Today, I went to measure my 2 year old Cherimoyas. They will turn 3 years old by the end of this year. I measured the height from the base to the tip.
The shortest one is under 5ft. It should be 5ft, but a giant grasshopper chew on the tip and broke 6" of the top. I found it hiding in the leave and I take instant revenge. It becomes cat food. Eaten alive.
The next one is 6ft, then 7ft, and the last one is 8ft tall. They grow quickly in the 2nd year and still need support except for the shortest one. All in a container and all from seed. I plan to put 2 of them in the ground this Spring.
Canāt wait to see how fast they will grow in the 3rd year and if it will flower. I plan to strip all itās leaves before Spring show up. Last year most of the leaves dropped in the summer and the new leaves took a beating by the sun.
Do yours not defioliate in winter? Mine are in the process of doing so. Not sure if they will completely fall off, but they look rough. My two largest are about 3 feet tall now (probably a year and half old). They would be larger, but for their first 3 months they shared a pot with 20 other cherimoyas and were definitely kept in small pots for too long. My in ground one got broken by something and now is only 6 inches tall, if that.
I have like 20 or so new seedlings as well. I sell some, but I am probaby going to try to grow some for rootstock for atemoyas and sugar apples and other compatible annonas.
I keep hearing that cherimoya doesnāt fruit in Florida. Is that true? I have a seedling I started from fruit I got at the store but I donāt have high hopes for it :).
It doesnāt fruit in South Florida very well. Supposedly its elevation, but there are people who have fruited it in the direct bay area, and theres no elevation there. They need some chill or at least cooler temps to help them grow. There has also been some theories of constant humidity being an issue. Overall, most of the people who have reported on it not working are in South Florida or are on the water. In addition to the above issues, South Florida also has extremely shallow soil, which has caused issues with other plants. So personally, I think the verdict is still open to debate.
They should do better in Central Florida (north of Lake O and south of Gainsville) especially in the interior of the state. Highlands county and the hilly parts of Polk (Lake Wales-Frostproof area) where theres a little elevation, less year round humidity and more chill would probably be good areas from them. The same for like the Howie-in-the-Hills area, its a little colder that way but cherimoya can take frost.
I am mostly growing them because I had the fruit and they give tons of seeds. I didnāt particularly like it all that much, but they make great rootstock for sugar apple and atemoya. They also handle our winter weather here perfectly fine.
Ok, interesting. Iām not in South Florida but Iām in a little bit of a microclimate here where we donāt get quite as cold as some of our surrounding areas. But we do have a teensy bit of elevation compared to most of Florida here in the center. Weāre not as high as Bok Tower but higher than most anywhere else in this part of the state. My house is at about 210ft above sea level.
I guess Iāll try to grow one from seed and see what happens.
The 3 tallest one still look good. The shortest one to be fair was in a smaller container last year, before being transported to the final spot and a new container (shelve turn into a container). Itās struggling a bit in the cold and some of the leaves does drop, but it did grow well in the summer time. They will be hit with the mid 30s tonight, just like yesterday.
Last year, all was under a bush in winter. They got some protection from frost. The leaves didnāt drop last winter.This year, they will be out in the open. Iām using 13 - 18 gallons container. The book shelve container, no idea how big that is.
Cherimoyas from seeds should be as good as the parent. I never hear anything bad yet.
