I do like the sound of seedlessness… I’ve got a few of the virginiana that I started from seed off the trees at my old job, but I also ordered a Nikitskaya Bordovaya from Trees of Antiquity… With that one it was the dwarf size I liked. They’re in a few landscapes I’ve worked on in this area, and they always look healthy and productive. But if there are other hybrids I’m missing out on then sign me up.
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April 29th this year I planted melon seeds of the variety ‘Ha’ogen’ here in North Carolina zone 7b, I tied the melon vines up a grape style trellis, using string to do so, and I used pantyhose to support the melons, so that they would not fall off and crack. I find that keeping the melons well off the ground can delay the insects that eat the melons from noticing them, and it can help prevent them from rotting.
We had an impressive melon crop, we planted 10 seeds, and if I remember correctly 7 of the seeds turned in to plants.
Next year I will add one variety of melon, and I will continue to grow ‘Ha’ogen’ as well. I will try to remember to update on this thread next year, about how the melon growing goes.
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Mainly posting to hopefully make this chat pop up when new content is added. I’m in south central VA. Don’t have many years experience with most things. Grapes I’ve been growing the longest, but until recently just an old concord type that I propagated from my great grandfather’s vine and planted at my parents’ house and then, about 5 yrs ago from there to my house. I have 6 varieties now, soon to be 8. Blueberries I struggled with until a few years ago when I stumbled upon rabbiteye and southern highbush. What a difference! They survive our hot summers even when I forget to water! I now have 5 rabbiteye varieties in ground and 2 more on order and 4 southern high varieties in ground with 3 more on order or in pots. Blackberries have done well so far. Have two 50’ rows of thornless I got from a neighbor, and 2 new 60’ rows (Chester & triple crown) planted last year + 3 new varieties on order. Have an in ground Marseilles fig, 2 more varieties in pots and cuttings of about 11 more varieties of fig from trades on here (thanks!!!). I’m VERY new to Ribes. 2 currants and one gooseberry added last year. The gooseberry and red currant struggled last summer so I moved them to afternoon shade. We’ll see how they do this year. Have a red cherry from my grandfathers house. Never get much fruit though. Planning to graft additional varieties for pollination this year and also try surround clay in case it’s bugs. The thing flowers like crazy but barely ripens anything.
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Figs are a good call. Once they get sonlme size and age to them they should be good, especially the hardier varieties. Fertilize them and give them all the sun you can and they’ll reward you.
Good luck with cherries and ribes! Over here I’m too warm for either. Crandall clove currant might be one worth trying.
For raspberries, you could try baba berry and tayberry. They seem to take the heat much better. For blackberries, I’m really liking Prime Ark Freedom, though if you don’t mind thorns and some tartness, Kiowa is an impressive monster.
Persimmons and feijoas should be doable as well. A handful of hardy citrus can manage 7b, Dunstan is the best tasting of them but might need a little protection the first two or three years. Jujube is easy in our climate as well.
If you’d like to try hybrid passionfruit I might have some extra seed in the spring.
I’m really getting excited about the figs. Got a crop off the in ground fig this year. They are definitely worth the effort! Plus where I am I’ve never seen fresh figs for sale, so it’s not like I can buy fruit, gotta grow it if you want it.
The Consort Black currants took the heat pretty good in sun, wouldn’t be surprised if you could grow them in shade. The tatran red currants and black velvet gooseberries actually lost their leaves and went dormant during the hottest part though. I’ve got a shady spot that only gets full sun in the morning. Hopefully they’ll do ok there. Supposedly ribes does well in heavy shade. Those two varieties may be too delicate for my climate.
I’ll have to look into those raspberries varieties. Haven’t tried many raspberries. They’re on the todo list though!
Persimmons grow wild on my place. I traded some wild rootstock to a member out west for H118 and Saijo scions. Hopefully they’ll take. I certainly have plenty rootstock on the property. Feijoas are something I’ve never tried. Any recommendations for varieties that have done well for you?
