I have 2 on my lemon farm in Guatemala; but they are only 1 year old and about 9 feet tall. I cut all the branches until they come out above my head; because the tree will become quite large, maybe 30 to 40 feet with a large canopy and I want to be able to walk under them. The tree should branch naturally; but if you particularly want it to branch at its current height, topping it will cause that. Several of my neighbors have mature trees so I have some "expert" advice. They require a fertility regimen the same as citrus; but if you want them to produce much fruit, they need quite a lot of fertilizer; and they are ferocious consumers of Magnesium. Epsom Salt or Magnesium sulfate are excellent sources; also quite beneficial for roses.
Normally Sapote trees, as we call them here, begin to produce fruit in the 3rd or 4th year; as for maturity, maybe 20 years or more.

As we appreciate the input, the growth/production/taste of something grown in Guatemala will have no real bearing on something grown in SFla. The soil, climate, etc. are just way too different.

Gary - is it a seedling or grafted ? I am not sure if this helps but the canistel I see ripe and harvested are in the June/July time frame.

Rob

The fairchild #2 produces 2 crops a year - one in the winter/spring and another in summer. Your fruits for the winter crop should be ready towards Dec. The fairchild #2 are smaller fruits than the bruce or trompo. They are quite delicious though.

You can keep the fairchild #2 to about 8 feet tall, but you are going to want to prune it on an annual basis. It's probably still a good time to lightly prune your tree.

In the late winter/ early spring it will dump a bunch of leaves, but that's normal.

Jeff

PS - Gary, I can't believe that tree already has fruits on it. It's not even two years old yet. I grafted that in Dec of 09. That soil of yours is awesome!

Jeff

Jeff,

It's good to hear my canistel is doing better than expected.

I'm one of those folks who amend the soil before I plant. I use that cheap $1.75 "organic compost" at Lowes to "fix up" the soil that's not too bad to start with.

I don't do much to mine in the way of fertilization except every so often I throw a small bit of fertilizer under the canopy, dump fruit skins there and mulch, and use a bit of fish emulsion every few months.