Hi Ben,

I would be glad to give you all the info you want.
Most of the commercial cherimoya groves in California
are in the foothills of the coastal ranges just south
of where I am. Conditions there typically are 15-25 C
in the winter, and 20-32C in the summer. It only rains
in between November and April, with an occasional
shower earlier or later. Where I am, temps range
12-25 C winter (Average 16 C) and 18-32 C summer (Average 24 C).
Total rainfall is around 320 mm/year in the south, and 550 mm/year in the north.
Lows in the region rarely drop much below 5 C in the south,
and 0 C in the north.

Our cherimoyas are fabulous. There are many varieties,
but the most popular commercial ones are 'white', 'Bay',
and 'Booth'. There is a pink fleshed variety called
'Selma' which is not grown on any commercial scale yet.
It has only recently been readily available.

Up here, we have very similar conditions in the local
foothills, because they are also south facing. But while
daytime temperatures are about the same as further
south, our nights are slighlty cooler. Every few years,,
a continental artic air mass will hit California,
and even in the foothills where there rarely ever is
a frost, temps drop down to around -2 C to -3 C.
Down south, they barely ever get below 2 C.
Even though such events are rare, they have scared off
any commercial cultvation.

Up here, cherimoyas are popular backyard fruit trees
for fruit enthousiasts, and seem to do quite well.
Mine are currently at the end of the bloom cycle, and
there are already numerous small fruits on the trees.

There is a definite difference in flavor among chermimoyas.
My favorite ones are Booth and Selma, which both have
a slight acidic taste. White is my next favorite, which
I consider to have a very sweet, almost overwelming flavor,
and a very soft, delicate texture. My last favorite
is Bay, which is not very sweet, and lacks flavor.

I don't share the same opinion as most commercial
growers, in that I believe the fruits that come
from seedling trees are just as wonderful as those
from known cultivars. I do believe that there is
a variety specifically adapted to different microclimate
given that the tree has such a large altitude range
in the Andes (1000-2800 meters).

One thing is for certain. I do not know of any fruit
that is as tasty as a cherimoya. I can't wait for
the first fruits of the season. The first fruits
should begin to ripen in about another two months.

I am now experimenting with cherimoya seeds collected
in Arequipa, Peru, which is around 2500 meters elevation.
I am also experimenting with seedlings of the
red cherimoya, which is reported to originate at
higher elevations. One of my curiosites is to find
cherimoyas which can grow in the coldest fog belts
of thre Monterey Bay, where year-round temperatures
rarely exceed 18 C. I really wonder if this is possible.
Experiments with exisitng cultivars are not promisng.
The trees grow very slowly, and the fruits take two
years to ripen.

Please tell me more about cherimoya cultivation in
New Zealand. Which cultivars are most popular?
You guys must have a lot of the same varieties that
we have.

The above followup was added by axel on September 06, 1999 at 11:44 pm PDT.

Axel, your temp. stats sound way too hot for my liking, are you in subtropical latitudes? For some reason I assumed you were somewhere around San Francisco area. To get temperatures that hot in this part of the world you'd have to move into near-tropical latitudes, probably north of Brisbane, Australia. I know cherimoyas can handle much cooler conditions than that, there is apparantely a commercial orchard at the NW corner of NZs South Island, around lat. 41S., which is a reasonably frosty area in mid-winter. The Australian 'custard apple' industry is based on atemoya, which I believe to be inferior to cherimoya in flavour. Atemoya is not recommended at higher than about lat.28S in Australia, but for some reason they don't seem to be planting cherimoya in the cooler south. I've been told that a large percentage of atemoya plantings are being pulled out in some parts of Queensland because of oversupply.

Here in New Zealand there is some commercial cultivation of cherimoya, but I know very little about it, and the only fruit we see for sale in our part of the country is small, expensive, and in bad condition. I believe there is work being done somewhere on identifing cool-tolerant cultivars with few seeds and good shelf-life, these will probably also lack flavour! I am very interested in the prospect of attempting a commercial plantation myself, in association with other crops such as avocados and (probably) some form of citrus (mandarines?), so I'll probably be able to tell you more about cherimoya cultivation in a few years than what I can now. At the moment Cherimoyas are popular as backyard fruit.

I'm interested in your low rainfall figures. How much extra water do you need to keep your palms going? Must have very high evaporation rates too, with that much heat. Both Rhopalostylis and Archontophoenix seem to grow best in the natural rainforest in a site where they are constantly waterlogged. How do they do in Ca?

The above followup was added by Ben on September 07, 1999 at 2:30 pm PDT.

