Collection: Sapodilla Fruit

Sapodilla Trees for Sale: Grafted Níspero Grown in Florida

Sapodilla, also called níspero, chico or chikoo, is a tropical fruit tree with brown, sandpaper-skinned fruit and soft flesh that tastes like a ripe pear cooked with brown sugar. Every sapodilla tree in this collection is grown at our nursery in Homestead, Florida, and nearly all of them are grafted from named varieties. A grafted sapodilla starts bearing years sooner than a seedling and gives you fruit you can predict, so you know what you are planting before the first harvest.

The varieties below differ in fruit size, shape and season. If you plant two with different seasons, you can pick sapodilla fruit for much of the year.

Alano Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Alano is the sapodilla many growers rate as the best eating variety. The fruit is oval, very sweet and smooth, with almost no grit, and runs 4 to 9 ounces. The Alano sapodilla ripens from November into June, which makes it a winter and spring fruit in South Florida.

Alano Sapodilla Tree, Air Layered

This is the same Alano fruit on a tree grown from an air layer instead of a graft. An air layered sapodilla grows on its own roots, so the whole tree is the Alano variety from the soil line up.

Silas Woods Dwarf Sapodilla Tree

Silas Woods is a dwarf sapodilla, and it is the variety to choose for a small yard or a large container. The tree stays compact, fruits young, and the fruit carries the classic pear and brown sugar flavor. Read more in our post on the Silas Woods sapodilla.

Butterscotch Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

The Butterscotch sapodilla is named for its flavor, which leans toward caramel more than pear. The fruit is fine textured and sweet. Our guide to growing the Butterscotch sapodilla tree covers this variety step by step.

Morena Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Morena comes from Mexico and bears football-shaped fruit up to about 12 ounces. The Morena sapodilla is a heavy producer, and its fruit ripens from February to April.

Molix Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Molix is a Mexican sapodilla with medium to large fruit and excellent eating quality. The Molix sapodilla is a strong producer, and like Morena it ripens from February to April.

Hasya Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Hasya, another Mexican variety, is one of the largest sapodilla fruits we grow. The flesh is brownish red and very sweet, and the Hasya sapodilla ripens over a long window from November to June.

Tikal Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Tikal fruit is shaped like a spinning top, plump at one end, and weighs up to about 11 ounces. The Tikal sapodilla is fragrant and productive, with its main crop in winter and a smaller crop in summer.

Brown Sugar Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

Brown Sugar bears round fruit with a sweet, slightly granular texture that lives up to the name. The Brown Sugar sapodilla ripens in summer, from May to September.

Makok Sapodilla Tree

Makok is a dwarf sapodilla from Thailand. The fruit is small and very sweet, and the tree's size makes the Makok sapodilla another good pick for containers and patios.

OX (Oxkutzcab) Sapodilla Tree, Grafted

OX, short for Oxkutzcab, is a Mexican variety with large, roundish fruit of 12 to 16 ounces. The OX sapodilla fruits in summer, from May to September.

Sapodilla Appearance and Growth

The sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota) is an evergreen native to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico and to Central America. Its bark and stems carry a milky latex called chicle, the original base of chewing gum.

Sapodilla tree size and shape

A sapodilla tree grows slowly and lives a long time. In the wild it can pass 60 feet after many years, but a home sapodilla in Florida is usually kept at 12 to 15 feet by pruning. Young trees grow upright with a pyramid shape, and older trees fill out into a dense, rounded crown.

Sapodilla leaves and flowers

Sapodilla leaves are glossy, dark green and 2 to 5 inches long, and they cluster in spirals at the branch tips. The sapodilla flowers are small, bell-shaped and cream colored, and they appear on new growth through much of the year.

What sapodilla fruit looks like

Sapodilla fruit is round to oval and about 2 to 4 inches across. The skin is thin, brown and slightly scurfy, like a potato. Inside, the flesh ranges from tan to reddish brown, and a fruit may hold no seeds or up to a dozen flat, shiny black seeds. Remove the seeds before eating, since they have a small hook and should not be swallowed.

How fast a grafted sapodilla grows

A grafted sapodilla tree usually starts bearing in its second to fourth year in the ground. A seedling sapodilla can take six or seven years or more, which is the main reason we sell grafted and air layered trees. Production climbs for many years, and a mature tree can carry a large crop every season.

Ideal Growing Location for Sapodilla Trees

Where should you plant a sapodilla tree? Pick the sunniest open spot in the yard. Sapodilla needs full sun and warm temperatures, and it grows best in USDA zones 10 and 11. In Florida that means the southern half of the state and the coasts north to about Tampa and Merritt Island. Our post on the sapodilla tree growing zone goes deeper on climate.

Cold tolerance

Young sapodilla trees can be badly damaged or killed at 30 to 32°F. A mature sapodilla tree can take about 26°F for a few hours. In a borderline area, plant on the south side of the house or grow a dwarf sapodilla in a container you can move indoors on cold nights.

Spacing, wind and salt

Plant a sapodilla tree at least 25 feet from other trees, buildings and power lines. The sapodilla is a good choice near the coast because it handles salt spray well, and keeping the tree pruned to 12 to 15 feet helps it stand up to strong wind.

Growing sapodilla in a container

A dwarf sapodilla such as Silas Woods or Makok can live for years in a large pot. Start with a container a few sizes larger than the nursery pot, move up as the roots fill it, and keep it in full sun. See our dwarf fruit trees for other compact choices.

Sapodilla Soil Requirements

What soil does a sapodilla tree need? The main requirement is drainage. Sapodilla grows well in light sandy soil and is well adapted to the rocky, limestone soils of South Florida, but it does poorly in soil that stays wet after summer rain.

