Here's what it looked like when I first got it.

My sugar apples are in ground and I give them very little fertilizer and lots of mulch. Any palm fert with minors is good. In a pot too much is as bad as too little. When they get to a height you want them to start branching cut the main stem just before the growth season starts.

Don't "pluck" cut them off with a scissor if the tree is small. If you pluck them you may tear the stem. Larger trees respond well late in season by running your closed hand backward on the stem. Loose leaves will come right off.

There's two schools, leave them alone, and defoliate. I defoliate what I can (they're too big to completely defoliate) right about now, and tip prune, as well as cut off little branches in the canopy that will inhibit airflow, sunlight and are not going to be big enough to hold fruit anyway.Just FYI, the limbs I defoliate don't seem to do any better flushing new growth than older taller branches higher up that I do not defoliate.

sarah, what's the name of that fruit farm, if you dont mind me asking? You know there are a couple of Asian nurseries in houston that sell sugar apple trees right?

I used to pluck the leaves on my guavas from the bottom and it would flush out a new set of leaves on top. So I know it works well for guavas. I guess it would make sense since it's the same as trimming branches so it flushed new growth