Hi Ben,

I am in Santa Cruz, about 70 miles north of San Francisco. We're much warmer than the rest of the
Bay area. We're not warmer in the summer, but we're
warmer in the Winter, because we're on the south side of a mountain range. In the winter, it might be as warm as 26 C on our side of the hill, and on the other side of the hill, it's only 16 C.

I would not say that we are that warm. Perhaps the confusion arises from the fact that I stated the range of our highs, not including lows. We have a very
typical highland climate. Nights are cool. Usually, after sunset, the temps drop rather quicky, even in
mid-summer, from the 24-26C range to 16 C, and the ultimate low is usually around 12 C. Even on the hottest days on record (37 C) the temp. still dropped down below 14 C.

In the winter, on sunny days, the high is 16-22 C, and
again, by Sunset, temps drop quicky to 12 C, with overnight lows around 4-7 C. On rainy days, the temp is
usually around 12-15 C without much temperature
fluctuation.

Most of the commercial cherimoya orchards are in
Santa Barbara. There, in the foothills, they never drop below 10 C at night, except during freezes, and then, they drop to around 2 C. They can grow mangoes, black sapotes, atemoyas, etc... There used to be a commerical Banana farm in the area, but the grower had a feud with the landlord, and that was the end of the banana farm. But they were quite successful, and the bananas did well there.

Archontophoenix is considered fairly drought tolerant. They are used as street ornamentals in Santa Barbara, (where they don't get a whole lot of water.) and they are even more common there than Canary date palms. They grow incredibly quickly, which is a big reason why they are so popular. as People don't usually keep the soil around them boggy. There is a grove of Archontophoenix here in Santa Cruz where they grow in between live oak trees and don't seem to be getting a whole lot more water than the oaks.

Rhopalostylis is not very common here and down south. It's a shame, because the palm looks fabulous. It might be because it is not as drought tolerant as Archontophoenix.

I would be interested to find out more about your plans to grow cherimoyas. We should combine efforts to identify cool tolerant cutivars. My guesses on the temp. requirements of varieties is as follows:

Booth: 16-30C day/14-16C Night Hardy to -3.5C
Bay: 14-30C day/12-16C Night Hardy to -2 C
El Bumpo: 20-35C day/16-20C Night Hardy to -1 C
(has Atemoya genes. My spcimen died at -1 C)
Selma: 14-25C day/8-16C Night Hardy to - 4C
(This is the pink fheshed cherimoya which is supposed to come fron higher altitudes.)

The above followup was added by Axel on September 09, 1999 at 11:03 am PDT.

Your climate data makes more sense to me now. Like you, we have a huge number of microclimates here. My temps are recorded behind the house under a 70 year old stand of Pinus radiata on top of a ridge exposed to the south(cold). Gives a good idea of true air temperature, but warm north-facing microclimates can be very different. For example, where my nursery is (1km east, on a warm north facing slope overlooking the sea) I can get bananas to ripen ok, specially in summer, but at my house the same bananas wont even grow.

I'd appreciate any help/suggestions re. cherimoya cultivation. The temp requirements you suggested, are they the requirements for good growth throughout the year, or during flowering time, or for fruit maturation or what? Those temps would suit for most of the year, but our winters are definetly cooler. Is there much difference in rootstocks? I'm in the process of growing some seeds from locally-grown fruit to see how they go. Thinking about grafting selected cultivars on, if I find any that are particularly commercially appropriate. Would you be able to provide commercial quality fruit in your area?

The above followup was added by Ben on September 13, 1999 at 5:43 pm PDT.

After visits to Peru, I am a lover of the Cherimoya. I tried my hand at growing when I lived in San Diego without much success. Now, living in north central Florida, I wonder if it's possible to try again. My question is two-fold: A. can it be done
B. where can I buy the roots, or
baby trees
Any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks

The above followup was added by Carol on October 05, 1999 at 2:13 pm PDT.

I've tried to grow Cherimoya here in the San Joaguin Valley without any success.

They seem to thrive during are hot (105F +) summmers, but evertime I plant a tree it gets froze to the ground by the slightest frost below 32f. I have found Cherimoya to be less frost resistance than even the Mango!
I have tried seedlings and grafted varities without success...all were over 3 ft tall, with trunks 1 1/2" in dia.

Are there var. of Cherimoya that can take some temps below freezing better than others?

Jeff

The above followup was added by Jeff on October 08, 1999 at 1:26 pm PDT.

Jeff,

That's scary! And certainly different from the New Zealand experience. We can only grow mangoes in hot houses, but cherimoya handles the cool temps well, thriving even in our southern island at around lat. 42S. Do you have a definite autumn period for 'hardening off', or do your frosty conditions follow on directly from hot weather? That's the only reason I can think of for your problem, unless you've somehow continually got hold of the most tropical cultivars possible.

The above followup was added by Ben on October 10, 1999 at 5:43 pm PDT.

