Sapodilla Tree.. Can someone please help?

16 years ago

Hi All,

I planted my Sapodilla tree sometime around March this year. It came in a 3 gallon pot and is still quite small. I noticed a while back that there are little red dots on a majority of the leaves and don't know what it is, where they're coming from or how to treat it. I've included some pictures of it.

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A friend of mine suggested that I spray it with Green Light fruit spray but I don't know if that would harm the tree since it is still so young. Can anyone please help? Also, this is my first sapodilla so in all honesty I really do not know too much about them other than how the fruit tastes. How long will it take to fruit? Does it need a pollinator? And has anyone from Southern Cal grown one that they can share pictures of?

Featured Answer

hmhausman

16 years ago

Pardon me for my late entry into this discussion, but I am somewhat concerned that the correct diagnosis may have been missed. While I grow sapodilla, I have never seen any foliage with this type of marking. Since these trees are native to the Yucatan of Mexico and thereabouts, it is very hard for me to accept that this is only a sunburn issue. With all due respect to the other opinions, I would have to believe that sun is much stronger in the native range of this tree than any place here in the continental US. And that would be true without regard to actual air temperatures. Unless, this was a case of the plant being grown in less than full sun and then was put out in the full sun without being slowly acclamated. So, unless this later scenario is in fact the story, I think there may be something else going on here. The question is what? Might be a rust type of fungus or a viral issue. Or, I guess it could just be a case of hyper-pigmentation. I would spray with a fungicide and keep an eye on it to see if that helps at all. These trees are pretty resilient and I would think that the tree would out grow the problem in any case with time and good culture.

Harry

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Comments (9)

ajaysr5
16 years ago
checko12,what part of So.California are you in?....I also have sapodilla tree and that looks like sunburn.just put a shade over them,water every other day,and they should do well.
checko12
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi ajaysr5,

I live in Cerritos. What would you suggest in terms of shade? My Sapodilla is still really young. I picked it up from Mimosa Los Angeles. How long have you had yours for and what is your experience with them? Thanks for the follow up. Very much appreciated.
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ch3rri
16 years ago
The red dots or red edges are from sun burn. I only need to shade my trees when it's over 90 F in full sun. I got the shade cloth online. If you only have one tree to shade then I don't think you should waste money on buying expensive shade cloth. Try to find a simple one and use it only when temperature is overly hot. Now that my tree is older and more mature, I only shade them when temperature over 98 F or over 100 F.
ajaysr5
16 years ago
checko12,You are not too far away from me,I leave in 90745.Simplest way is too put shade cloth,you can buy it from home depot.Cerritos get hotter in the summer time than my area because you are more inland and I am closer to the beach.I have had mine in the ground for about a year now and have eaten 2 fruits from it.They are hardy and no protection needed during the winter time,they are very slow growing tree.Just make sure during 85-90+ degree day that you water them especially this week.I also fertelized mine with Alaskan fish emulsion every 3 weeks.
checko12
Original Author
16 years ago
90745 huh? I grew up in Carson and still go back there regularly to visit family. I saw another post you had with a carrie mango and what looked to be a pvc fixture around it. Is that for covering it up during winter? I have a manilla mango that at one point was bearing a lot of fruit and now it looks like much of it has fallen off. There's only a handful of fruit that's setting on it now. Thanks again for the info. on the Sapodilla.. I really appreciate it. Where did you get yours btw and how tall is it??
checko12
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the reply Harry. From my previous post I mentioned that my friend told me about this spray called "Green Light". Would that be OK or is there something else you'd recommend?
hmhausman
16 years ago
I'm totally unfamiliar with that product, so I cannot recommend or tell you not to use it. I would think that this is not an emergency situation, so, give whatever product you want to use a try and go from there. Take it one step at a time. The tree may just out grow the issue without any assistance from you. Good luck.

Harry
Sky TDTV
6 years ago
I am currently having the same issue. I'm going to wait out and see if it will cures on its own.