I bought a 3 gal grafted Hasya sapodilla during the summer, which I repotted into a 5 gal container. It's been growing steadily. No flowers/fruits yet but I hope soon.

I have a 5 gallon chico I purchased last week, I am considering planting in the ground. Should I wait or is this alright and have heard of anyone on the forums being successful with this tree in SoCall?

Yes, here in Garden Grove, SoCal. It's does grow very well. My tree is about 8-9 years old, 12ft tall, and is in the ground. It's had lots of fruit every year since I got it. It's is having fruits about a size of a cherry right now. It's tasted very sweet, aromatic and wonderful! I like it so much that I bought another one called brown sugar, which is only about 2 ft tall and 2-3 years old seedling, and going to plant it in the ground soon. The older tree I'd got, I don't know what variety it was because it only simply said chico sapote and didn't have much info. But the fruit is long, pointed, skin is a little sandy and not round or oval shape. So I think it's maybe the Thailand's variety. Just so you guys know, yes chico sapote could be grow very sucessful in orange county.

I have a 3 year old tree in Carson,Ca. in the ground about 4ft tall.They do very well here but is a slow grower.