Ben.......
Here in central California, we have a definite "cooling down period" before our first winter freeze.
The first hard freeze generally occurs around the first of December...at a time when the average high temps are in the mid 50's f. and the lows are around 38f. Temps in December never exced 68f !

I may try a few more seedlings ( grafted trees are costly to lose)

Are there any Cherimoya that seem to be hardier than others?

Jeff

The above followup was added by Jeff on October 11, 1999 at 11:02 am PDT.

Jeff,

there is work going on in this country to select hardy strains suitable for our climate, but these probably wouldn't tolerate your summer heat. I wish I knew what the best varieties are, NZ experience seems to indicate that the quality of the fruit and hardiness of the trees can vary even in the same cultivar according to the slightest difference in soil, temperature and aspect. If you're interested in what's happening in NZ, send me an email, and when I finally find out all the details, I'll pass them on. From what Axel's been saying, it sounds like seedlings might be as good as named varities anyway.

The above followup was added by Ben on October 11, 1999 at 12:37 am PDT.

We have just had a heatwave with temps heading up
into the upper 80's. Most of my cherimoyas suffered
some leaf burn.

Interestingly enough, though, one of the hardinest
cherimoya (Booth) is also supposed to be more heat
tolerant.

All cherimoyas are very frost sensitive when small,
and only gain in frost hardiness with maturity.
A mature "Booth" variety doesn't even defoliate at 28 F, and is definitely much hardier than Mangoes.

Jeff's location in Modesto is considerably cooler
than we are on the coast. We routinely get warm spells
in the Winter when temps climb into the low to mid-70's. We also get much less frost. But I suspect the main reason Jeff has not had much luck is because his plants where not mature enough to widthsand cold temperatures.

I would very much be interested in what research is going on to find cool tolerant cherimoyas in
New Zealand.

The above followup was added by Axel on October 15, 1999 at 5:10 pm PDT.

Axel,

The key differences in our winter temps are that Santa Cruz's average Dec/ Jan high temps are 60F or aprox 5 degrees f. warmer than Modesto's ave High of 55F.
Average lows are aprox. the same. Both averaging about 38F.

During the clear winter we often have a thick layer of fog that blankets the San Joaquin Valley. Often our nights stay warmer than along the coast.

However, when the fog clears, we tend to cool rapidly and sometimes find morning temps in the mid 20's. The fog will often reform and keep our daytime temps in the 40's. It is during this time, that the California coast and the Sierra foothills have the most beautiful weather. I've seen winter high's reaching 80f.!

Another winter diffence is that Modesto's coldest morning of the year tends to be around 2 degrees f. colder than Santa Cruz. Our average being about 26f. and Santa Cruz's is 28f.

Modesto's average freeze free period is 308 days where as Santa Cruz's is around 270.

I'm quite surpzed to hear that Cherimoyas suffer heat related damage when temps reach 80F. This was nevewr the case here in Modesto! The hottest temps my plants have endured ...without any damage was 110f. I used to corespond with a guy in Riverside , Ca that had Cherimoya trees that were 20 years old. He said the dry Santa Ana winds seemed to dry the leaves out, but that Temps over 100f ( calm wind )didn't bother them!

Hummmmmmm

The above followup was added by Jeff on October 19, 1999 at 12:07 am PDT.

Hi Jeff,

I assume your climate statistics on Santa Cruz are based on the official readings from the Weather Service. I have seen those same readings, but they are quite misleading. The city of Santa Cruz, as you probably know, is located at around 50 feet elevation, being located at the bottom of the San Lorenzo river basin. As such, the whole of the city is the final destination of ALL the cold air draining out of the Santa Cruz mountains. The official station is located near the county center or somewhere downtown, the lowest spot for the entire city. This makes for some VERY COLD mornings. Santa Cruz is often one of the first places to clear up during cold weather disturbances, simply because it is on the south side of the mountains. This is another reason for the cold temps.

Funny enough, most of the cities that have official readings around here have the same problem of being down low in a drainage basin. That includes Watsonville, Aptos, and many others.

But, be aware of the fact that locations in the hills are frost free with the exception of below freezing temperatures once every few years in these weird arctic blasts. To get into the frost free belt, you need to be above 400 geet. Above 800 feet, you reach the point of dimunishing returns, with still more frost free days than in the City of Santa Cruz, but when it freezes, it gets in the low 20's there. The reason is that typically, the artic blasts have colder air the higher you are. We call this frost free belt "the subtropical belt" for obvious reasons.

the last few days we have had is a perfect example of the cold air drainage principle. In Santa Cruz all the way to about 300 feet (Delavega Golf Course) lows have been dipping into the low 40's already. But above 400 feet, the lows have been in the mid-50's. Above 800 feet, the lows have been in the mid-60's.

