is it grafted or a seedling?

I've seen seedling container-grown soursops bear fruit many times. I would suggest hand-pollinating the flowers to improve your yields, although container culture is going to limit your tree's productivity even under ideal conditions.

It is seedling. How long would it take to bear fruit while in the container

Maureen,
I also have a seedling but mine isn't even a year old yet. I am going to be in S. Florida this summe for vaca. I am hoping to find someone who sells cherimoya which is similiar to guanabana in its flavor and the fruit is smaller. That is the only thing I worry about with my soursop tree. The first and only time i ever ate this fruit they were at least a foot long if not bigger. For me it would be very hard to get fruits like that and I don't know if they would even form. Keep us posted on your experiences. I would also like to here from anyone who grows this or cherimoya in pots and has had fruit. I know sugar apples will produce in pots but I also have heard that the fruit is diffrent in flavor and consistency.
Andrew

Andrew I have a cherimoya that was in a pot for almost a year and I think it is totally doable to get them to fruit in container.

Also read that cherimoya grow quickly from seed. I will have some seeds of bay, fino de jete, pierce if you want any.

Andrew, are you hoping to find a cherimoya tree or fruit when you are down here? I doubt you are going to find a tree. No nursery I have ever tried grows them. Even excalibur said they no longer grow them. I ended up breaking down and ordering a few trees from ebay for over $100 each. Ridiculous price, but it's the only option down here.

Andrew:

You said, "I am hoping to find someone who sells cherimoya which is similar to guanabana in its flavor and the fruit is smaller."

First, JSVAND is correct, I haven't seen any here in Florida for quite some time. Excalibur used to have them, but I know they stopped carrying them.

Secondly, there is no similarity between the flavor or fruit texture of cherimoya as compared to guanabana. They are both from the Annona family, but that is where the similarity ends. Cherimoya is smooth in flesh.....think of a somewhat smoother and creamy pear texture. I think you had guanabana...the texture is somewhat cotton-like. Guanabana is strictly tropical while cherimoya grows in much cooler areas and higher elevations. The fruit of cherimoya is smaller than guanabana on average...that is for sure. Hard to describe the comparison of flavors......but they are very, very different.

Harry

Andrew, have you thought about trying a few Paw Paw trees? They are related to cherimoyas and should actually survive outdoors in your area. I just recently bought a few but I think it may be too warm down here for them. Burnt ridge sells grafted trees for a very good price.

Andrew:

why don't you try with atemoya? it seems to fruit well in container (as reported in this forum)..

i haven't tried atemoya (neither pawpaw), but to me the sugar apples are the tasties fruit among annonaceas.

felipe

Harry,
That is confusing to me when you describe the diffrence between cherimoya and guanabana fruit flavor. Maybe it was just me but I thought the flavors were very similiar but the consistency is harder for me to remember. I realized that California seemed to have more nurseries that sell cherimoya and what you say makes sense. I guess that must be why they don't sell them in Florida and maybe cherimoya would be a better option for me because of the temperature requirements. I have a small guanabana seedling. Harry what you said about the size is why I am considering growing cherimoya. Like I was saying earlier, I have had them before and remember the fruit being about the size of a small grapefruit, at least that was the size of the ones you could get here. They are probobly larger then that in California. I know that Ch3rri also grows the soursop and she said that she has trouble with dieback from the cooler temps here. Another reason why I want to try the cherimoya. I do have some sugar apple seedlings and I will keep them going till they bare there first fruits. I am a little nervous about the whole issue of the graininess. I have heard this several times and the guanabana and cherimoya that I ate were not grainy. If the sugar apples that I have are grainy, then chances are I will have more room for more mangoes! I am not a fan of pears because of the grainy texture. I guess it is just me. I appreciate your clearing up some of the false facts I had Harry but in the case of both guanabana and cherimoya it has been at least 4 years since I have had either fruits. I can't buy guanabana fruit here at all, and I won't waste my money on cherimoya here anymore. I have not seen them in ages and almost every fruit I get mu hands on are rotten or not ripe at all. As far as the paw paw fruit, I really have never considered it. Maybe if I had my own property but again I would want to try it first before planting it. I don't mind spending the money on tropical fruits (and yes, I do have one tropical fruit tree that I have never tried the fruit but from what several people say, the caimito is a good fruit) but not so adventurous with cold weather fruit trees. For one I can buy paw paw fruit here if I go to a bigger city and go to a farmers market.
Tammy,
Out of the seeds that you listed, which is your favorite cherimoya and why? I would love to take you up on your offer but with everything I have underlights now, I will have to wait till late spring. I am going to get some help today to move my tropicals around so I can bring up my plumeria from the basement and get it into the window. My back surgury was last thursday and it is way to sore for me to go lugging around these large pots. I am so hoping for blooms this yeqar on my plumerias. I am going to have to awitch forums so I can ask them some questions.
Thanks everyone for your input! I don't even know if I will ever have the space for a cherimoya. I am still hoping to get another mango to replace the lancetilla that I lost and even another mango. Plus I would like to get a starfruit tree when I make my way down this summer.
Andrew

