White Sapote "Suebelle"

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Yes. Don’t forget to interact with it everyday.

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Our plant is maturing out of the juvenile stage and sprouting shoots from the “shoulders” of drooping side branches. I’ve just pruned it to encourage upward growth. Our avocado – which incidentally shares the native habitats of white sapote – will get this same treatment soon.

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Hi Richard, your yard is gorgeous! I have a question about my own SueBelle that I planted in a raised bed a few years ago. I pruned it back last year and have noticed that one large branch that is the tallest has not made even one flower for fruit. The other branch fruits twice a year. Is it possible that the left side branch is the root stock? It didn’t come from a sucker so why I am wondering why it is not flowering and making fruit. I can take a picture if you want to see.

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A picture would help. Also, my Suebelle did not flower in this awkward spring and has only a few blossoms now. The main propagator for Suebelle in California is LaVerne Nursery and I believe they are all rootings, not grafted. At least, I’ve never discerned a grafting scar on the plants I’ve had (I used to sell them).

White Sapote is native to semi-tropical forests and its natural inclination is to “reach for the sky”. It will do just that – like a telephone pole unless headed back at 3-4 feet. The side branches that come out will naturally grow upwards for 4-8" and then droop towards the ground (as do their forest partner: Avocado trees). The highest area of the arc on these branches will (eventually) be home to new somewhat vertical branches. So when drooping branches have advanced well below the arc (maybe 2 feet or so) then truncate them.

Here’s a view of the Suebelle at my former residence in Rancho Penasquitos.

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Got these white sapote from a friend who got them from CA.

The skin was so thin. I just ate it without peeling. Tasted like cuatard. Reminded me of pawpaw. It also had slightly bitter after taste like the pawpaw I had.

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Sounds like the Suebelle cultivar. :heart:

Molting with the warming weather - about 3 months late this year.

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Is that with common with all White Sapote and then new leaves replace them?bb

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I’ve only observed the Suebelle cultivar over the years. It usually drops about 3/4 of its leaves in favor of new growth.

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It is a very messy tree. For me, it drops leaves, has flowers, and sets fruits nearly year round. Sorry for the back ground, I haven’t had time to clean up all the dry leaves.

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Here she is, a young adult growing full steam ahead! To the left and right are green sapote, jerusalem sage, and southwestern cardinal flower. Overhead at a distance is a mourning dove.

I did not begin fungal treatments early enough this year (typical) and this photo shows leaves that received treatment too late. I alternate between Manzate, Abound, and Kocide (if necessary) once a month until the threat of Spring marine layer moisture has passed.

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What fungi are attracted to the White Sapote and if left untreated,can the trees eventually die?

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@Bradybb
I only know them by “gray mildew” and “spotty mildew”. Both can cause serious leaf drop here. I used to think the white sapote had a spring molting habit but a pathologist had a good laugh over it and clued me in. The gray is the more serious of the two and it’s not obvious until the leaves start complaining, then close inspection will reveal the culprit. The spotty appears on the back of the leaves as infrequent brown dots but in a few weeks the diameter will double or triple.

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First of the season

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Still producing, along with the Reed avocado!

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Flower buds plus a holdover from last Fall

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Richard, is your Suebelle in ground? The tree looks pretty large, nice size fruit. Why is the color of the leaves on the yellow side? I had a small Suebelle in a pot for 5 yrs and it eventually died, never grew much and it has very small fruits.

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Do you have other white sapote varieties with fruit now?

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