Axel,

I share you comments.

White Sapote would be great for my area if I only had the room. I understand that they take temps down to about 23 or 24f...Just like the Macadamia!

I tried a store bought " Vernon" White Sapote last year...I commented at that time that I thought it tased alot like Cherimoya...

I wish I had an acre or 2!!!!

The above followup was added by Jeff on July 07, 2000 at 12:43 am PST.

I've got 3 trees, Pike, luke and another. One is growing at an amazing rate, flowering profusely, but the immature fruit seems to fall off early. Any reaosn for this?

The friend of mine who gave me the bananas has several in her yard. I'm not sure of the variety, but eh skin is unpleasntly gritty, but as the fruit is so soft and juicy, it's hard to get rid of the skin first.

There is some work going inot growing this fruit commercially here, so far the main problem has been storage, they don't stay fresh long.

btw, white sapote trees grow well even in the coldest, frostiest microclimate of my local town, whihc sits in a big frost hollow. They must be hardy in at least USDA z9a.

The above followup was added by Ben on July 07, 2000 at 3:11 pm PST.

Much like avocados, White Sapote is a heavy feeder, and won't begin to produce profusely until the root system is well established.

The roots are known to be very invasive, so it's not good to plant it near foundations, pipes, and sewer lines.

Most sapotes thrive in the intense daytime heat of the Los Angeles area. In the Mexican high plateau, it can get really hot during the day. Even though they originate in the highlands, they seem to tolerate more tropical conditions, although only specific varieties and only to a limited extent. Under cooler conditions, some sapotes may not set fruit, but I don't know this for sure.

But I do know that certain varieties seem to be better adapted to specific climate conditions. For us on the central coast, "Vernon" is a real winner, because it produces a copious amount of tasty, large fruits even under the often heat deprived conditions found around here.

Hey Ben, are you on a hillside? Is that why you have such a mild climate? Sounds like you might have a similar setting as I do.

Jeff, I would grow a white Sapote long before growing an Avocado, simply because a number of different varieties of Avocados are available in stores pretty much year-round, but try finding white sapotes. (Note that I am not suggesting you cut down your avocado to replace it with a white sapote. I am sure your avocados are much better than store bought ones.)

The above followup was added by Axel on July 07, 2000 at 7:14 pm PST.

Axel,

You've got it right, I claim 'my' climate as a mild north facing slope, at about 80m a.s.l., but immediately overlooking the beach. This is where my parents live, and where my nursery is located. I got married 4 years ago, and my wife and I now live in the traditional farm cottage, at about 220m a.s.l., and on an exposed hilltop, more or less south facing (ie, cold). I get a better view of the beach (and the island in the bay) from my house, but when there is a cold southerly wind blowing its not so great.

I actually record the temperature where I live, so sometimes I talk about my temperature as if that is where I grow my 'exotics', when in reality the nursery area is somewhat warmer. Most years, my nursery would be USDA z11a, and summer high temps hit 40C every year, while my home is USDA z10a, with summer maximum temps rarely hitting more than 30C. Winter highs are usually above 10C around 364 days a year.

Our farm has a number of microclimates, the coldest location is around USDA z9a. It's kind of fun having a series of quite differnt microclimates to play around with, shame about all these sheep... (ever seen a sheep meet an avocado tree? Doesn't last long).

The above followup was added by Ben on July 08, 2000 at 0:03 am PST.

Hey White sapotes grow like a super weed anyplace it doesn't snow :P It almost snowed here(southern victoria australia) this year (it was the coldest week in 50 years or something) and my white sapotes just kept growing(slowly) but very speedly during the warmer times and my seedling mango tree is still alive! day after day and month after month of 3c low/12c high. Now back to a more suitable plant for my climate my little cherimoya's, I'm a little confused about what they are supposed to do during the winter? my theory is that the old leaves will drop and new shoots will come from the place the leaves were in spring or summer? because they havn't done anything yet

Jason

The above followup was added by Jason on July 10, 2000 at 2:36 am PST.

Suebelle - in ground, grows slow and light producer, very good quality.

The rest are in containers no larger than 18 inches in diameter.

McDill - Huge fruit, plant is 2 feet tall, just thinned down to 10 from 30 fruit that set.

Pike - 1 foot tall, set 2 fruit last year and had to reshape tree. A few fruit were going to set but they got knocked off.

Littlepote - A dwarf from Papaya Tree nursery,
setting 2 fruit this year.

LemonGold - 3 feet tall and wide. Over 20 fruit set and growing.

Vernon - 1 foot tall and wide. Nine fruit with some already as big as a tennis balls.
Very Dependable.

Sound interesting enough now Jeff.

The above followup was added by Tom on July 10, 2000 at 12:48 am PST.

Ben, sounds like you live in a real beautiful place. You have zone 11a. That's pretty mild. Somehow, I don't see sheeps, nurseries, and fruit trees to be all that compatible.

I am also on a hill, but facing towards the equator (south-warmer here), sheep free but deer infested, and at 800 feet (242 meters.) In California, the furhter you are from the beach, the colder it gets. So 40C right on the beach happens only a handful of days a year.

