Is anyone growing the other Goumi “So-Shang” Elaeagnus latifolia. A native of India I believe and relatively well known in the tropical countries. The fruits reach a whopping 2 inches. Plants and seeds can be found on ebay by searching Elaeagnus latifolia. I wonder if they could be crossbred to obtain a cold hardy goumi with “So-Shang” size. Crossbreeding the family is quite difficult as members can hugely different bloom times.
That’s what Ebbings tried. The result is Elaeagnus x ebbingei.
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yes there are some successful crosses on the market but that one is Elaeagnus macrophylla x Elaeagnus pungens. So-Shang is Elaeagnus latifolia. If only I had a green house.
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Partly, but even members in that thrive in the same climate flower differently Goumi Elaeagnus multiflora flowers April-may and Oleaster Elaeagnus pungens from Nov-Feb, Elaeagnus x ebbingei Oct- Jan
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Please do tell. Have you had flowers or Fruit? What does the fruit taste like? Have you ever had Autumn Olive or Goumi? When does it bloom? Do you plant Autumn Olive or Goumi also?
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No flowers or fruit yet, I don’t expect to see any fruit for a couple of years yet. The Soh Shang (Elaeagnus latifolia) did defoliate for me in winter, and leafed out in the spring. I am growing them in dappled shade under an apricot tree… so they do get sun in the winter.
Yes, I am growing Goumi (Elaeagnus multiflora) I have Red Gem & Sweet Scarlet. I really enjoy the sweet/tart flavor of this fruit.
I am 99.9 % sure that I also have an Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) I ordered it from an online nursery as a goumi seedling. It flowers profusely in the spring with very fragrant flowers but has never set fruit.
I also have a Lingaro (Elaeagnus philippinensis) that does flower and set small fruit. Goumi like flavor with an odd but not unpleasant aftertaste.
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In my experience in zones 9 and 10 of San Diego county, all three of these Elaeagnus flower in April-May. Ebbing’s has long been grown both ornamentally and for making jelly; e.g. see a 1960’s edition of Sunset Western Garden Book. The flesh to seed ratio is poor but has a sprite taste. E. pungens - sometimes wrongly called Russian Olive was the darling of some CRFG enthusiasts 20 years ago. For my tastes I found it only ok and eventually yanked it due to limited space. Guomi fruit is very popular among the Filipino population here but no one really cares for the locally grown fruit – instead the tropically grown Guomi available at Ranch 99 markets is a hot item when in season.
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Russian Olive is (Elaeagnus angustifolia) My father had a hedge of it something like ten to twelve trees. This was some forty years ago. It was very vigorous, he thought overly so and ended up ripping them out. Unfortunately, as a kid I never thought of tasting the fruit, didn’t know it was edible.
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That’s interesting. My internet research defiantly gives different bloom times. its possible this only presents its self in colder zones.
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Check with experienced CRFG members from California’s Orange County and Bay Area chapters. A few of them can be found on the Cloud Forest blog site.
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I for one would love to keep up with your progress. When your latifolia do bloom and if there blooms coincide with your multiflora. Please save your Soh Shang seeds and share them with me and other forum members. Any Soh Shang seedling that survives a zone 7 winter might prove to be a hybrid and maybe larger fruit size could be breed.
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Mike, How did your So-Shang do this year, any flowers any fruit?
I just ordered 10 sprouted seeds on ebay and I am going to foolishly try to grow them in pots.
If anyone is interested the same ebay vendor also has seeds for sale.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-seeds-Elaeagnus-latifolia-High-Vitamin-C-from-Thailand/253675239506?hash=item3b1038f852:g:~F4AAOSwEzJbGU7N
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Those look like cuttings to me, not sprouted seeds. edit: I take it back, once I zoomed in those are obviously sprouted seeds.
From what I’ve read there is some diffficulty in rooting cuttings of Soh Shang. My seedlings are really taking off this season… I can tell these are going to be very vigorous plants. No flowers yet, maybe next year.
I don’t think it is at all foolish to grow them in pots, at least until they get to the point where uppotting gets to the point where you can’t get pots big enough.
Mine are in 5 gallon pots… here is a picture I just took of one of them.
I got my seeds from FruitLovers in Hawaii… great guy with quality tropical seeds.
Looking back at your older post about bloom timing, maybe if I’m lucky I’ll get some flowers in the Oct-Jan time-frame. I had read on a website somewhere that it is possible to get fruit in the second year from seed… fingers crossed.
btw… they did not defoliate this winter (which was mild), so perhaps as they get older they get a little more cold tolerant. That being said, the coldest it got here this winter was somewhere in the high 30s at night.
Dam them to hell.
I know growing So-Shang in pots was a long shot. But for the second year in a row the dam chipmunks decided to end my experiment early.
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I have one sho shang plant growing. It’s hady and resists every winter.
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Have you been able to taste it yet? how large does it fruit?
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No not yet. I chage his location this year but it grows fast! I think the fruits are big…
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