The same is true in Santa Barbara. Last Winter, the official readings for Santa Barbara reaching 24 F were all over the internet. Yet in the cherimoya orchards up in the hills, the lowest recorded temps were in the upper 30's. Hills make a majore difference. So in summary, you can't draw conclusions based on the climate data of one single station. Rare fruit growers around here grow everything from Bananas to cherimoyas, and are quite successful. Somebody even grew an Atemoya. There are commercial Avocado groves in the hills above Corralitos (including tender varieties). I have seen Macademia trees the size of redwoods up there. There is even a guy growing Mangoes in the Santa Cruz mountains, although he lost his tree last Winter.

But even in the cold drainage basin around Santa Cruz, Bougainvillea, passionvines, bananas, hass avocado, lemons, large impacient bushes are among the key tender plants (all hardy to around 28 F) which grow as perennials, e.g. the plants are so large that they have grown over the span of several seasons. There is occasional minor frost damage, but most of the plants seem to do quite well. There are banana plants with trunks almost 1 feet in diameter which could not possibly be from one single growing season.

I suggest you take a look at the CIMIS Delavega station, which is still in the city of Santa Cruz, and still within the drainage basin, but at a slighlty higher elevation, which shows a coldest Winter low of around 30 to 31 F. It still shows quite cold temp readings compared to the higher hill locations.

About the burned leaves on the cherimoya, I am not making it up. My cherimoyas did not do well in full sun when the temps went above 90 F. Mine have leaf burns. Also, the official reading was in the upper 80's, but the temps around the cherimoyas, (which are in one of the warmest microclimates of the garden) may very well have reached into the 100 F range. Also, the trees are still no larger than 6 feet, so they are quite young and not as tolerant of hot temperatures.

Anyways, that's a rather lengthy response to the alledged "Zone Denial". There's no use denying that it freezes around here. That's why we don't have any commercial cherimoya plantations. But we do have locations that are frost free enough to grow cherimoyas with major success as a backyard fruit.

On a final note, I have yet to figure out how you manage to grow bananas (which have leaves that fry at 32 F) and yet you can't grow cherimoyas. The official rating (CRFG) of several cherimoya varieties is 25F, while the banana plant above ground gets desroyed at 32F. Clearly, if Modesto is as mild as stated above, you should be quite successfull with cherimoyas.

The above followup was added by Axel on October 21, 1999 at 10:33 pm PDT.

Axel,
I knew that I was playing the "Devil's advocate" when comparing "Official" weather station records. I used them simply for the sake of discussion… It is this type of discussion helps people from other areas understand California's diverse climates.

In Santa Cruz county, I've seen temps vary by as much as thirty degrees in locations just 2 miles apart. I use to live off of Mission blvd in Santa Cruz for several years so these "City" records seemed quite reasonable to quote from.

Everyone should be aware that topography and distance from the ocean has a dramatic impact on climate.
Often there is no "Official" weather records available to substantiate this, so interested people will just assume the NWS or Sunset garden books is the best source for weather info or over an entire area. Of course this far from being true.

In my 20 years of experimentation with frost sensitive plants, I have found that even some info provided by the CRFG experts to be sadly misleading... with regards to Northern California Growing conditions.

As far as my growing Bananas….The key to growing them here is selecting the right varieties.

There is a great diversity of frost hardiness amongst cultivars. All Banana leaves will “ Fry” at temps below 32f. That is for sure. With the hardier types of Bananas ( Orinocos , Raja Puri etc) the trunk is hardy to around 20f. So the plant continues to grow in the spring...Just as if you had pruned the leaves in the fall. Many other types of Bananas are not this hardy. Most will freeze…trunks and all to the ground at 32f. I have had no luck at all fruiting these types.

The best Banana to grow in “ Cool” winter climates seems to be the Orinoco var. Dwarf. They are quite frost hardy and the fruit is quite good. I have several large plants available for trade…If you are interested.
Perhaps we could trade for Cherymoyas?.

I believe you when you say that your Cherymoyas get sunburn ( Why wouldn’t I?) I was just sharing my experiences with the plant. Sometimes, my Bananas suffer the same fate. I just give them a healthy dose of Sulfate of Potash ( or Sul-Po- Mag) this seems to help.( It has something to do with healthy stoma?)

I am quite fascinated by climate records in out of the way places. Do you know of source for these in Santa Cruz County?

Jeff

The above followup was added by Jeff on October 22, 1999 at 12:08 am PDT.

I would be glad to trade you cherimoyas with some dwarf Orinoco. I also had three types of bananas growing, and all of them survived 29 F last winter, but only one didn't die back to the ground. It was exactly as you said, e.g. the leaves died, but the trunk was fine, and new leaves appeared as soon as we got the first warm spell.

