Does anyone know of a source for white sapote trees? I’ve scoured the Internet and haven’t found anything other than seedlings on ebay and one named variety there… Thanks!
Well, we have them here at Clausen’s, and a few other nurseries in San Diego county, Ryan. Not sure where you live? Suebelle is probably the best cultivar, if you can find it.
I’m about 500 miles north of San Diego, so it will have to be a mail order company, unfortunately 
Here in SLO county you can occasionally find them at some Home Depots, Lowes and the local Miners (Ace Hardware) outlets. Not always Suebelle, but they are all good. Vernon is particularly precocious while Suebelle takes time to get going.
The seeds are easy to sprout and can be ready to graft in a year. If you go that route there are many cultivars to choose from. If you’re worried about ultimate size, you can plant several together to slow them down. I have “four-in-a-hole” (including Suebelle and Vernon) and they are doing nicely.
Another option if you have them in your area, Ryan, are Armstrong nurseries. They may be able to get one in for you.
This Florida nursery have it for $35/ 3 gals graft tree.
http://www.tropicalfruit.com/search.asp?keyword=white+sap&search.x=0&search.y=0
Tony
Well, if Ryan is up in N. Calfornia, this won’t be an option, Tony. So many nurseries out there will not ship to California due to our very strict CDFA restrictions with fruiting plants/trees.
Pretty sure Pine Island nursery will ship to California but it is expensive. plant o Gram also ships to California. Both of these sources usually sends some pretty nice plants.
Thank you for all of the tips! No Armstrong garden centers within 100 miles of me, sadly. I emailed Pine Island, their website is wayyyy out of date and when I called their answering machine said they would be closed on Christmas. Plant o Gram has a “Homestead” variety for sale… Looking up info to see if it is worth buying!
Ryan, check with Monterey Bay Nursery and see if they grow any good white sapote varieties, and if so, what nurseries in your area buy from them. You can then set up a special order through your retail nursery.
Luen isn’t selling any currently, but said possibly in the future. We do have a local nursery that buys from him.
Gosh darn. I’m out of California options that I can think of, Ryan, sorry.
CRFG white sapote expert Tom Addison is now propagating white sapote trees for sale on a small scale. I’m pretty sure his plants are for pickup only, so you would have to live in the S.F. Bay Area. (It sounds like you might.) I know that he’s grafted up a slew of noncommercial varieties, but I’m not sure what he has in stock right now. (I think he sold a bunch of plants at our last CRFG chapter meeting.)
I’m not sure about the etiquette of posting his e-mail address on an open forum, so, if you want to get in touch with him, send a message to me and I can send you his contact information privately. (If you’ve already got a plant from another source, never mind!)
As @hoosierquilt pointed out, Suebelle is an excellent White Sapote cultivar for temperate regions of California. It is a selected cultivar from Long Beach CA. I wouldn’t recommend it for humid regions of the south and southeast U.S.
Suebelle is propagated by LaVerne Nursery and sold wholesale to many retail nurseries in the western U.S. I recommend you contact them for suppliers, either in your area or online.
Hi Richard- Do you have any experience with Vernon to contrast to Suebelle? Both are available locally and maybe the easiest choice is to buy both! I’m in S. Arizona Z9b and saw a glowing review on the Enlightenment Gardens YouTube channel, so looks like these might do well in our hot, dry climate. Last, Trade Winds sells seeds for a number of variety. Any idea as to whether these might grow true, with decent fruit? Thanks.
Richard has left the forum about2-3 years ago.
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I haven’t tasted Suebelle but I’ve been researching about White Sapote and what varieties to grow. I found this CRFG talk by Tom Addison very helpful
Remember Tom lives in foggy East Bay where he doesn’t get enough heat to ripen tomatoes, so very different from your climate. I did taste Vernon from his tree and once from a grocery store and both tasted great.
I bought a seedling from him grafted with Vernon and Nettie. Few others recommended LeRoy which I may plant as well but I worry if one tree produces more fruit than I need
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In the Q & A he mentions selling “a lot” of them. I did a quick search and it didn’t turn up anything. Do you know if he does this through the CRFG exchanges only or maybe online?
Cancel that; I saw his email on the slide and will contact him directly. Thanks again for the video.
I can’t say for sure, but I think he’ll sell them only for local pick up. He can mail you scions though