Citrus interests me. I have a potted Meyer that gets moved to the greenhouse in winter and indoors when really cold. I’m looking forward to finding something that can stay outside permanently. I met a guy in facebook that does a lot of grafted in ground citrus nearby. Hopefully he can give me some guidance and tested varieties.
How’s the taste of hybrid passion fruit? We have a ton of wild passiflora vines here, but I’ve never tried one I liked. The texture seems weird. The wild ones here seem to be more air than fruit. That’s why they “pop”.
Southern IL zone 7a here. I had first fruits from golden delicious apple that got ravaged by 13 and 17 year cicadas and I beat back an early infection of cedar apple rust with Immunox. The apples that hung on ripened during droughty period and were the best golden delicious apple i’ve ever tasted. I’m not saying this because I grew them either. I’m saying it because it is the truth. First fruits from granny smith were very nice also. Those apples gave me engagement.
Elderberry, blackberry, persimmon, mullberry, passion fruit are native or grow like crazy here, along with pecan and black walnut.
They’re not very different from the wild ones I’ve had. The main differences are the much larger and more fragrant flowers. Fruit shape is rounder and the flavor is a bit different, though still closer to the wild ones than the tropical ones. They also have a thicker pith, so there’s a lot of air in them, I’ll admit.
Excellent! I’m a big fan of growing citrus in zone 8 and warm zone 7. There aren’t that many varieties that don’t require at least some protection, but still. Super easy to grow, no pests or diseases in our climate, very ornamental, and usually vigorous and precocious.
Standard raspberries will probably need a little shade where you are. For me, even with some shade they really, really struggle in the summer. The two I mentioned are much more heat-tolerant.
Most blackberries of course just love the heat, so they do great.
Oh, and mulberry is good if you’ve got space and don’t mind the staining.
I’m in Richmond, and while some black currants will do ok the colored currants and gooseberries are likely to eventually expire from accumulated heat and leaf spot stress. I tried 20 or so varieties and I think I’ve got 2 black currants left in ground, 2 gooseberries in bags, and 2 colored currants in bags. The gooseberries and colored currants aren’t very happy even in afternoon shade, still defoliate in Aug/Sep and I think I lost at least one of them this year.
Colored raspberries don’t do much better. One of the local ag shares does a big business in raspberries so there are reds that will do well here.
Cherries were a lost cause for me. Horrible cracking and rotting, Japanese beetles love them, and horrible shothole problems.
You might consider jujubes and plums. Jujubes are low care and the Sugar Cane & Honey Jar varieties I’ve got taste a lot like a tiny caramel apple. My best success is with my Japanese plum tree despite there being no commercial plum orchards within at least 100 miles. If you can control the plum circulo, which isn’t that hard with spinosad & surround, you may get some great returns.
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I’ll definitely have to try your suggestions. Looking forward to new the guy near me who does citrus. Maybe I should protect one of my wild passiflora this year and pay attention to ripening. Maybe I ate it underripe, but the impression I got was edible but why lol.
I’m trying some mulberry cuttings off some of the wild rubra type here. I really like the flavor on them. I know they say all are crossed, but the ones near me definitely look more rubra than alba. I’ve also ordered some Girardi. I’m blessed to have a few acres of open land here, so space isn’t as much of an issue. When/if I put in commercial berries it’ll get tight, but I can plant much more than a hobbyist size fruitery before running out of room. It’s a small plot for the area, but after reading some of the city lot gardeners on here it makes me appreciate a few acres of field!
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I’m with you, I had my first few home grown passiflora this year and then I let the rest fall and rot, even the chickens weren’t keen on them. I won’t however remove them unless I decide on putting Kadsura there (for the evergreen aspect of the vine) because the bees adore them. That’s enough for me to keep one or two around.
I also want to graft this to my everbearing dwarf as it seems to be far superior.
Wish we could edit the topic to include the new tiny 9a zone of NC I’m in haha
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I’m sorry to hear about your experience with Ribes. I’ll try some in varying shadiness and see what happens. I’ve got one spot that’s shaded by a shed to the south and trees to the west. Maybe I’ll try that. Hopefully they survive. I’ve got captivator gooseberries and Blanca currants coming too. That may have been a mistake judging by what you’re saying.