I have received two new sets of cherimoya seeds from Peru. One comes from the region of Arequipa, Peru, which is very cold. The other is from 2500 meter elevation location in Peru. I have germinated the first set, and the plants are incredibly vigorous.

About climate data for out of the way places, I have written an article on internet climate resources. I will post it to the site by October 30th, 1999, when the final version of the site will be launched. By the way, would you like to become a guest editor? Drop me an E-mail, and I can give you a URL to the staging server where you can see what will be coming.

How's the weather in Modesto these days? We've had great weather here, sunshine and very pleasant temperatures. My cherimoyas are already bigger than golf balls. Take a look at the images of my "Booth" cherimoyas below. These will make you want to grow your own.

The above followup was added by Axel on October 23, 1999 at 12:14 am PDT.

Axel,
The pics look good.

I generally use NWS San Francisco's website as jump point for weather info. They link to many different sites. I haven't found much on Santa Cruz area though. I've always been fastinated by its many climates.

Our weather here in Modesto has been great. Highs around 80 lows around 50. We'll be much cooler in a few days however. Winter is just around the corner.

Jeff

The above followup was added by jeff on October 23, 1999 at 1:55 pm PDT.

Jeff (and anyone else), does dwarf orinoco need hot summers to produce good fruit? How good is the flavour? I have just planted some of these. What can I expect in a coolish oceanic climate?

The above followup was added by Ben on October 25, 1999 at 5:40 pm PDT.

The M&N Booth variety is reputed to take more heat and more cold than any other variety.

The above followup was added by Tom on December 06, 1999 at 12:14 am PST.

I purchased what I was told to be M&N cherymoya from Papaya tree nursery.

I put it in a favorable location in my yard. It seemed to love the summer heat and grew to 5 ft tall the first season.

It froze to the ground with the winter's first cold spell at 29F.

The above followup was added by Jeff on December 07, 1999 at 1:44 pm PST.

Papaya tree nursery rarely gets below 32 degrees, (I think it got down to 27 degrees in the late 80's) so he (David Silber) claims this cold hardiness from the tree he used for budwood that grows in North Hollywood, CA where I grew up.

It does get 29 degrees and colder there, so perhaps the age of the tree may play a factor here.

The above followup was added by Tom on December 07, 1999 at 3:14 pm PST.

Cherimoyas are not hardy at all when young. I even cover up young seedlings when temps get into the mid-30's.

Older wood is considerably hardier, depending on the variety. The regular "booth" variety took 28-29F last Winter with only the tips burned. All fruit larger than the size of a golf ball remained on the tree.

On the other hand, I lost an "El Bumpo" at around 27 F even though it was relatively mature.

Axel

The above followup was added by Axel on December 08, 1999 at 3:26 pm PST.

To bad that isn't true for humans.

I turned 40 yesterday and pulled a calf muscle at work!!!

The above followup was added by Jeff on December 09, 1999 at 12:21 am PST.

From the book, "Fuits of Warm Climates":

1. 'Deliciosa'—long-conical, prominently papillate; skin tbin, slightly downy; variable in flavor; only fair in quality; generally bears well but doesn't ship well; cold-resistant. Midseason.

2. 'Booth'—short-conical, fingerprinted, medium to large; of good flavor; next to 'Deliciosa' in hardiness. Late.

The above followup was added by Tom on December 21, 1999 at 8:10 am PST.

Thanks for the info. I will be looking for "deliciosa".

The above followup was added by Axel on December 21, 1999 at 10:30 pm PST.

I live very close to this weather station in southern Australia but sheltered by forest on one side. The climate stats are at this url..
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_090171.shtml

Over the last year I've become interested in growing some exotic fruits, you can only take so much peaches and apricots and only so much lack of fruit in the winter untill you do something about it, I planted about 20 Avocados this spring and they are all growing at oustanding speed so far but the winter is yet to come. I have 4 Cherimoyas planted now and one atemoya just for fun, I dont know if they will fruit yet but from what I've managed to read they should do well apart from the very hot days in the summer (maybe). The only variety I could find in Australia was white and I had to travel almost 3000 km to the northen sub tropics to find those trees, _no one_ sells them in this area. Anyway I'm just interested in what you guys with all the experience think of the climate where I live and what I may be able to grow, I have lychee's longans and wampee in the ground now also. I was also told by a trustworthy lady that she once had a fruiting mango in geelong, not far from here and the same climate. So I have some mangos planted too just in case.

Jason

The above followup was added by Jason on February 21, 2000 at 6:22 am PST.

If the lowest temps you get are -1.6C or 29.12F you should be OK. Better have some protection ready to be on the safe side for anytime it goes below 0C especially for any young trees like you have..

