Sugar Apple - Green

Sugar Apples (Annona squamosa), the most widely cultivated member of the Annonaceae family, are also known as "Sweetsop," distinguishing them from "Soursop" (Annona muricata, also called Guanabana or Mang cau).

Native to the tropical Americas and West Indies, Sugar Apples are heart-shaped fruits, ranging from 2 to 4 inches in diameter, typically displaying a pale green to blue-green color with a deep pink blush on certain varieties.

Their segmented exterior tends to separate when ripe, revealing a luscious interior filled with many small, shiny dark black/brown seeds. The flesh is white, with a superb sweet flavour, similar to Atemoya (Sugar apple/Cherimoya hybrid). 

Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer, with pollination primarily carried out by ants or beetles due to the inability of bees to access the pollen. Here at the nursery we hand pollinate our sugar apples, which is super easy to do, and very effective. There are many flowers open at the same time, both male and female. The hand pollination is done by simply holding a small cup under a male flower, tapping the flower to release the pollen into the cup, then using a small paint brush to dab the pollen into the female flower. Using a black cup makes it easy to see the yellow pollen.

We have found that while being a tropical fruit, they can be grown relatively easily here in Northland with some extra care. The roots must not be waterlogged over winter. We get around this by growing them in fabric grow bags, and they seem to love it. We grow them inside an unheated plastic house that does have a shading effect on the plant, which they don't mind. 

Frost will surely kill a sugar apple plant, though mature trees can endure brief spells of temperatures as low as 0 degrees Celsius.