Jason, cherimoyas keep growing throughout the winter, and will "molt" e.g. drop old leaves and put on new ones about a month after the spring equinox. (My theory is that the molting is triggered by the fastest changes in daylengh, from short to long, and takes around a month to really get going.) So in late April in the northern hemisphere, all leaves drop as new buds right under the leaf stems push the old leaves off. In Australia, I would expect you will see molting around the end of October, followed by bloom.

By the way, young seedlings often just keep on growing without molting. Older trees molt later than younger trees, drought will also induce molting, and molting time is somewhat also a function of varieties.

Axel

The above followup was added by Axel on July 10, 2000 at 1:47 pm PST.

Hey Tom,

How do you get your Sapotes to fruit in containers??? What do you feed them? I have Suebelle & McDill in 30 gallon trashcans, and they are not fruiting.

Axel

The above followup was added by Axel on July 10, 2000 at 1:50 pm PST.

Sunset Western Garden books states that the white sapote will grow to 50 feet but can be kept to any size through pruning. Does anyone have any experience with this? I would like to plant one but need to keep the height to approx 15-20 feet. If thats a losing battle from the start, I'll just keep it in a container.

Richard

The above followup was added by richard on July 10, 2000 at 4:23 pm PST.

Feed 'em cottonseed meal if they're not producing flowers.

If they produce flowers, don't feed them 2 months before and after flowering so they'll set fruit better.

I have a 'Vernon' in a 6 inch diamter plastic sleeve about 12 inches high. It has nine fruits on it, some as big as tennis balls and it's putting on vegetaive growth too.

The above followup was added by Tom on July 10, 2000 at 4:24 pm PST.

Richard,

White sapotes respond well to pruning and in commercial plantings are often kept low in order to make harvesting easier.

Grafted varieties generally take much longer to reach 50 feet, and the vigor will depend on the variety. Sunset is somewhat misguided in describing Sapotes not just in height, but also in climate adaptability. White sapotes have similar climate requirements to an Orange. Thus you can grow white sapotes in zones 14 and up.

There is substancial proof that white sapotes thrive throughout much of zone 17. There are some very healthy trees throughout the Wastonville area (Santa Cruz and Monterey counties) which is right in the middle of zone 17.

White sapotes might be marginal in only the most heat deprived microclimates of zone 17 where summer temperatures rarely reach above 65F (e.g. some neighborhoods of San Francisco) but as for most fruits, few have been thoroughly tested in such cool climates, and I wouldn't be surprized if there is a variety that would thrive there as well.

Axel

The above followup was added by Axel on July 10, 2000 at 5:29 pm PST.

Tom, that's sounds too good to be true. 9 fruits on such a small tree, or should I say seedling? Where did you buy it? I just grafted a Vernon onto my McDill, and onto a seedling. I can't wait for the plant to get going.
What do you feed you Sapotes? Cotonseed meal? Maybe that's the key ingredient.

Axel

The above followup was added by Axel on July 10, 2000 at 5:31 pm PST.

I have a Vernon and Pike (both grafted) that were obtained from a local Nursery who got them from Brokaw nursery in Saticoy, CA.. (Brokaw has since basically got out of subtropicals except for citrus, avacado and some kiwi).

They were distressed at the time (Hey maybe that's the key to get them fruiting) and are about 4 years old in the same small container. ( I also have a Mcdill I've force fed in a 15 inch container and it put on 30 fruit that I've had to thin out).

I was told that cottonseed meal despite it's (6-2-1) NPK makes plants flower. I've had an apple and persimmon throw a few flowers in September after using this stuff.

The key to holding the fruit is to NOT fertilize before flowering and not until the fruit have set and started to grow.

The above followup was added by Tom on July 11, 2000 at 9:12 am PST.

I often look for rarer juices. I can transport and store juice where I cannot fresh fruit. I would like to find cherimoya, white sapote,and feijo. Iwould also be interested in other rare juices.

The above followup was added by Roger on September 11, 2000 at 2:08 pm PST.

I have a white sapote that I picked up in a nursery maybe eight years ago...didn't have a variety name. This is the second year it has borne fruit, this year a lot. How do you tell when to pick it? Right now it is coolish out side and the tree isn't getting a lot of sun because it is November and in a shady backyard

The above followup was added by Tree on November 03, 2000 at 12:21 am PST.

Tree,

I live in the Excelsior District here in SF. I just planted a new (grated) Suebelle in June and a seedling I started about 5 years ago in a container. Both appear to be rooting well. I want to add more varieties as soon as I can find sources for the ones I want. What part of the city do you live in? I would be very interested in seeing your fruiting trees and discussing when to pick, etc. I have been waiting to get more hands on experience with White Sapotes since I have lots of head knowledge/done my homework. You can also get lots of info. on the CRFG website. They are having a scion exchange on Jan. 20th. You may want to go. Feel free to email me about this subject. Shawn.Hannon@efi.com.

The above followup was added by Shawn on December 29, 2000 at 10:52 am PST.