Preparing the planting hole

Dig a hole three to four times as wide as the container and about as deep as the root ball. Set the sapodilla so the top of the root ball sits level with or slightly above the surrounding ground. Skip fertilizer in the planting hole. If you mix in compost or topsoil, keep it to no more than half of the backfill.

Planting on a mound

If your yard floods or holds water, build a mound 2 to 3 feet high and 4 to 6 feet across and plant the sapodilla tree on top. This keeps the roots above standing water.

Soil pH and mulch

Sapodilla tolerates a wide pH range, from slightly acidic sand to alkaline limestone. Spread 2 to 6 inches of mulch over the root zone and keep it 8 to 12 inches away from the trunk to hold moisture and keep the soil cool.

Sapodilla Watering Needs

How often should you water a sapodilla tree? It depends on the age of the tree.

1. At planting, water the sapodilla deeply to settle the soil around the roots.
2. For the first week, water every other day.
3. For the next two months, water once or twice a week.
4. For the first three years, water once a week whenever five or more days pass with little or no rain.
5. From the fourth year on, water the sapodilla only during long dry spells.

A mature sapodilla tree tolerates dry soil well, but it still fruits better with water during a long drought between flowering and harvest. Once the rainy season starts, cut back or stop watering. Overwatering and soggy soil are a bigger risk to a sapodilla tree than drought.

For a sapodilla in a container, water when the top inch or two of the mix is dry, and let the extra water drain out of the pot.

Fertilizing Sapodilla Trees

When should you start fertilizing a sapodilla tree? Wait until the newly planted tree puts out its first flush of new leaves.

1. Begin with about 1/4 pound of a balanced young tree fertilizer such as 6-6-6, ideally with part of the nitrogen from organic sources.
2. Repeat every 8 to 10 weeks through the first year, raising the amount slowly to about 1 pound as the sapodilla grows.
3. From the second year, feed two to four times a year and keep increasing the amount with the size of the tree.
4. For a mature sapodilla tree, feed two or three times a year with a 6-6-6 or 8-3-9 fertilizer.
5. Do not apply nitrogen after August, so new growth can harden before winter.

Minor elements and iron

Spray a minor element nutritional mix on the leaves two or three times a year between April and September. On alkaline limestone soil, a sapodilla can turn yellow from iron deficiency, so apply an iron chelate soil drench once or twice a year in summer. On acidic sandy soil, iron sulfate works instead.

Too much nitrogen gives you a sapodilla tree with plenty of leaves and little fruit, so follow the label and resist the urge to feed more often. Our 8-3-9 fruit tree fertilizer with micronutrients fits the mature sapodilla schedule above.

Pruning Sapodilla Trees

Does a sapodilla tree need pruning? It does not need much, but a little pruning early on gives you a tree that is easier to harvest and safer in a storm.

1. When young shoots reach about 3 feet, pinch or cut 1 to 2 inches from the tips once or twice between spring and summer. This makes the sapodilla branch and fill out.
2. Remove branches that cross, rub or grow straight back into the center of the tree.
3. Cut out dead, damaged or diseased wood whenever you see it.
4. Once the tree is mature, prune after harvest to keep the sapodilla at about 12 to 15 feet.

Wear gloves and old clothes when you prune a sapodilla tree. Fresh cuts bleed sticky white latex that is hard to wash off.

Sapodilla Pests and Diseases

What pests attack a sapodilla tree? In Florida the sapodilla is a fairly trouble-free tree, and it has no major diseases. A few pests are worth watching for.

Insect pests

Scale insects, including green shield scale and mining scale, are the most common sapodilla pests. They show up as small bumps on stems and leaves and leave sticky honeydew and black sooty mold behind. Wipe off light infestations or spray horticultural oil or neem oil. Caribbean fruit fly can lay eggs in ripening sapodilla fruit, so pick fruit when it is mature and clean up any fallen fruit. Leafminers, a bloom-feeding moth and the Cuban May beetle can also feed on sapodilla trees.

Diseases

Sapodilla diseases are minor. Leaf spots, leaf rust and anthracnose can mark the leaves in wet weather, and Phytophthora fruit rot can affect fruit. Good air flow, full sun and well-drained soil prevent most of these problems. Root rot in soggy soil is the most serious threat, which is why drainage matters so much when you plant a sapodilla.

Harvesting Sapodilla Fruit

How do you know a sapodilla is ready to pick? Sapodilla fruit does not change color much on the tree, so you judge it by a few signs.

• The fruit has reached full size for the variety.
• The brown skin loses some of its scurf and turns from brown toward amber.
• When you scratch the skin lightly with a fingernail, the color underneath is tan or yellow, not green.
• No milky latex runs from the stem or the scratch.

Pick the mature sapodilla fruit by hand or with a pole picker and let it ripen at room temperature for 4 to 10 days. Ripe fruit gives slightly when pressed, like a ripe kiwi or peach. Eat sapodilla fresh with a spoon, chilled, or blended into a milkshake. In Florida, sapodilla trees bear mainly from May to September, but with the varieties above you can harvest in winter and spring too.

Companion Plants for Sapodilla

What grows well with a sapodilla tree? Good companions share its love of sun and well-drained soil and do not crowd its roots.

Other tropical fruit trees

A sapodilla fits well in a home orchard with mango, avocado, mamey sapote and other tropical trees that like the same climate. Space them so each tree gets full sun and its own root zone.

Pollinator plants and a second sapodilla

Some sapodilla varieties set more fruit when they are cross-pollinated, so a second sapodilla variety nearby can improve the crop. Flowering plants that bring bees and other insects into the yard help too.

What to keep away from the trunk

Keep lawn grass and thirsty groundcovers at least 2 to 5 feet away from the sapodilla trunk. Under the canopy edge, mulch or low, shallow-rooted plants are better partners than turf, since they do not compete for water and fertilizer.