TT, the zone is based on the average annual low (minimum temp) over several years which is different from the average low. For instance, Wikipedia says the average low for December in SJ is about 42F. That is the average of the lowest temperatures for each day of December. If you were to look at the minimum temp in December it is usually around 30F. In SJ over the past 10 years, the minimum temp each year has ranged from about 25-33F. The average minimum temp is 30F which is on the border between 9b and 10a. Annual minimum is generally more important when it comes to plant survival than the average low--like if the low temp was 60F 364 days in the year but 20F on 1 day, that would kill a lot of tropical plants. The hardiness zones don't take into account the high temps either. Some plants need high temps to get good fruit or flowering. I don't know about atemoya or sugar apples but there are several cherimoyas in the area. hope that helps! r This post was edited by sf_rhino on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 0:04

I will try to post a picture of the plant tomorrow. I wanted to do that in the original post but I was at work and didn't have picture and right now I am spending the long weekend up in SC. dghays, while i imagine it would be best if it was grafted but I get the vibe from my girlfriend's story that it was probably started from seed. There was also a tiny, maybe 3 inch tall, sprout started in the pot as well so they had probably planted a few seeds in a pot and hoped for the best.

Thanks for the replies! Gnappi, I'm glad to hear it's nothing to worry about. This was taken in our "winter" (if you can call it that, mostly warm this year but I suppose with it being our dry season that could've induced winter-like symptoms in the leaves as well), I'll have to remember to check out the tree to see if it's rebudding now. And I don't fertilize or water this tree at all, it's in our backyard in a line of fruit trees, mostly huge mango trees, so it gets natural rainfall and a huge amount of leaf litter from the other trees that breaks down over time. Euricolemos (nice name), I'm not so sure this is anthracnose. From what I understand of the condition, if such were the case it would affect the fruit as well? All our sugar apples from the trees in our yard are always unblemished even if the trees have leaves like this which leads me to believe it's a environmental/conditional response to something rather than an affliction. Also anthracnose is progressive yes? The leaves just keep these burned-looking margins for weeks/months at a time without dying off. Your thoughts? We have a bit of the fungus on mangoes; especially when they bloom, so I'm roughly familiar with it. How far back should I prune the branches/the tree? I don't believe they've been pruned much at all (if ever) so that sounds like a really good idea. And what should I feed it? I have some Sunniland 6-4-6 with most micros that's a granular slow-release, sounds good? Also most of our trees have grass under them, if I spread out the granular will the grass just absorb it before they tree can be fed or should I just use a heavier amount to compensate for the grass taking some? Thanks again for the responses! I look forward to the replies, Dan

Well it appears to be the caterpillar of some kind of butterfly or moth. There are thousands of species so the fact it doesn't look like your other ones doesn't signify. The Insect Forum might be able to help, or The Butterfly Gardens Forum