Jujube has been on my radar, just haven’t found a source that isn’t terribly high. I’m hesitant to spend too much $ on a fruit I’ve never tried. Also the nurseries I was placing other orders with don’t have them so it would be special 1 tree shipping. Do you propagate them? If so how? I’ve considered trying to order seeds to sprout this summer and trade someone on here for scionwood next year.
I’ve actually ordered some plum rootstock and scionwood for this spring. I have one plum from TSC that hasn’t fruited that may get grafted over. I’m not certain it isn’t just the rootstock. That’s a long story, but suffice it to say I don’t plan to buy bare root from a box store again. There are plum bushes, I think Chickasaw, at my great grandads farm that fruit with zero care. Only problem is they’re in a fence row so if you don’t get em the day they’re ripe the coons, squirrels, etc clean them out. I may try to move some of them to my house time permitting.
The cherries I’m grafting onto mine this year were taken from some old trees on my dad’s farm that grow in the pasture. Only time we ever beat the squirrels and birds to harvest was when we had cicadas. That year we ate tons of them. They got no care or sprays. Never had luck grafting them before. I’m hoping I can put some info from this forum to good use and get success this year. The trees are dying now, so I feel like it’s not just a grafting project, but saving a childhood memory. IF they are as good and problem free as I remember they might be a good variety for folks who struggle with cherries. Then again, there may be a huge issue with them that I missed as a kid. They are dying off now, but they’re probably 30-50 yrs old so that could just be age.
Yea the flowers are nice. If I had more time I would grow the hybrids just because of what @a_Vivaldi said about the blooms. Supposedly the leaves are medicinal and help you sleep. At the moment my sleep issues are caused by an infant. Doubt passiflora is strong enough to cure my insomnia lol.
If you want me to send you a girardi I’d be interested what you have in trade. They’re supposed to arrive next week. I got them on a wholesale order from Hartmanns. I order a lot wholesale now. I find it’s often better for me to do that and sell/trade the extras. We’re planting trial patches to gather info for my u-pick berry dream and dabbling in the nursery business anyway so wholesale just makes sense.
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I just grow in my front yard and in fabric bags on my driveway, as I live in a subdivision on the south side of Richmond with a back yard full of mature trees. I only have 2 jujubes, and I don’t propagate anything due to lack of room.
You can buy jujubes dried in some Asian grocery stores and occasionally fresh, so that might be one way to get an example of the flavor.
Good luck with the cherries. I had tried a pair of quad-grafted trees from Raintree and pulled them after 6 or so years of disappointment. It is possible I just had bad variety choices, but a couple of the other posters in the mid Atlantic region have mentioned the same problem.
I don’t know what your plum problem might be. I had a pluot that just refused to set fruit too and pulled it when I could never figure out why.
I would probably be interested in some cherry scion next year. That’s amazing if they’re actually producing with no spray in our climate
I’ll be happy to share scions if my grafts work or the trees at dad’s survive one more summer. One disclaimer though, like I alluded to, I need to try them out a bit where I can watch them close and protect from birds. We harvested a heck of a good crop without spray the year cicadas hit because the birds and squirrels were distracted. Every other year the critters ate everything. It’s possible the stars just aligned once and maybe the tree had other problems most years. Here it’s basically impossible to get fruit from anything planted a long distance from the house with no critter protection. ESP black cherry. Birds start when they go red so they have a couple week head start.
Still though, producing a crop no spray once makes me hopeful it can be low-spray most years.
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Yes very hopeful!
I think the plum is suffering from a bad start. It had almost no root when I bought it and I failed to prune enough to compensate. It died back a lot that summer and could actually be just the rootstock.
I’ll have to look for an Asian grocery next time I go to chesterfield or Lynchburg. I’m pretty sure we don’t have anything close to where I live. That’s a good idea though.