Plant Sugar Apples

You may be familiar with the sugar apple tree from the sweet fruit, which are popular in many fruit salads, desserts and drinks in southern regions. The fruit are lumpy and green on the outside, with a sweet, white, custard-like flesh. If you have a friend with a sugar apple tree, you could ask them for some seeds from their tree so you can grow your own. Planting a sugar apple tree is pretty easy, but you’ll need a sunny spot and well draining soil.

Steps

Locating Your Sugar Apple Tree

  1. Choose a warm climate. You should plant your sugar apple tree in a tropical or near-tropical climate. Since sugar apples can tolerate some level of drought, you could plant it in a dryer climate. Cooler temperatures are not tolerated, so avoid planting it outdoors in places with cold temperatures in the winter or at night.[1]
    • It will tolerate USDA zones 11-12.[2]
    • The lowest temperature range it will tolerate is 40-50 Fahrenheit (4-10 Celsius).
    • If the temperature drops below 0 Celsius (32 Fahrenheit), the plant will die.[3]
  2. Plant your sugar apple tree in full sun. Sugar apple is a tropical plant that grows well in South America, Asia and Africa, so it enjoys the sun! You should plant it in a sunny spot that is well protected from the wind.[3]
    • The location should be sunny at least eighty percent of the time.[4]
  3. Plant your sugar apple tree in well draining soil. Choose rich, well draining soil for your sugar apple tree. You could plant it in sandy, limestone or a heavy loam soil, since it tolerates a range of soil types. However, you should avoid water logged soil and ensure adequate drainage.[1]
  4. Plant it near citrus companion plants. Companion plants include star fruit and mango. So, you can plant your sugar apple tree near these other citrus trees in your backyard.[2]

Propogating Sugar Apples

  1. Wait one week after removing the seeds from the flesh. Cut open your sugar apple fruit and pull out the big, black seeds. Put them in a seed envelope and wait one week prior to planting.[1] However, you should plant them relatively soon after harvesting, since they may not be viable after six months.[5]
    • If you purchased sugar apple seeds from a garden center, you don’t need to wait before planting.
  2. Soak your seeds to speed up germination. Although germination can take thirty days, you can speed up the process by soaking your seeds. Wrap up your seeds in a piece of paper towel. Soak the seeds with a bit of water. Place the seeds with the paper towel in a ziplock bag. Let your seeds soak for three days and then plant them.[1]
    • Alternately, you can scarify the seeds. Lightly sand the seeds. Then, soak them in warm water for twenty-four hours. In this way, you can speed up the seed preparation process and improve germination time.[5]
  3. Germinate your seeds in a pot. In a good quality potting mix, plant the seeds two or three centimeters deep. They should be spaced one and a half centimeters apart. The plants should germinate within thirty days. When they have outgrown the container, you can transplant them into your garden.[5]
    • Alternately, you could purchase a grafted sugar apple tree from a nursery.
  4. Plant your sugar apple trees. Since sugar apple trees have shallow root systems, you should make the planting hole twice as wide as the root ball of the seedling. The depth of the hole should match the size of the root ball. Place the root ball in the planting hole, cover and water the seedling.[5]
    • If you are planting more than one, put them five meters apart from one another.
    • You could also plant the sugar apple tree in a large pot.[5]

Caring for Sugar Apples

  1. Water your sugar apple tree once every 12 to 15 days. Water your tree infrequently but thoroughly.[5] Sugar apples have moderate watering requirements and are drought tolerant, although they will lose leaves if the drought is very bad.[4]
    • If you are getting a lot of rain, you should stop watering.
    • Ideally, they will get an annual rainfall of between 750 and 1,200 mm.
  2. Apply a complete fertilizer during the first few years. To get the tree going, you’ll want to apply a complete fertilizer. Use an organic fertilizer to improve the development of the root system. To improve yield in later years, you can use 3-10-10 fertilizer. [5]
  3. Prune in the spring. To give shape to your sugar apple tree, you’ll want to prune it in the spring. You’ll find that it grows many branches, which can get quite unwieldy. You’ll want to prune to give shape to the tree, as well as remove any old fruit.[5]
    • Use your shears to cut any dead branches.[3]
    • Remove branches that are growing towards the ground.
    • After ten years, you can do renewal pruning to give new life to your sugar apple tree.

Things You’ll Need

  • Sugar apple seeds
  • Pot
  • Warm climate
  • Pruning shears
  • Paper towel
  • Ziplock bag
  • Sandpaper

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://www.growables.org/information/TropicalFruit/AnnonaSquamosaJuliaMortonPurdueUniversity.htm#Propagation
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.mygardenlife.com/plant-library/2524/annona/squamosa-a-cherimola
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://www.rarexoticseeds.com/en/annona-squamosa-seeds-sugar-apple-seeds-sweetsop-seeds-custard-apple-seeds.html
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/fruit%20pages/sweetsop.htm
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 http://balconygardenweb.com/how-to-grow-sugar-apple-growing-sugar-apple-care/

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