How is custard apple grown?

Cherimoya, delicious fruits

La custard apple, whose scientific name is annona cherimola, is a deciduous fruit tree that, due to its size, can grow in small to medium-sized gardens. Its cultivation, although it may seem otherwise, is not difficult, although it is true that it is necessary to have a series of things so that it can grow and develop smoothly.

Things that we are going to tell you in this special so that you can taste one of the most delicious tropical fruits without having to go to the supermarket.

Characteristics of the custard apple tree

Annona cherimola tree, a tropical plant

Image - Wikimedia / Aibdescalzo

Before getting into the subject, let's first see what the characteristics of this tree are so that it is easy for you to identify it. The custard apple or custard apple is an arboreal plant native to northern Peru and slow growing that can reach a height of no more than 8 meters. It has an upright bearing and a more or less parasol-shaped, highly branched crown.

Its leaves are deciduous, simple, whole, with an ovate-lanceolate shape and with a tomentose underside, they measure about 12mm. The flowers have six yellowish petals mottled with purple, they are hermaphroditic and highly aromatic.

What is the custard apple fruit like?

The fruit can weigh between 200 and 800 grams, and has a thin skin, which can be light green to dark green. A series of blackish lines that delimit each seed can be seen with the naked eye.

Its pulp is white, creamy and quite juicy, and easy to chew as it is soft. Its taste is sweet. This is a very important part for the custard apple, since it protects the seeds, which are black or dark brown and are about one centimeter long.

Depending on the characteristics of each custard apple, different varieties are known:

  • Lisa: which is one that has a smooth shell in which it is difficult to appreciate those lines that we talked about before that separate the seeds.
  • Feminine: in which those lines are rounded.
  • umbonata: the fruit has depressions at the apex.
  • baby: with »lumps» shaped like a breast.
  • tuberculata: in which you can see bulges finished in a point.

What are the properties of custard apple?

The fruit of this plant has interesting nutritional and medicinal properties. And it is that its fruits have a high in vitamins, especially C, which helps to heal wounds better, A which takes care of the health of our eyes, and B which intervenes in growth and mental development.

In addition, recommended for weight loss because it is very low in fat and, on the contrary, has a large amount of potassium (382mg / 100g) that helps prevent fluid retention.

How do you eat custard apple?

It is very, very easy. All you have to do is cut it in half, and with a spoon, take the pulp. The seeds are not edible, since they are also very hard, so you have to remove them and store them in a glass for example, to sow them later.

How do you take care of yourself?

Leaves of Annona cherimola, or custard apple

Image - Wikimedia / Forest & Kim Starr

If you want to have one or more specimens, take into account our advice so that it grows well:

Location

Place your tree in the Exterior, preferably in full sun. However, if the weather is very hot, it will do better in semi-shade. In any case, it is important to know that cherimoya is more productive when temperatures remain between a minimum of 10ºC and a maximum of 30ºC, and when a minimum of 800mm of precipitation falls per year. Likewise, the ambient humidity must be above 70%.

In colder or warmer, or drier climates, it will be difficult for you to adapt. And it is a plant that does not like extremes too much.

Irrigation

Must be frecuente, but avoiding waterlogging. Use rainwater whenever possible, as it is the most suitable for the custard apple plant. Avoid allowing the soil or substrate to remain dry for a long time, since it is better that it is always somewhat damp.

If in doubt, we recommend using a moisture meter, or inserting a thin wooden or plastic stick. In the case of opting for the latter, if you see that when you remove it, a lot of soil has adhered to it, it will mean that it is still wet.

More or less, and depending on the rainfall in each area, you have to water 2 or 3 times a week in summer. In autumn and winter it will be watered less.

Subscriber

It is essential for the correct development of the tree fertilize throughout the growing season (spring and summer) with Organic fertilizersand guano (on sale here) or the manure, either liquid -following the indications specified on the package-, or powder -laying a 1-2cm layer around the trunk-.

Transplant

Whether you want to pass it to the garden or to a larger pot, which by the way you should do every two years, you have to wait for the spring and the risk of frost has passed.

How to plant custard apple?

If you want to know how to plant a custard apple tree, then we explain how to do it:

  • Flower pot: first of all you have to look for one that has holes in its base and that is about 5-10 centimeters wider and higher than the one you already have. Then fill it with a little mulch (for sale here) or substrate for urban garden (for sale here), taking into account the height of the old pot, since the plant must not be too high or too low. Then, extract your custard apple and place it in the new pot, and then finish filling it. Thus, then, you will only have to water.
  • In the garden: If you are going to plant it in the garden or orchard, you have to find a sunny area for it. In addition, it is important that the land is fertile and has good drainage. If these conditions are met, make a hole large enough for the custard apple to fit well. The ideal is to make it 1 x 1 meter, since this way the roots will have more facilities to root when finding soil that has been removed. Fill it with soil or substrate, and then introduce the plant into it. In the event that it is very low or very high, do not hesitate to add or remove dirt. Then finish filling, and do a tree grate. So the only thing missing is watering.

But before doing anything, you must bear in mind that you should not remove the custard apple from the »old» pot if it has not rooted before, since otherwise the ground bread, or also called root ball, would crumble and the plant would have many trouble getting through the transplant. So, check if roots are coming out of the drainage holes, because if that is the case, then you can transplant it without problems.

Pruning

Can be pruned in autumn or in spring, removing the dry, weak or diseased branches and those that have grown in excess, and cutting those that are necessary to give it a weeping bearing. Pacifiers are also removed.