Andrew

I haven't tasted them yet but hear pierce is really great as is fino de jete. Bay is a more common type sold in stores.

I am going to order a bare root cherimoya from roger meyer. He can't ship until like march but he has a bunch of types.

That's why I bought these cherimoya to taste test to see which I like best so I can orfer the tree.

Ill keep you posted on flavor.

I have chaffey cherimoya which is supposed to be more cold tolerant. Went to 29 without protection with just a few leaves with minor tip burn. Flavor is supposed to be like an 8 of 10 compared to 10 of 10 with pierce or fino de jete.

Andrew
the reason Cherimoyas do not flourish and fruit well here is because they are native to the Andes and not tropical lowlands. if it was just a temperature thing they would be suitable for North Florida (although they do grow better there from my observation)

i think you would have better luck with an Atemoya but if your looking for a grafted Cherimoya, you wont find one in any nursery i know of around here

Pawpaw trees are in a different plant family(Asimina) are not related to Cherimoya (Annona).

Asima is the Genus name of Paw PAw but they are in fact in the annonacae family (the only one thats not tropical).

you can tell by the leaves and seeds its in the Anona family

There is an interesting article in the March-April issue of the Fruit Gardener that is about growing and fruiting soursop indoors. The person who wrote the article managed to fruit the soursop indoors in Moscow. I included a link to the CRFG's website where anyone can sign up to become a member and get issues of the magazine.

Here is a link that might be useful: California Rare Fruit Growers

Very interesting, did the article share any unique details about how he got it to fruit? Lighting, soil, humidity or otherwise?

I too have been growing my Guanabana Tree in a 25 gallon container and today I found my first fruit starting to develope. I planted it from a seed 6/2012. I read some where that ants pollinate it. I live in Tampa where it's not the correct zone . I just hope that this winter it does not go below 40 so my tree can bear its fruit. I planted it thou here for it leaves . I make tea from it.

That's great to hear fava, I have one potted that is about 1.5 years old also, and fruiting from 3 years seems like a nice goal. I planted it at the start of summer last year. How cold did it get where you live last winter, and how did the soursop handle it? You may be able to put frost blankets or a small space heater under it to protect it for your winter. Here's a photo of mine from the third week in September; it's a taller now:

Every year since the first cold spell ( under 40) I would drag my guanabana tree in doors to my porch. This year I can't. My tree is to heavy and to big about 6 or 7 feet . So every nite I check the news and get ready to go cover her and my gooseberry tree.

Oh ok, well as you're in Florida hopefully a little frost blanket or something will be enough to keep it through your winter. I do believe you can prune them also so that is something up I could look into for reducing the height to bring it in in the future.