Angel Red Flop

[OBecian]

Hi all,
I have a 5 year old Angel Red that fruited for the first time this year.
Fruit set late, in early July and grew to about the size of a baseball or a little bigger.
However, the fruit had no flavor whatsoever and the arils were shriveled and brown despite the fruit looking good from the outside.
I live about one half mile from the coast and struggle with fungus. I did not fertilize this year but plan on hitting in novemeber and march for next year.
Is there not enough sun?
Is it just not hot enough to get good fruit?
Too young?
I am debating whether or not to keep this otherwise gorgeous tree.

[brain]

I'm no expert and still in the "figuring things out" stage.
I would guess that particular cultivar isn't working in your particular climate/location.

Have you tried a sweet variety?
Sweet is usually recommended for coastal climates.
I am not sure why, just what I have gathered from reading others experiences in coastal climates.
Then the opposite happens with some sweets in dry arid climates, for example Eversweet is not recommended for dry arid/non coastal climates.
Something about humidity seems to cause problems with pollination and also fruit rotting before it can become ripe.

Angel Red is said to be a bud sport/mutation of Grenada, which is a bud sport of Wonderful.
Those all seem to be relatively adaptable in multiple different types of climates.
Angel Red is said to have originated in Tulare, CA Which isn't that far from the coast.
Seems like it would do fine in coastal climates.

Have you had temperatures drop to 45 degrees or less yet? Could be something about not having enough chill hours to ripen.

I am curious about this subject.
I do have an Angel Red that I planted in May, but I am in the desert.

[OBecian]

For what it's worth, the local fruit club says it should do OK where I live. It's one of the three varieties they recommend for people close to the coast along with Parfianka and everysweet.

There's a fruit tree expert who does consultations for about $150. I'm thinking about hiring her. I have a bunch of trees and would love input.
My banana thrives in spite of the fact that we never get that much heat here. This has always perplexed me. Get more fruit than I can eat.

[brain]

With 5 years invested in the plant, the $150 fruit tree expert consultation seems worthwhile.

If you have space in your yard to try another cultivar that seems worthwhile as well.
In this study, the Azadi cultivar was found to be the most resistant to fungal issues:
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP643

Another experiment would be to propogate a cutting from the Angel Red
and plant it in a different location in the yard and see if the same thing happens.
But probably more worthwhile to just try a different cultivar altogether.

[OBecian]

Thanks. I think I’ve seen the Azadi around here. We’ll hit the local nurseries

[brain]

Location in the yard can be a weird thing...
Everything on the right side of my yard does better than the left side.

Left side gets morning sun and afternoon shade and it is on the top of a slight slope.
Right side gets morning shade and afternoon sun and at the bottom of the slight slope.
My yard is at an angle when it comes to a compass and the left side is the side most South facing,
The right side is more north.
So I figured the left side would do better.

I have AC Sweet and Parfianka on the left and also AC Sweet and Parfianka on the right,
All 4 planted at the same time and from the same nursery. DWN supplied. No fertilizer.
The AC Sweet on the left hasn't grown at all and real spindley,
The Parfianka put out one single flower which fell off and hasn't grown much.

The AC Sweet and Parfianka on the right have exploded in growth and trunk girth and reaching fountainlike branches, but no flowers.

So just an example of two of the same cultivars in different spots in the yard with very different results.
Could be drainage or wind or sun exposure or all the above. I haven't done a soil test.

My Angel Red is in the left center of the yard and surprisingly done the most out of all of them.

An interesting thing in reading through forums is that I have found at least one other post of someone saying they weren't impressed with the results
of their experience with the Angel Red, and they were in a coastal area.
So that is at least two data points of two different people in coastal areas saying they didn't get the best results with Angel Red.
So I am kinda leaning towards thinking it is possible that the Angel Red cultivar may not do the best in coastal conditions.

I'll make a separate thread later for my experience with Angel Red in the desert. So far it has done pretty good.

If you do get some feedback on what is going on with yours definitely post your findings. I am curious.

[alanmercieca]

I find that the lower point of a property often does not do as good as the higher spots.

[alanmercieca]

However, the fruit had no flavor whatsoever and the arils were shriveled and brown despite the fruit looking good from the outside.
I live about one half mile from the coast and struggle with fungus. I did not fertilize this year but plan on hitting in novemeber and march for next year.
Is there not enough sun?
Is it just not hot enough to get good fruit?
Too young?

It sounds like the fruit might have been overripe, arils can turn brown when overripe. Also the sweeter varieties can have less to no flavor when fully ripe.

in this video she picked the fruit when it was pink and white arils, because she was leaving soon on a short trip, and she was afraid of them over ripening when she was gone, she says that 'Angel Red arils' like in this video, and that 'red colored' ones are flavorful, try not picking them as ripe next time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndW2CLnmVdg

[greenfig]

This sounds that your location is not ideal.
I do not know the reason for your trouble but I got rid of mine 2 years ago. I found its fruit was not to be good enough since I have Parfianka, Desertnyi, Ariana and they are better.
Good luck!

[brain]

Here is what I got.
I planted it in early May and really wasn't expecting it to fruit.
I watched a hummingbird pollinate the two that fruited.
Didn't develop much color on the outside and I left it on until they started splitting.
But it surprisingly tasted very good. Sweet with a little tart and softer seeds than wonderful.