Is anyone growing the hybrid Maclura pomifera, x Macludrania hybrida André Osage Silk Thorn - x Macludrania hybrida - North American Insects & Spiders ? I’ve purchased Michael’s che tree before and it had problems surviving here due to I’m assuming the rootstock Seedless Che - Edible Landscaping
These varieties are ones I’m very interested to try https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?1022658 and https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?1910571
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Ok, I tried my che and they were ready, don’t know why they are so early. I am a little disappointed in the fruit. I grow a lot of different fruit and I have my favorites but I like them all but this one. The che is just overbearingly sweet with an aftertaste that I did not care for. I think they may be overripe, at least I hope that is the case. Maybe getting ripe early in this intense heat has hurt the flavor. I hope this was just a strange year for me and the tree will ripen later and taste better. All of my other trees are on their normal schedule.
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Here’s my little Che tree I bought last summer from Edible Landscaping. It really was just a stick with a couple of leaves. Frankly, I didn’t think it would survive, but it is very happy in it’s location. It gets some shade from some taller trees around it, and it is doing pretty well for being somewhat neglected.
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Looks good and healthy, mine struggled with nitrogen deficiency but I got that sorted out. I just looked at my order, got mine Feb. 2014. Mine grows like yours and was never sure how to prune it.
Here is what mine looks like now.
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If you look at the first picture you will see a 4-foot fence to the left. Che is probably about 20 feet tall. Hopefully it will hold its fruit this year… They are currently dime sized.
In the second picture is one of my pruning shames… I worry about this crotch…
Thoughts?
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Scott, what a lovely tree, and pretty setting! The tree really makes a beautiful garden specimen tree. As to the very narrow crotch. Yup, I would be a little worried, due to the amount of rain you get in your area, as well as trapped water in that narrow crotch could freeze and expand, damaging that crotch. Don’t know how much of the canopy is part of the right big branch, but I would consider removing that right branch, as well as the skinny branch just below it. You probably would be sacrificing about 1/2 the tree, I fear.
Edit: Okay, boy. I am afraid at this point, I rescind my recommendation. I think it would just be such a huge wound to the tree, it may be just too drastic. I’m going to see what some of our more experienced orchardists have to say. I’ve done this to a tree or to of mine, so don’t feel too bad. It happens. We can’t get all the pruning right sometimes.
that is one superb tree specimen.
hands down the largest i have seen, apart from that one i saw in edib landscaping youtube video.
if che is as pliant as its fig and mulberry cousins, that crotch shouldn’t be cause for worry.
the viny growth habit of the stems is in fact so tempting to my eyes, as it seems to lend itself well to braiding , crisscrossing, and espaliering like its other flexible cousins.
might be worth the effort since the cosmetic effect will be long-lasting(being long-lived, disease- and pest-free)
and unlike figs, your che’s branches seem to have proved immune to die-back in michigan’s winters
No, most winters I lost between 4-6 inches, except for this past winter. It is just vigorous to push much more growth than it loses.
The Osage orange rootstock is probably an inch greater in diameter than the Che stem which grows from it.
It really is a great tree, I just keep hoping for it to hold its fruit.
Scott
not too bad, considering your winters.
and for anyone planning to grow it in lower latitudes(and altitudes), your tree looks so encouraging.
my looks like this.i got it last autumn,it was to tsl that i had to prune it,cinse then o pruned it again .
i live in portugal,and got mine from france,they sayed the they had for sell seedless and norris cultivares,i got the seed less.but i really hope that having a female is all i need to get fruit
i only got 2 fruits but i dont thing that they will stay on the tree for too long.
the only problem that i got with this tree is that is growing too much too fast.
even after i pruned it it grown at least 1.5m,and i had to cut the side shoot twice now,because the tree is too thin to hold its size.i will post any changes.
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hi
i know that in asia they use the wood and roots to cook,and the leafs to make infusions.
does someone here uses that? do i just need to dry the leafs or (as i readed somewhere) do i need to fermented them,if so how should i do it? thanks
This one looks different to me. The fruit seems to be coming from a stem, mine are coming from branch tips where leaves are attached. Also, my Che fruit seem to have more of those hairy looking structures.
Scott
hi.mine had alot more of thoses stigmas (i think thats what they are call,and suposely means that the fruit are femare) a few weeks ago.they are coming out for almost 2 months now.
my question is,is that the normal fruit size for the date that we hare now?
Mine are about the size of very large garden peas. Then again, my growing season is far shorter and if they don’t size up quickly I will never see ripe fruit from it…
Scott
so the size of mine is not that below the average…glad to know.
but i still have the feeling that the fruit will drop really soon,because everyone complains that it takes years to have ripen fruit,and i dont think that i am lucky to have them on my first year.whats you usda hardy zone number?
I’m in zone 6b most years. (Though last winter was a zone 7 for me)
Coldest I have seen was 2 winters ago at -12F two nights in a row. Usually we see -4 or so most winters
My tree has not yet ripened fruit for me, though this will be the 4th year it has formed fruit. Hopefully this year it will hold onto them and I’ll get to try it.
Scott
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