Piloto

Piloto is another Pablo Lara selection, held in the USDA/ARS National Germplasm Repository collection in Miami and rated excellent for flavour in the UF/IFAS cultivar table. It ripens late, in August and September, and produces medium yields on a medium-sized tree. Where it falls down for Florida gardeners is cold: UF/IFAS lists it as lacking cold tolerance and slow to come into bearing, and does not recommend it for the home landscape. It remains of real interest to collectors and to growers on genuinely frost-free sites who want top-quality fruit at the tail of the summer season, and it appears on the lists of specialist Florida nurseries rather than in general trade.