Harvest

Cherimoya is a tropical plant

Image - Wikimedia / Jan Helebrant

Your fruits will be ready for collection when they have acquired a slightly lighter tone, and when when you touch them, if you do some pressure, you notice that the finger sinks a bit.

Plagues and diseases

It is a fairly resistant fruit tree, but it can be affected by:

Pests

  • Fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata): the females deposit their eggs below the epidermis of the fruits. Once they hatch, their larvae eat all the pulp. They are fought by placing traps for them and with an attractive liquid.
  • Cottony mealybug (Planococcus citri): it is deposited on the petioles of the leaves and on the underside, from where it feeds on the sap of the plants. They are easy to see as they look like a "ball" of cotton. They can be removed by hand, or with Neem oil.

Management

  • Neck rot (Phytophthora cinnamomi): the leaves turn yellow, then brown until they finally fall off. The plant can die due to excessive watering or poor drainage of the substrate or soil.
    It can be prevented by using a soil with good drainage, and doing preventive treatments with natural fungicides sold in nurseries, or with copper or sulfur in spring and autumn.
  • Root rot (Armillaria mellea): as in the previous case, the leaves turn yellow until they dry and fall.
    The prevention method is the same as that of Phytophthora.

Multiplication

You can have new specimens by sowing their seeds, but is carried out more through graft on seed pattern from the same cultivar that is going to be used as a variety. Let's see how to proceed in each case:

How to germinate custard apple?

Cherimoya seeds are black

Image - Wikimedia / Rillke

To sow custard apple seeds you must follow this Step by Step:

  1. The first thing you have to do is clean the seeds well with water, in spring.
  2. Then keep them in a glass of water for 24 hours.
  3. The next day, sow them in forest seedling trays or in pots with universal growing medium (for sale here) mixed with perlite (for sale here) at 50%.
  4. Cover them with a little substrate so that the wind does not carry them away.
  5. Water.
  6. And finally, place the seedbed in an area where it gets direct sunlight.

They will germinate soon, in two or three weeks.

Graft

When the trunk of the plant is about 2cm thick, insert it into a spike about 50cm from the ground. To do this, you have to make a longitudinal cut through the center of the branch of the pattern, insert the branch of the new variety, and join them well with raffia rope and wax everything with sealing paste.

Rusticity

The custard apple is a tree that supports mild frosts of up to -2ºC.

So, if you are looking for a plant that is easy to grow and that also helps you maintain your line, cherimoya is an excellent option for you ... and your garden or patio, since, although it is seen more as a horticultural plant, the truth is that its ornamental value is very high, don't you think?


18 comments, leave yours

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  1.   odalys serrano said

    Thank you for giving us these special tips about the custard apple.

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Thanks for your words, Odalys 🙂

  2.   rose muñoz said

    Thanks for all the information about the custard apple, my fears for its care were cleared, now I know that I did the right thing and soon I will eat its fruits and plant more since it was easy to take care of it.

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello rosa.
      Surely yes. Anyway, if you have questions, contact us 🙂
      A greeting.

  3.   renato gonzalez said

    The information is very good in general, but I have a question, how many years does the custard apple plant bear fruit?

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hi Renato.
      Well, I can't tell you for sure, but soon: at 5 years or so.
      A greeting.

  4.   bibi said

    Hello, since the seeds that I planted grew, now I don't know how to transfer them to a large pot! Somebody help me. ..they gave them to the seeds. And I don't want to lose the plant since they are very pretty. Thanks

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hi Bibi.
      I recommend you keep them for 12 months (since the seeds germinated) in that same pot.
      In the second year you can transplant them following the advice of this article.
      A greeting.

      1.    Alejandra said

        Hello, good afternoon, I would like to know I have had a custard apple tree for more than 10 years and it always gave flower and never gave fruit. I would like to know why? I have it in the backyard of my house I live in Buenos Aires

        1.    Monica Sanchez said

          Hi Alejandra.

          Well, it is curious, because the flowers are hermaphrodites with which a single specimen can bear fruit without problems.

          Do you have it in a pot? If so, it may be too small for you.
          And if it is on the ground, it is advisable to pay it in spring and summer.

          Greetings.

  5.   Jose Ruiz Rojas placeholder image said

    I, I, brought, from, Spain, some, seeds, from, chirimolla, I, have, got, several, seedlings, the, question, is, if, they will, come, to, continue, growing, since, that, I, live, in, Santo Domingo Dominican Republic?

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hi Jose Ruiz.
      Yes, they will be able to live well there 🙂
      A greeting.

  6.   suany said

    Hello, I have a beautiful custard apple tree, it is flowering all year round but it does not bear fruit. In the patio I also have anon and guanaba and they both bear fruit. That could be happening? Came in MIAMI. Thanks

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hi Suany.
      How long have you had it? The custard apple begins to bear fruit between 3 and 5 years of age.

      If you do not pay it, it would be highly recommended to do it once a month or so, with Organic fertilizers such as compost, mulch, or herbivorous animal manure.

      Greetings.

  7.   Juana Soto-Louis said

    I grew up eating cherimoya, I love it and by the way I love anoneceas.
    It is an excellent and exquisite fruit

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello Juana.
      Thanks for stopping by 🙂

  8.   Joseph Delgado said

    I like this plant for its enormous benefits, excellent information

    1.    Monica Sanchez said

      Hello Jose.
      It is very interesting, no doubt.
      A greeting.