Gardening with Tropical Fruit

The Custard Apple

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

The custard apple (Annona reticulata) is a small to medium size tree native to tropical America and is briefly deciduous in the late winter. Trees here in Florida rarely grow higher than 25 feet and can be kept as small bushes with careful pruning.

Yellowish one-inch flowers are produced in the late spring and these develop into heart-shaped fruit 3 to 5 inches in diameter that can weigh up to two pounds or more and ripen during April through June.

The fruit’s skin color at maturity can be brownish-red, yellow, or almost orange in color. The soft pulp, which is the edible portion, can be eaten fresh or used for custards and ice creams.

The seeds in the fruit can be used for propagation, however, seedlings often take four years or more to begin bearing. Superior varieties can be grafted on seedling root stocks, however, or other closely related annonas.

Trees grow rapidly over a wide variety of soil types as long as it’s well drained and mature trees will withstand winter temperatures down into the upper 20s, around 28 degrees, without serious damage. Young trees, however, will be damaged at 32 degrees.