I think they got the tag wrong. I believe the bearing season should be Mar/April and the spelling should be 'sartenaya' (with an 'e'). There is a big tree over at Excalibur. From what I remember it's a white fleshed cultivar. I've heard a lot of people recommend it, but I personally liked the pink/red fleshed cultivars the most. I've been afraid to plant out the custard apple because some say that it helps the seed borer to overwinter.

Jeff

I have found that reticulata is the wintering home for the chalcid fly larvae and have not planted it out in my yard for that reason. However, my neighbors have one and so far, they have avoided the typical holes you get in the fruit from these borers. If you can avoid the flies, you can do OK with this.....but that is much easier said than done. Re: the growing instructions, they seem to give conflicting messages on hydration. I would definitely agree with Jeff that the season is in March/April to say May. Not a fall fruit as far as I have ever seen. Maybe this cultivar is different. In anycase, if Noel recommends it, you can't go too far wrong. He knows his annonas.

Harry

Noel this morning told he has one planted in his yard, no fruit yet, but that it was red. I purchased it specifically because it claims its productive, which is my biggest concern with planting anonas

Excalibur has a big sartenaya custard apple planted out. You might call and ask if they still have any fruit for sale. Noel's friend has a red-fleshed cultivar (san pablo?) that's quite good.

Jeff

I spoke to Har today and he said the sarteneja is from a city in Belize of the same name. It was introduced by Lawrence Zill. He rates it as a pretty good custard apple but he thinks the San Pablo is better.

I picked the last good sarteneja fruit at Excalibur today. I'll post a pic of it later.

Sheehan, is the sartenaya red or light pink (almost white) fleshed? I remember it being a very light pink, but the tag above says red.

Jeff

I forgot to open the fruit an take a pic. From the ones that were splattered on the ground around the tree I think it's pink inside.

It was good to finally meet Bryan (mangokush)in person.
I ended up getting four new trees today. An Ohia Lychee and three new mango trees, Cogshall, Po Pyu Kalay(Lemon Meringue) and a Nam Doc Mai all in all a good haul.

Is anyone familar with the "Sia Song" Mango? I'm thinking about going back and getting it tomorrow. I'm still looking for a Golden Lippens, Okrong Tong and a Phimsen Mun tree.

Tony... I don't know where I have seen you before but either you have a look alike or I know you from somewhere and it just hasn't come to me yet....I've been wracking my brain since you posted in the meet and greet thread!

PS Did they have many varieties of lychee? I was thinking of taking a ride down there tomorrow.

Marin - There was nothing that unusual in Lychees at the Broward sale today. I saw Brewster, Emperor, Hak Ip, Mauritus, Ohia and Sweetheart trees being sold. I think the Sweetheart and Emperor tree's may be sold out. I have been in South Florida for quite a few years so its certainly possible we have run into each other at one time or another.

Tony

Tony:

I think the mango to which you refer is is Sia Tong. I have it...it fruits very heavily and is like a yellow colored Nam Doc Mai. Next time you are by, remind me, I will have plenty for sale.

Harry

This is a pic of a ripe sarteneja custard apple that I picked yesterday from a tree at Excalibur. I forgot to cut it open and take a pic though.

This is Sarteneja, Belize.

That custard apple looks good. :) I know I mentioned that I was going to the Broward Rare Fruit Council sale, but due to money issues I couldn't buy any more trees. :( I just had enough to get good soil for the trees I currently have. Oh well. Do they have a sale here in Broward every spring?

tropicalgrower,
You could get all of the trees you can find at the BRFC sale plus more at any of the good nurseries in the area. Pine Island, Spykes, Excalibur or even hit up Jeff on the forum because he has a good selection of trees for sale also.

The BRFC purchases most of their trees from other nurseries in the area and sells them at either around the same price or even more. I remember one tree in particular, a seedling bangkok lemon jackfruit, that they bought at Excalibur for about $25 and they resold it for more than double at the sale. There is no real benefit from buying at the BRFC sale.

found a pic online

looks productive

Mangokush,
That's the exact tree I picked the fruit from. It is productive but the chalcid fly destroys most of the crop from that tree.

The description on the tag from the tree you bought sounds the description of an ilama and not a custard apple.

do you think the tree itself came from excalibur?

the cracking part of the description sounds like illama, the productive part not so much

A very kind FL friend of mine sent me scions from a tree at Excalibur, I was told it was a large red custard apple. I wonder if this is the same tree?

-Ethan

I am not sure if those came from Excalibur because I don't think they have any grafted custard apples at the moment. The sarteneja comes pretty true from seed I've heard.

Ethan,
Yup. Same tree.

Murahilin: "tropicalgrower,
You could get all of the trees you can find at the BRFC sale plus more at any of the good nurseries in the area. Pine Island, Spykes, Excalibur or even hit up Jeff on the forum because he has a good selection of trees for sale also.

The BRFC purchases most of their trees from other nurseries in the area and sells them at either around the same price or even more. I remember one tree in particular, a seedling bangkok lemon jackfruit, that they bought at Excalibur for about $25 and they resold it for more than double at the sale. There is no real benefit from buying at the BRFC sale."

Wow. I thought the trees at the BRFC were cheaper. That's one of the main reasons why I wanted to stop by there. I bought my sugar apple and my grafted mamey sapote from Spykes. I bought my old haden, glenn, kent, valencia pride mango and brogdon avocado from Lowes. A couple of weeks ago, I bought a healthy 3 gallon soursop for $33.95 at Home Depot in Hialeah Gardens. There were only two of them. I couldn't resist. lol

The Broward RFVC had at one time given some thought to the idea of propagating their own plants for sale but chucked the idea in favor of re-sale for various reasons. Moreover, a good portion of their yearly revenue to fund the maintenance of the farm comes from their semi-annual sales. So, as Sheehan noted, you're not necessarily going to get trees at bargain prices. However, you will find a decent selection of hard to find trees under one roof with knowledgeable members who are more than willing to answer questions and give advice.

Jeff