White Sapote "Suebelle"

It’s like comparing apples and oranges - they are totally different types of fruit. I have not grown canistel because it is supposed to be much less cold hardy than white sapote.

Thanks

Here we go again!

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Does this tree need full sun?

At least 3/4 day sun. I also recommend judicious pruning because otherwise it can grow 20+ feet before branching.

Another awesome gardening site! Richard- very nice yard & cool to see people like you taking advantage of the awesome climate we live in (assuming you’re in SoCal)… Just thought I’d share since this is a pretty cool thread.

First pic is of a grafted Suebelle that was purchased/planted in 2010 from a 3 gallon pot. It’s been slow to grow but the fruit has been so tasty and worth all the care. I planted the seeds of one of the first fruit off this tree (3 of them in the same hole) and all 3 turned into huge trees with very little effort, which is the 2nd pic. I planted them in 2012 and did not thin them out. It’s may be 8 feet away from the house but I’m hoping I won’t have any issues going forward with the roots as I hear they are invasive. There is a pistachio tree that my mom planted 15+ years ago about a foot away from the house and it’s fine and never been an issue.

The seedling trees are growing so much faster than the grafted nursery tree and seems like they will fill out nicely. The fruit from the seedling trees has also been delicious (also bigger) and took less than 5 years from seed to flower (for 2 seedlings, still waiting on the 3rd to flower) and the only main issues I’ve had with pests are scales and mealy bugs, and the leaves on the grafted variety get this black sooty mold fungus on them which my seedling trees never had an issue with.

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2nd pic seedling trees

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I’ve never had that issue with Suebelles – even when grown near citrus etc. that need treatment for it.

I could be wrong. You posted a photo with the caption “flower buds” in Oct '16, some of your leaves have some black spots on them, I always thought that was black sooty mold. If that’s not what it is, do you have an idea of what it might be?

I used a diluted neem oil spray for 2 weeks that got rid of most of it after the guy at my local green thumb nursery told me what to do but it may have been something else and not a fungus? Not sure, but the neem oil took care of it.

Not black sooty mold. This is what the real deal looks like (here on Lime):

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Wow that’s insane. Thanks for sharing, yea definitely not what the black spots on my sapote leaves resembled. Next time I’m going to ask you instead of the nursery people, thank you!

Avoid advice from store people who (a) live in an apartment, and (b) don’t grow the plant in question.

The mold in that photo is all dead by the way, I sprayed it with copper hydroxide a few months ago. Notice how it is beginning to flake off the leaves?

An update on my Suebelle, in the right half of the photo:

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The leaf under that flaked off part looks very healthy, seems like the copper hydroxide is the perfect remedy for that. So true about the nursery tip, they call themselves “the gardening experts”, I guess that should have tipped me off from the beginning lol.

Your sapote looks very healthy along with everything else you have. Very cool looking yard.

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Nothing like relaxing under the White Sapote on a spring morning :slight_smile:

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Your tree and dog look great haha how very relaxed. This is the first year our grafted Suebelle decided to produce a lot which is exciting. There are flowers, baby fruit, and maturing fruit. It’s so much like citrus in that regard, seeing every stage of development on the tree. I read your post on your Reed thread that it’s normal for white sapote leaves to drop in April. This was the case for the seedling trees, but not the grafted one oddly enough.

Has eating sapote ever made you feel tired? I want to try eating 15 or 20 at once to see if it might be a good insomnia remedy. I’ve eaten a few at a time and don’t remember feeling tired at all. I tried to find more info in drying out the seeds and turning it into a powder that I could capsulize, but the info is limited and some sources say it’s toxic.



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Great looking tree :slight_smile:

If you take a shoebox size volume of seeds, roast them, then drink “mocha” made from the roasted seeds over the course of a day you will go to sleep … permanently. It is the hospice drug of the native peoples in Central America.

For myself, I find the fruit is filling and have never eaten more than 2 a day – and never experienced the sophoric effect described by some individuals.

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Thank you! I got excited until you said “permanently” lol but that’s pretty cool info. I’ll eat a whole bunch of the fruit to experiment this summer, and if you see me report back it means I’m still alive :+1:

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Being the grandfatherly type, I’ll point out that insomnia is commonly caused by either excess stress or pain. The former often has relief in lifestyle changes such as daily exercise – or sometimes with SSRI drugs in the case of chronic brain chemical imbalances. The latter requires intervention of an MD. Of course many other sellers of snake oil are ready to take your money in your hopes of relief. :slight_smile:

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Thanks. Yes, it’s mainly stress (grateful it isn’t pain). It’s probably avoidable but certainly something I’m working on. I tried some different options that did help, but nothing that would be practical in the long term. Certainly the “cbd oil” I tried should have more appropriately been branded as snake oil. I have to say there is nothing more stress relieving than planting and admiring all the green that’s growing around. Actually one thing that does help with the physical part of the anxiety is Kava Kava root. I’m sure using the actual root instead of the extract would be better, but it does help better than other herbs I’ve tried like Tulsi and other random ones that are supposed to help with anxiety.

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