Re: Cherimoyas fruiting in Basque Country

Jose,

I would guess that you will not be able to get Cheimoyas to fruit for you in your location as it doesn't have enough heat build up to enduce fruiting.  I do not have any direct experience with growing cherimoyas, but from where they do grow and fruit in Southern California and Southern Spain, I can tell you that it is distinctly warmer year round than your area along the north Spanish coast.  Your situation sounds alot like the cooler parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, and you can probably grow the tree quite well, but maybe never get fruit.  Your comment about the Avocado trees not fruiting in your area makes me inclined to believe this would be the case.  If you do try to fruit the tree, I'd suggest giving it the hottest spot in your garden against a south facing wall, and a walled courtyard with daily heat build-up would probably be the best bet.  Tiled or concrete paving at the base of the tree would also probably help to collect and release! m! ! ore heat into the evening.  I find that just such locations tend to favor the heat loving subtropicals that I grow in my Berkeley, California garden, and even then I get some years with good flower production and others without.  Best of luck with your cherimoya, and I hope I don't sound too negative, but I've had decades of experience trying to grow tender subtopicals outside of their preferred climatic region, and sometimes feel like I could write a book on it.

Regards,

David Feix, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia(,for just a bit longer)

Jose Almandoz <jose@almandoz.com> wrote:

Kostas Pramataris wrote:

> I have some land in a coastal area in southern Greece and would like to try out
> some cherimoyas (Annona cherimola). I've started some from seed and are doing
> fine so far (Kali in case you're listening: thanks again for the seeds).. They
> seem to do quite well in our environment.
>
> I tasted some last week, they're delicious. Now i'm anxious to get some grafted
> trees. Although seedlings are supposed to bear close-to-type fruits in 4-5
> years.
>
> Is anyone aware of nearby nurseries (Italy preferably) that may have cherimoyas.
>

Hi Kostas,

Sorry I do not know about Italy, but you sure know cherimoyas are an important and
very special crop in Southern Spain (Costa del Sol, coastal Malaga and Granada).
'Chirimoyas' (name in Spanish) are popular in the markets, and are ! qu! ! ite affordable
and certainly delicious.
As a coincidence, I was given yesterday a grafted tree of the variety 'Fino de Teje'
with a price tag of 1250 pesetas (around US $ 7). the tree was bought in a garden
center near Marbella, so sure it can be bought cheaper in a specialized fruit
nursery of the area...
I'd like to hear about your experiences comparing hardiness of avocado vs cherimoya.
We can grow nice avocado plants (not fruits) in protected sites outdoors: I'd like
to know if my new cherimoya tree has some future here. In the RHS Dictionary of
Gardening I see they rate this plant as hardy in Z9...

Greetings,

--
Jose
San Sebastian, Basque Country, 43.3ºN 2.0ºW
Coastal Northern Spain, SW Europe
Z9, rainy oceanic climate
E-mail: jose@almandoz.com ICQ: 2546223



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