They have to be a little soft to the touch and more open on the bottom. They will ripen indoors if picked too early.

I am enjoying mine now, I had a few ripening on the tree and after a rain they were fully opened but still good. A real treat!

Silvia

What varieties are you both growing?

I don't know which variety I have. I just went on a shopping spree at Treehouse Nursery on Pine Island a few years ago and ended up with an "atemoya".
So, let me get this straight, my fruit's bumps have to be sticking out more before it's ripe?
By the way, let me take this opportunity to thank GardenWeb's admin for finally making it easy to post photos on this board. I don't know how much more of the OLD system I could have stood before I cracked up!

I don't know what variety of atemoya I have. I also have a red sugar apple that looks like yours. Taste is different a little bit more sweet, I prefer the atemoya taste that resembles chirimoyas since it is a mix of a sugar apple and chirimoya.

The seams have to be kind of more open and important a little soft to the touch but not too much, otherwise they are over ripe...

Here is another picture of a perfectly ripe atemoya

Silvia

Pick it NOW!
Let it ripen on the counter

Frikkin squirrel(s) ripped my one and only fruit to pieces as I was patiently waiting for it to ripen on the tree.

Didn't eat any of it (that I could tell) but the segments were all over the ground! And, no, it wasn't completely ripe either.

Alys

do you grow these from seed? If so, is anyone willing to share I can send a SASE.

Here is more info for those that want to know. In my opinion is one of the tastiest fruits in the world, and I have done my share of sampling everywhere.:) It resembles custard and that is probably why is also called custard apple, the taste is creamy and luscious, not overly sweet or an aftertaste. My daughter told me why I didn't put "only atemoyas" in our garden,lol. And I replied because they are frost sensitive!
Here is also the info on the grafting, it won't come true from seeds.

Here is how I rate them:
cherimoya 10
atemoya 9
sugar apple 8

Of course there is also different varieties in each category...

Silvia

Here is a link that might be useful: atemoya

Wow!
I just ate the atemoya I photographed earlier. It finally started getting somewhat soft, and there are so many squirrels coming and going around here that I finally lost my nerve and picked it.
I can't compare its taste to anything I've ever eaten before. It was so rich that I could only stand to eat half of it. I cling-wrapped the other half and put it in the fridge.
I can now see why atemoyas are so highly regarded by so many people!

That gets to be a pretty big tree... can it be pruned to keep smaaller? Thanks, sally

Brute,

Your atemoya is definitely a 48-26 "Lisa." I had the exact same fruit on my tree last year. This is the fruit I'm getting this year. I love the fruit. Simply delicious. I understand that the "Lisa" has k p mauve sugar apple in their bloodlines which is why you see the pink tint to the ripe fruit. Very pretty, IMHO. I tried to hand pollinate this year but still need to prefect my craft. I only got one to set so far. I'm not complaining it have me fruit it's first year in the ground and is growing rapidly. My favorite family of tropical fruit!

Good luck!

Vince

whgille/silvia,
Yours, I believe isn't an atemoya, but a green sugar apple. Sugar apple have bumpy scale like bumps outside and have sections inside, with lots of seeds. Atemoya looks more like a large bumpy cherimoya, less seedy and can be eaten with a spoon like cherimoya.

Here is a link that might be useful: sugar apple

Mine is definitely a "Lisa" Atemoya. The juvenile fruit looks that way. When it matures it will look exactly like the first picture posted. That was what my fruit looked like last year. I have sugar apple trees and know the difference. ;)

All the best,

Vince

Mine is definitely a "Lisa" Atemoya. The juvenile fruit looks that way. When it matures it will look exactly like the first picture posted. That was what my fruit looked like last year. I have sugar apple trees and know the difference. ;)

All the best,

Vince

Vince,
I know yours isn't a sugar apple but an antemoya. I was referring to Silvia's picture, which is the second posted picture. Notice the scale like bumpy skin and sections/segment interiors? Even cherimoya looks like your picture, when small. As the fruit developed more mature, it becomes flatter and smoother. However there are a few cultivar that does look similar to an atemoya. Some are very smooth, while a few are very bumpy i.e. el bumpo.

Sorry Soaht!

Yes, the 2nd pic does look more like a sugar apple. Maybe a hybrid with more sugar apple attributes. There are so many new cultivars now with all the hybridization going on. I have 5 different annonas in my yard. One day, I would like to experiment with hybrids.

All the best,

Vince