow/wooly sapote). It should be similar in cold tollerence to white sapote (casimiroa edulis). Common names make things confusing.

I agree, we rarely plant out anything in less than a 7gal. It is so easy to pick up a 3 gal or 7 gal pot and put it in the garage for the night.

You are welcome Samu! I hope you start getting some fruit!

It does not seem to have hurt the other queen palms. What are you planning to put there? Anything with a strong root system would likely be bad for the wall.

I am no avocado expert, but another thought occured to me. I believe most store avocados are Guatemalan types like Hass. Don't they have a long ripening period? It would be a real shame to create a hardy tree that never produced fruit because it got frozen off before it could ne harvested each year.

It would probably be best to ask what other California growers are having success with and then taste those varieties to see what you like best. It is almost laughable how even among my friends and family the variety one ranks as excellent is the other's least favorite. What I can tell you is that for commercial purposes Sweet Heart brings the highest price. I would not say it has remarkable cold tollerence. Personally, I like Kiamana a little better.  I also like the taste of Brewster (which is known to be fairly hardy) but the seed is large.