Try Cloudforest plant board. They would know.

Stanofh - Thanks! I've been lurking on Cloudforest a bit, I should definitely sign up there.

Holzinger - That's a really good idea. So good I feel kind of dumb for not thinking of it :) Thanks!!

After getting in touch with David Archer the mystery is (almost certainly) solved. Based on the flagging on the trunk, it's (almost certainly) McDill!

Keeping a curious and hopeful eye on the flowers since I'm not sure whether or not McDill is self-fertile. Think I might have fruit set but definitely it's too early to tell for sure.

Hi! I’m supper interested to find out if you figured out the cultivar? Is it McDill for sure? Your description left my mouth watering!

Hi Anastasia! It hasn't fruited in my yard yet, but the nursery was pretty sure it's McDill. I hope it does fruit someday. They really were good fruit.

I think my climate is just not quite right for white sapote -- not due to the cool winters, but the hot summers. But the mulberry tree has grown and McDill is now partly shaded by it, which has made a huge improvement in the tree's overall health.

My Suebelle has plenty of fruit on it. Its a battle to see who gets any that falls, me or the possums or raccoons. They just leave the seeds..sometimes.

Hi Steph! I’m excited to hear about when it begins to produce. I love love love sapote! But I really want to know about yours.

Im in LA and am still debating on what to grow and who to buy from.

I have a sapote from white sapote seed that just popped up in my compost. So...i potted it . It’s my understanding that I won’t know what it’ll produce exactly, but we’re about about 3 feet tall now.

Looking for a chocolate sapote to snack on before I think about growing that, but I have a feeling I won’t be disappointed.

Hi Stan! think my best bet is Suebelle around here (Long Beach,) but I’m still trying to find folks in my area to get the skinny.

Stanofh, I've heard that the bay area is great for sapote! I'm a bit jealous ;) We get a mild frost most winters and have summer heat of 110F, so it's a bit marginal.

Anastasia, I got my Suebelle from Alex at Papaya Tree. La Verne Nursery produces white sapote, but I forget what varieties or whether they do seedlings or grafted plants. I haven't seen a great number of varieties available for sale in LA--mostly just Suebelle, Vernon, and McDill.

You should have better luck in Long Beach than I'm having inland. If McDill is surviving my place, I suspect you'd have no problem with it. There *is* a chance that it requires a pollinator (that might be why mine hasn't produced any fruit even though it flowers twice a year). The question of whether or not pollination is required seems to be oddly complicated with white sapote.

I'm hoping to try grafting it next spring- I could save you a plant if any of them take (I've heard it's a bit more difficult to graft than, say, apple or stonefruit). Of course you will get flowers and fruit faster with an older plant.

If you find a source for chocolate sapote fruit I'll be interested to hear your opinion of it! I've heard people either think it tastes like chocolate pudding or like motor oil. ;) I hope i can try one some time, since I love soft persimmons.

Steph, thank you! I’d love a plant!

I always go to the arboretums around here and sneak eat the sapote fruit, because I don’t know ANYONE growing trees! One friend who live in Laguna Beach, but I don’t get down there often. His tree is well over 30 years old! It’s even hard to find at the farmers market.

Im definitely going to check out La Vern Nersery, and do some more research. As soon as I get my hands on the chocolate sapote I’ll let you know and share for sure!

Are you in California Rare Fruit Growers? (this is where I find out you are and I actually have met you in person and didn't recognize your name... I'm absolutely terrible with names!) A few people there grow it. I'm not sure if anyone in Long Beach does. It's hard to find at the farmers market here too - people keep one or two fruits in their stands for a short time in february but that's about it.

If any of my grafts take I'll definitely save you one!

Not in California Rare Fruit Growers but familiar with them. Funny thing, I had a feeling we had met, but I wasn’t sure if it was in a permaculture course or having something to do with that. Do you recall? My apologies, but I cannot tell because you don’t have a picture up. Actually, I have no idea how my profile picture got on this site! My forte is definitely NOT technology .

Ive actually seen a couple in peoples yards around Long Beach...

...I haven’t knocked on any doors yet though. None hanging over onto the sidewalk like avocado, fig, and persimmon usually are

Hi Anastasia,

Hoping that you see this since it's been a few months. I don't recall having been to a permaculture course, but it's entirely possible.

So I do have grafts, but I'm not sure if the 'McDill' grafts took or not yet. We had a badly timed late frost so I had to wait a while to get scionwood, so I only grafted 'McDill' last week. I have two successful 'Clytia' grafts from the scion exchange -- I know absolutely nothing about 'Clytia' ... I assume it's named for Clytia Chambers, a sadly deceased prominent CRFG member known for growing white sapote, but I can't find any description of the cultivar. I assume it's good -- it's certainly a modern cultivar, selected to be named in honor of her. (If anyone else has more information, please do let me know.)

I can give you one of the 'Clytia' grafts if you're interested, and I can either pass you one of the fresh 'McDill' grafts at the same time, or we can wait a bit and see if they take and I'll give you my first successful graft.

I also have some fig and grape cuttings rooting, if you're interested in 'Joy' seedless grape or 'Kadota' or 'Violette do Bordeaux' fig. Fig cuttings are of course FMV positive.

I'm going to see if I can figure out how to DM you as well.

Steph

Hi Anastasia,
Well I couldn't figure out how to message you... not sure if it's because I'm dense or if you've got messages turned off... Please message me contact info if you want to discuss getting some plants offline so we can privately exchange scheduling and location info.
Steph