Sapodilla Tree for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on April 27, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your sapodilla tree sapling where it will get adequate sunlight, in soil that drains well. Unpot the tree and tease out any encircling roots, which can eventually girdle the tree and kill it. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Throw in a few handfuls of well-rotted manure or compost and place the tree on top of it. Holding it steady and upright, fill in around the tree with good quality topsoil, tamping down as you go to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly. Add a 2- to 3-inch layer of an organic mulch, such as bark chips, around the root zone, being careful that it does not touch the trunk itself.

Watering and nutrients

Water newly planted trees every few days for the first month or so, until you see new growth, and then taper back to twice a week for the rest of the first growing season. A mature tree will only need supplemental watering during times of extreme heat or drought. Feed your tree with a general, slow-release fertilizer made for tropical fruit trees, such as a 5-5-5 formula. Young plants need more fertilizer than mature trees, so taper back on fertilizing when the tree is about 4 to 5 years old.

Pollination

Although sapodilla trees are self-fertile, you will reap a much larger harvest if you have two or more trees planted near each other. The trees have small flowers, which are pollinated by insects.

Pruning

Your sapodilla tree needs little pruning, and if left to its own devices, will form a full, thick canopy that may spread as much as 20 to 30 feet. When the tree is young, you can lightly prune it to shape that canopy. It’s also important to monitor your tree for broken, diseased, or dead branches, which should be pruned out whenever you see them. If you are growing your sapodilla tree for its fruit, also watch out for branches that start to bend under the weight of the ripening fruits. In this case, prune out a few of the fruits on the branch to avoid it breaking.

Pests, diseases, and animals

Although generally pest- and disease-free, sapodilla trees may see infestation by scale insects, and Caribbean fruit flies or phycitis fruit borers may feed on the fruit. Healthy plants should be fine despite minor insect pressure, but severe infestations may require the use of an insecticide. The only disease that you might see is leaf rust, which can be handled with an organic copper fungicide.

Harvesting

Sapodilla fruits ripen anywhere from 4 to 10 months after the flowers drop, depending on climate and other conditions. Fruit may thus appear any time of year. In Florida, they are most common during the summer months, from May to September. It can be difficult to tell when Sapodilla fruit is ripe. One way is to lightly scratch the surface of a fruit. If the skin under the surface is green, it’s not yet ripe. You’re looking for the under-skin to be a light tan or brown color. The texture of a ripe fruit is also smoother than that of an unripe one.

Achieving maximum results

Sapodilla trees are native to Central America and the Caribbean, and thus they thrive in warm climates, roughly corresponding to USDA hardiness zones 9 to 11. What if you live north of that? Happily, the trees take well to container growing, and although they reach a height of 30 to 50 feet when planted outdoors, can be kept to a height of 5 to 6 feet when grown in containers. Choose a container for your sapodilla tree that is about twice the size of the root ball, and use a good-quality potting mix when you plant it. It will grow well on a patio or in a backyard until the temperatures drop to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point you should bring it inside and place it by a sunny window. Note that it may need additional watering then, especially if your home is dry in the winter. You can also help it thrive by wiping down the leaves with a damp cloth every month or so and misting the leaves regularly.

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Customer Reviews

Anonymous

Verified Buyer April 19, 2021 at 5:56pm

Sapodilla tree

When I ordered it said 2-3ft tree. I did not expect less than 2ft tree. Otherwise, tree intact and looked healthy when it got delivered.

Anonymous

Verified Buyer August 5, 2020 at 5:45pm

Tree still healthy

Plant still looking healthy and I hope it will keep it that way. I will put more reviews later. Give it a few months right now it's too soon to tell.