The above followup was added by Tom on February 22, 2000 at 3:03 pm PST.

We live 3 miles from the ocean in San Clemente. The temp averages around 72 with the very lowest temps around 38 degrees. Afternoon sea breezes keep the temps moderate.
Will I have success growing Cherimoya?

The above followup was added by mike on April 02, 2000 at 9:55 am PST.

Seems like an excellent climate to grow anything subtropical/tropical.

The above followup was added by Tom on April 04, 2000 at 8:40 am PST.

Taste 35 varieties! some as biG aS PLUMS!
Antique varieties, standards, plus the newest varieties from
hybridizers in CA and B.C.

The above followup was added by marion on June 17, 2000 at 4:44 pm PST.

The cherimoyas grow where ever the seeds fall around here. I see them all over in gardens and I´ve pulled out all kinds of them .I haven´t eaten them from the tree but they say that they are quite tasty. Our mean temp. 15ºc-16ºc. We are zone 9b which means that we have -3ºc around once a year.Our rainfall is 900mm-1300mm. Here the most common type is "fino de jete" which comes from Spain. I can´t imagine them being sweeter. I´ve tried cherimoyas in S. Amer. but they were never this sweet.I also have two kinds that come from Italy but I can´t find the tags at the moment. One is something like "Chiama". All three trees survived -10ºc under plastic and I know that -3ºc is nothing for them. At keast that is my experience and that which I have read in the spanish literature.

The above followup was added by Jason Huerta-Portugal on March 03, 2001 at 4:29 am PST.

When I was a kid (eight years old) my family lived in Quito, Ecuador for a couple of years. I remember loving chirimoyas. When we moved back to the States, I never heard of them again until recently. I live in California's Central Valley. Does anyone know where I can get South American chirimoyas?

The above followup was added by Nancy on July 09, 2001 at 9:29 pm PST.

My cherimoya fruit dropped all to ground after one and a half month . What causing that? Anybody know please let me know?

The above followup was added by Scott Nguyen on July 17, 2001 at 11:09 pm PST.

Hi. I live in New Orleans and have two cherimoya seedlings growing. I would like to get a Selma seedling started, or a red cherimoya, because they are reputed to be more hardy. New Orleans can get some nasty freezes every few years. I would like to have a couple of cherimoya plants going so I could try to cross them with an Asimina Triloba (you may think I am a different kind of Asimina for even trying this).

The above followup was added by Sarah Jumel on July 30, 2001 at 5:27 pm PST.

I live in Tennessee and just discovered this wonderful fruit. I declare it wonderful even though I have never tasted it. Everyone that seems to have done so praises it like no other fruit and my taste buds are in eager anticipation. Is there anywhere online where I can order some of this marvelous fruit? Please email me any response.

Jason Buck
JCBuckster@hotmail.com

The above followup was added by Jason Buck on September 04, 2001 at 10:25 am PST.

Hi
I live in Turkey and I am interested to purchase 2000 plants of cherymoya. I will
grateful if you guide me to the nurseries where they sell such a quantity.
Our neigboring country Lebanon is growing cherymoya but they cannot supply the plants.

The above followup was added by Mike Ayloush on September 22, 2001 at 6:46 am PST.

Does anyone out there have an image of what an "El Bumpo" fruit is supposed to look like? We purchased several trees (a variety of cultivars). The developing fruit on the two "El Bumpo's" looks nothing like its description, so I wanted to see if perpahps they were mis-labled. We have a 30+ year old huge "Bays" and in the new plantings "Orton" which set a bunch of fruit for being its first season; "Honeyheart" and the rare "T-1." I'll let you know how tey all/fair taste -- looking forward to it and thanks to anyone who has a picture of the "El Bumpo!"

You can buy cherimoya's online from Calimoya -- they're a great outfit here in Santa Barbara (in answer to the above posting.)

The above followup was added by Henry on November 16, 2001 at 7:27 pm PST.

Many people seemed to think that a web site with images of known Cherimoya viarieties/cultivars would be interesting, so I just started one. If you have any images (only of known fruits/trees) -- please email it to me along with the information (type, place its growing, age of tree...really whatever you think would be itneresting and I'll add it.

• Cherimoya Images Web Pages

The above followup was added by Henry on November 24, 2001 at 8:38 pm PST.

I have planted two (what Australians call Custard Apples) or "annona atemoya" (African Pride & Late Gold).
I have since been told Cherimoya "annona cheromoya" is superior, being more juicy & flavoursome than the atemoya types.
As I have limited land space, I do not want to grow another tree if annona cheromoya is not that much but better than the other two.
Any suggestions?

The above followup was added by Steve on March 31, 2002 at 12:19 am PST.

