Graviolas (Annona muricata or soursop) are still relatively unknown fruits in Thailand. At Discovery Garden Pattaya  you can now see mature trees that bear fruits until the end of February. The tea from the dried annona muricata leaves is available all year around and so are seeds and plants of all sizes.

Young soursop fruits start appearing in Pattaya

The attractive yellow flowers of the Graviola trees look interesting already, but they do not develop into proper fruits all year around. Since the beginning of December the fruits have started to develop in our location in Pattaya and the harvest lasts until the end of February or even March in some years.

Soursop flowers start to arise at age 4 years

I guess they need a cooler climate in order not to fall off the soursop trees. And my theory is: Previous to that they need a lot of rain or even flooding in order to grow. I have read that the cultivation of Annona muricata failed in Israel where micro watering systems are used for irrigation. And I have seen Graviola gardens in Cambodia that were completely flooded during the rainy season: Those trees were not damaged by the flood at all, but bore a lot of fruits during the cooler and dry phase that followed the flooding. So maybe the trials in Israel failed, because those trees were never flooded?

Flooding might be beneficial for graviola trees

Anyway, if you have never seen graviola fruits and how they develop on a tree, now is the time to visit Discovery Garden in Pattaya and buy the dried soursop leaves for tea as well.

Up to 11 fruits grow on one tree alone