Thanks! That is very helpful.
1 Like
Maybe I should add that in James case the new variety might be expensive, but once you have one female they are readily air layered to create more from a single female. I air layer the top branches of my Titan each year to control height and my daughter sells the newly rooted ones. Here we have a bid Ukrainian and Russian community so there is a lot of demand for it.
Dennis
5 Likes
I really enjoyed the taste of the seaberries I tried. I can’t recall the varieties but the better ones tasted like orange peel (zest) mixed with passionfruit. I tried growing them in my 5.0 pH clay loam soil but the voles ate them within months of planting.
6 Likes
Here in Alaska the Russians and related groups really like them. I have a friend with a large orchard that opens it for you-pick and they are the ones that get them all.
Regardless of flavor sea buckthorn and goji are like growing multivitamins.
6 Likes
I have had a good amount of success propagating by cuttings.
Check out this approach to harvest, Wire + tongs. Or is it an actual tool idk.
3 Likes
That’s fantastic
Where would I find it or a better pic so I could try to make it
2 Likes
I think I understand what you mean. For me, papayas and mangoes have kind of a fetid undertone to them.
2 Likes
From my limited research, I’ve come to understand that you consume them for the health benefits, not necessarily to enjoy them. Not that they can’t be enjoyed, but you know what I mean.
2 Likes
Same here. They had no vigor. First male died after 2 years. Second one survived but grew very slowly. Female only produced fruit once in 4 yrs and only a few berries. After 5 yrs put them into compost pile.
3 Likes
I am also on the hunt.
1 Like
The flavor profile I described above was based on home-grown German? varieties that One Green World offered in the 1990s. Leikora, Frugana, Hergo, as I recall. Later attempts with Russian varieties in the same ground-space had little growth or fruits. The males always grew like weeds, dwarfing the females. This was done in Portland, Oregon in soil amended with sand and pumice.
My opinion after growing both sets of seaberry plants was that having a well-rooted potted plant for starters was the major factor in future growth; the poorly rooted Russian varieties, perhaps sold too early, remained stunted. Not sure how to explain the vigorous males in both sets.
3 Likes
I found that these don’t like competition. Any shading from nearby plants and the seaberry will kill off that branch.
Having only a small suburban lot (.12 acre including house and garage) there were too many sources of shade. I had one female hold on for almost 10 years, but it too gave up the ghost once the nearby jujube was throwing too much shade.
Scott
6 Likes
My Current varieties of sea buckthorns:
I procured all of my varieties from Raintree Nursery. I started during 2002 with all Star of Altai variety: one male and three females. Here is a quick summary of performance:
New varieties: planted on Easter Sunday 4/21/19
Titan female.
Garden’s Gift (female) very slow growth but fruit is good.
Star of Altai: male tree is very vigorous so I do have to top it a lot to manage it.
Star of Altai: female: very slow grower but fruit is good.
Russian Orange Energy: fruit is good but tree grows much slower than Titan.
Titan: most vigorous of all. Had I not discovered this variety I likely would have given up growing them, but this very productive tree gave me new faith.
In retrospect I would not buy Star of Altai again, of the three females I originally purchased only one now still survives and after 20 years it’s still only chest high.
The male tree is my only one and has served well. Last winter a wind storm took it down partially uprooting the trunk. Before topping it was about 30’ tall. I topped it to remove the sail, and jacked it back upright, propped it in place and covered the rootball and it’s doing fine since.
The other two female varieties cannot compare with Titan which produces about 80% of our fruit. We get about 2 gallons each year. I can detect no difference in fruit taste among my four females.
If you want a very productive tree, I strongly recommend Titan. It now stands about 18-20’ high so I airlayer the top branches to create more of this variety.
Dennis
Kent, wa
9 Likes
30 foot tall seaberry? That’s more of a tree than a bush! Do you have any pictures?
1 Like
I know of an old haskap “bush” that pretty much creates a canopy. I have also seen an overachiever romance series “bush” that is gigantic. Sometimes plants decide to be overachievers.
2 Likes
Yes the advantage is that it showers pollen on every tree below. My Titan the tallest female is only about 15’ after topping. And prevailing winds carry the pollen right over mu females, so I do get good production. Just a pain to keep topping my giant!
Dennis
4 Likes
Chest High sounds good to me. Only two gallons of fruit from three trees much taller than me sounds useless. I think we’ve successfully talked me out of wanting this one. I’ll look at everyone else’s beautiful pictures.
1 Like
30-foot male not surprising; I kept mine under 20 feet via topping, one bush still tilted over one winter, touching the neighbor’s house. The original set of 2 males and 4 females did well spaced at about 3 feet, stayed productive higher up on the bushes.
3 Likes
Best in what regards?!
I have 1 that is best for me.
[WP-20220826-16-43-22-Oblepiha hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB](Sea Buckthorn-Female-Name unknown)
Thrives in my heavy clay soil where seldom something else does. Grows well in other soils too.
Prolific.
Large fruit.
Have got Friesdorfer orange too, but it’s still quite new/under testing, can only say it wakes up much later and probably grows less vigorously than the 1st variety.
I don’t seek for sweetness in a fruit with 10x the Vit C content of lemons, that compound is just (ascorbic) acid. It’s a powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and rare omega 7 fatty acids - as a combination probably better than anything else known.
Mixes great in any juice, jam. [WP-20220822-09-01-27-Pro hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB](Sea Buckthorn Jam)
Yes, I’ve dried fruit too and given to friends, relatives, neighbors. 1 of the best Immune stimulants out there there is. Quite a few people have gotten over cancer with it when nothing else have helped and have remained life-long fans of this miraculous plant.
It fixes N2, as already mentioned.
Produces me biomass.
Having pointed all that out, I don’t mind the thorns. In fact, I planted some for a living fence, as well.
Other ones - for soil improvement on rocky terrain.
What more can you wish for in a plant?
I made vinegars with it too.
(the sceptics could check out the price of that thing where people are aware of its benefits)
Almost forgot - leaves are medicinal, too- can be used in tea, etc.
5 Likes