Hello all...such a delight to hear so many people interested in this plant. I live in South Texas and am interested in growing a tree in a large pot, so I can bring it in if the summer gets too hot...it breaks 110 regularly..I have a few questions...
1. Can you tell me where to find Cherimoya seeds?
2.Do you think container growing will work?
3. Do the seeds need to be very fresh? I thought maybe some of the sellers on the web might be selling old seeds, with low viabliity?

I appreciate any help you can give and look forward to hearing from you. Please email your response to zuuel@hotmail.com, as I may not find this site again in my searching. Take care. Lucile

The above followup was added by lucile on May 25, 2002 at 8:26 pm PST.

Hello all...such a delight to hear so many people interested in this plant. I live in South Texas and am interested in growing a tree in a large pot, so I can bring it in if the summer gets too hot...it breaks 110 regularly..I have a few questions...
1. Can you tell me where to find Cherimoya seeds?
2.Do you think container growing will work?
3. Do the seeds need to be very fresh? I thought maybe some of the sellers on the web might be selling old seeds, with low viabliity?

I appreciate any help you can give and look forward to hearing from you. Please email your response to zuuel@hotmail.com, as I may not find this site again in my searching. Take care. Lucile

The above followup was added by lucile on May 25, 2002 at 8:30 pm PST.

I am in the San Jose Area and trying for the second time to grow an Atemoya. First one died when temperatures dropped to 25 deg F and the tree was not protected. I learned that lesson well and the tree will be heated during the cold period below 35. I have been polinating the tree but the dillem is that after 2 to 3 days, most of the flowers are breaking at the base of the flower stem. The tree is watered regularly (every other day) and is not over watered as it is still in a large container about 30 Gallons. The tree is about 3 years old and 10 feet tall. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thx

The above followup was added by Saba on June 22, 2002 at 3:36 pm PST.

hi there
I live in Los Angeles,
please let me know if I can transplant my young
cherimoya plant (5 ft. tall) in to a large container.

Will it live and bear fruits in a container?
Thank you.

The above followup was added by Purita on August 24, 2002 at 6:16 am PST.

Just a note to anyone posting in this part of the forums. This thread started some years ago and not many people are going to read it anymore so please re post your question in a new thread at http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe

This way someone will be able to answer your questions

Jason

The above followup was added by Jason on September 09, 2002 at 9:29 am PST.

I live in Portugal.
The min. temperature I´ve ever seen at my house was -7C, but the normal min. is -4C. Do you think cherimoyas can be grown there? Which varieties?
Thank you.

The above followup was added by Francisco on November 27, 2002 at 9:58 am PST.

Hello.

I grow cherimoyas in the Yungas, Bolivia. A transition region between the Andes and the Amazon.

I had problems with fruit flies damaging my cherimoyas. A great way to control them was by tying a bottle half filled with a white mild vinegar. It worked just perfectly.

The above followup was added by Diego Ballivian on February 11, 2003 at 8:24 pm PST.

Would somebody please tell me to what height a cherimoya will grow? thanks

The above followup was added by Pauline on March 22, 2003 at 8:24 pm PST.

Well the height of a cherimoya tree can be as tall as thirty feet.

I did research on the cherimoya in Bolivia in the southern part near Tarija and saw some fairly tall trees. Of course they can be pruned .

-4C and -7C might be too cold for the cherimoya I had seedlings grown over the winter in Boliva and we got as low as 0C and not all the seedlings survived even though I protected them with a cloth. Also I saw damage on adult trees from a cold winter and the coldest it got was 0C and there was damage and much less fruit production that year! What I have read is that the tree can only handle one or two nights of freezing temperatures and then the damage begins.

The above followup was added by Kristina Owens on March 27, 2003 at 11:15 pm PST.

tengo una importante cantidad de semillas de annona chirimoya de bolivia. , concretamente de AIQUILE esta situado a 2500 sobre el nivel del mar tiene un clima fresco.

The above followup was added by Jhony Gutierrez on April 21, 2003 at 4:49 pm PST.

quiero vender semillas de Chirimoya .
de Bolivia escrivame a bolivianalms@hot mail.com

The above followup was added by Jhony gutierrez on April 21, 2003 at 4:52 pm PST.

Hey Ya'll, I am new to this fruit. I just read a book by Jonathan Kellerman, "Blood Test", where Kellerman discribes cherimoya. I became very intrested in finding a place where I could order this apparent "perfect" fruit. lol
ANyone who knows where I can order it at a resonable cost please email me.
We home base in Lufkin,TX. Due to my husband's job, we travel all over the US where he works in hospitals. Right now we are in NJ.
Have a wonderful Holiday!!! Lord bless you with peace and wisdom.
Linda

The above followup was added by Linda on December 19, 2003 at 7:47 am PST.

