PlantFiles: Sugar Apple, Sweetsop
Annona squamosa

Bought this plant 2 months at at River's End Nursery. It has already had flowers. The plant was grafted and should be big enough to bear fruit next year.

I began selling tropical fruit trees via mail order this past year. Living in South Florida I became addicted to tropical trees a long time ago.

This is a very easy plant to grow in containers. Most of my customers are up north where they grow tropical tree/plants in large pots, place them on the patio in the summers then inside during the winter months. There are some tropical trees that don’t require as much light as most fruiting/flowering trees/plants- Sugar Apple is one of them. The fruit is amazing and they seem to fruit nicely in containers.

The only thing that throws me off a bit is the scent of the leaves. It’s not bad, just strong when you’re close to it. The plant itself is very pretty and even without fruit makes a lovely indoor or patio tree.

Tamara
Tam’s Trees

Although the exact origin of Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) is still being debated, experts agree that its native habitat extends from south of Central America to the tropical South America.

And now it is not only cultivated in many parts of the tropical world, but it can also be found growing in the wild.

The Spaniards are credited with bringing Sugar Apple from the New World into one of their colonies, the Philippines; while the Portuguese are thought to be responsible for bringing Sugar Apple into India around the beginning of the 16th century.

Today, India boasts the most acreage in the world for Sugar Apple production. One of the most popular fruits of India, Sugar Apple can also be found growing in the wild in many parts of India.

The sweetsop is one of the easier to grow and more rewarding tropical fruits. The fruit has a nice custard-like texture and is delicious. It does have lots of big seeds, however, that will give you a tummy ache if swallowed.