The California Cherimoya Association will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, Feb 28th at 9:00 a.m. It will be held at the Fallbrook Public Utilities Building, 990 E. Mission Rd, Fallbrook, CA 92028.Telephone: 760 728-1125
Don't miss this event. Many of the major California growers of cherimoya will attend. We will have two good speakers.tThe only charge is for the barbecue lunch-$15.00 per person.

The above followup was added by Ed Valdivia on February 14, 2004 at 3:36 pm PST.

hi everyone i recently learned about this cherimoya fruit because of a movie called the rundown where they ate a fruit called kolabos....while trying to reserch it on the net, the first thing i came upon was cherimoyas and white sapotes...the fruit ''cherimoyas'' sounds really tasty from all the reading iv been doing about it...im looking forward to ordering some and tastying them. I would like to clear up some of the rumors that iv read though....that the seeds are toxic and can have pyhisical adverse affects...also that the white sapotes have been known to have a certian toxin in them to cause advers physical affects...thanks

The above followup was added by daivd on March 31, 2004 at 2:59 am PST.

If I fertilize a female flower in the morning can I collect the male pollen after 36 to 40 hours from the same flower?

The above followup was added by Rolando on May 04, 2004 at 4:43 pm PST.

I have a very healty cherymoya tree, and it produce many blossoms, but it can not make frui. How can I pollinate blossoms manually.(I live inAnaheim,Clifornia).

The above followup was added by Emin M.ozyazici on May 09, 2004 at 9:39 pm PST.

Please explain to me how to germinate chirimoya seeds. I have some chirimoya seeds and I would like to learn how to germinate them.
If you have any information of the Santa Barbara Cherimoya Orchards, please send it to me. I really would like to buy cherimoya plants and the fruit as well. I would greatly appreciate the information.
Thank you

The above followup was added by Jasmine Roberts on May 11, 2004 at 10:20 am PST.

Seedlings with 70F bottom heat germinate in about 21 days. Without heat, seeds may take 1-2 months for germination.

see below link for more information

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/cherimoya.htm

Pradeep

The above followup was added by pradeep on May 12, 2004 at 3:41 am PST.

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW THE ORTON COMPARES WITH WHITE OR OTHER VARIETIES OF CHERIMOYA???

The above followup was added by JULIAN on May 15, 2004 at 7:41 pm PST.

I have been polinating a lot of flowers, but after two days they just drop (similar to Saba above). I pick the male pollen in late afternoon and use it at the same time. I use #3 artist brush, open the flower with left hand and insert the brush with a lot of pollen with the right hand with slight twist to spread the pollen then press the flower slightly. Will anybody let me know what really is happening? THANKS!

The above followup was added by Rolando on May 20, 2004 at 9:21 pm PST.

Rolando,

Flowers dropping a few days after pollination simply means the pollination did not succeed- there was no fertilization. They look like "tiny fruits" (Saba June 22, 2004) but are actually dried, shriveled ovaries. The female part of the flower is receptive way before pollen is ready. I have been succesful brush pollinating by opening mature flowers just as the thick petals start to split at the tip (usually the day before they open). If you are pollinating as you had described, you are probably pollinating too late. Open flowers mean the female part is no longer "sticky" and therefore not receptive either. Do not be afraid to pollinate flowers before they open. Trust me, the female part is ready and it works. In fact you can tell it, as you should already be able to detect a sweet scent at this stage. (Of course, it is assumed that you are using freshly collected pollen gathered in the evening, which should be good until the following morning- kept covered from drying)

Hope this helps.

Victor

The above followup was added by Victor on March 07, 2005 at 0:37 am PST.

I wish to buy 10 Cherimoya Selma seeds, can anyone out there please help me?
I live in Bangkok, Thailand, so willo pay for international shipping to Thailand.
My email is david@dto.co.th
I hope you can help.

The above followup was added by David Barrett on March 29, 2005 at 6:43 am PST.

hey, I live in Santa Barbara (on east mountain dr.) and am wondering where to buy a cherimoya tree - any suggestions?

The above followup was added by Tony on May 03, 2005 at 9:43 pm PST.

Organicfruitclub.com distributes Cherimoya fruits all year around. From California to Chile. From NewZealand to Belize.

• Cherimoya Fruits for sale

I would like to know how we can plant cherymoia and which month is the best.
thanks

The above followup was added by Janet on July 06, 2005 at 9:07 pm PST.

I bought a cherymoya. It was hard. I left it on the counter for a week. It never got soft. It got harder and the skin turned back. I opened it. It was black inside. What did I do wrong?
Help!

The above followup was added by Frank Tsai on September 21, 2005 at 7:53 am PST.