Che fruit

Potted Che are full of fruitlets this year.

Che dormant cuttings in potting mix for 2 weeks and hopefully they had some roots.

Potted Great Wall astringent Kaki persimmon are also full of flowers.

Tony

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Has anyone here tried any other Macluras? I tried M. tinctoria seeds from Germany a few years back, but they never sprouted. I ordered M. cochinchinensis seeds from FairDinkumSeeds and got two to sprout from the package. They seem like poor sprouters in general, but the two that did turned into very vigorous plants indeed. They’d be thriving trees (¿large shrubs?) by now if I didn’t keep them squeezed into tiny pots. I’m kinda bummed by the poor germination 'cause they’re dioecious, so I’ve no way of knowing if I have both until they flower. If I can at least get a female, I suspect it might be able to bear seedless fruit. They’re very thorny, but since mine are small I’ve taken to cutting off the thorns from the new growth with scissors (not sure if that’s healthy for them, though). The website describes them as tasting like a sweet peach, with soft kiwi-like seeds and a mulberry-like texture. Perhaps they’ll taste better than Che? I wouldn’t mind crossbreeding them.

M. pomifera is also edible, but I think it’s no good raw unless it’s been frozen and thawed several times. I’d try it anyway.

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I did not know any of the other types where edible. Now I have to try growing it. I suspect like Che the flavor of each tree is variable, and self fruitful rare.

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In the US the of flavor of che fruit is almost identical from tree to tree. In the US apparently all female trees are self fruitful.

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Given I can only find 3 named cultivars I suppose thats true. At the same time outside these cultivars Che is widely reported to require a male. Even self fruitfull che are likely to drop fruit with out a male for several years.

All young che trees will tend to drop fruit. Larger trees will not. It has nothing to do with having a male tree nearby. I don’t know anyone who has reported that female che trees need males to produce fruit except for nurseries that try to sell male trees. I’ve grown every different type of female che tree I can find in the US, maybe 5 or 6 different varieties, and every single one will produce fruit without a male. Some male trees will even produce fruit.
Here’s my female che tree that has produced fruit regularly since it was a few years old without having any males nearby -


Here’s fruit produced with no male.

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Castanea,

What do you think of the Che fruit taste wise? I bark grafted my two tree very low onto the Osage orange root stock so I can plant them next Spring way deep beyond the graft unions just in case the 19F temp may kill the top.

Tony

The taste is like watermelon juice left out in the sun for a few days. It’s mildly sweet with no acid and no complexity. Most people think the taste is OK but boring. The bigger problem is the texture and the way the fruit is constructed. It’s hard to explain. You’'ll understand when you eat one.

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If my Portuguese is correct, this link states that Maclura tinctoria has yellowish-green fruits when mature, very sweet with an agreeably strong flavor. Can be consumed raw or in confections.

Judging by what I’ve read of M. tinctoria and M. cochinchinensis, they may have superior flavor than Che. I haven’t tried Che, I hope I like it better than the insipid flavor descriptions mentioned here, but even if I don’t, it might be worth it to improve upon it with crossbreeding. The other two may have superior flavor, but Che definitely has bigger fruits (though Osage Orange has it beat in the size department).

I’ve also heard that Che tends to be very insipid when young, and becomes tastier with further ripening. Perhaps it’s one of those fruits where they have to be at a particular ripening stage to enjoy fully? I know that’s the case with Alpine Strawberries (if they’re not perfumed, they’re not ready even if red ripe), and Pepino Melons are said to work like that too (Solanum muricatum; bland melon if ripe, allegedly sweet tropical flavor if yellow/underripe).

Mine is at least a decade old, easily 15 feet tall and 3+ inches in diameter above the graft.

It produces little fruit every year, and has for at least 5 years, and they all fall off with 1-2 days each fall, unripe and barely larger than sweet peas.

I’m strongly suspecting pollination is necessary. Plant was originally from Edibke Landscaping…

Scott

i have grown the Edible Landscaping female. It produces seedless fruit without pollination. Edible Landscaping even advertises it as having seedless fruit WITHOUT pollination (see link below). At least dozens of people have grown that tree and it has produced seedless fruit for them without pollination. I have grown every female che I could find in the US. They all produce fruit without pollination. Female che trees drop fruit when they’re too young, too weak, don’t have adequate sunlight, or have some kind of nutritional problem. Typically the problem with larger trees is that they lack adequate sunlight. Good luck figuring out what your problem is because it’s not lack of pollination.
http://ediblelandscaping.com/careguide/SeedlessCheFruit/

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Mine is from Edible Landscaping and only dropped fruit the first year. How much sun does yours get? Mine gets full sun from sunup until sundown which I think helps.

mine is located on the south side of my house and is likely just shaded after 6-7pm. Otherwise it is in full sun

I feared at one time that its problem was lack of sufficient irrigation, but the soil there is wonderfully moisture retentive without ever being too wet (10 years of leaf mould and broken down mulch.

Scott

My two potted Che trees are setting good this year.

Tony

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setting has been the easy part, keeping it to maturity has been the hard part.

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I had -23f this past winter as a low, my female che on the south slope had some topkill and my male on a north slope still looked better. In the past I had lost I think 3 females on the north slope that I had planted near the male. So the male has been hardier even in a colder microclimate.

Why don’t you bark graft several female scions to your large male tree. Hopefully this will heip with the production. They are fairly easy to graft with take.

Tony

They’ll just die, not hardy enough, he’s a loner.:smile:

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Finally, my che trees fruited. It tasted alright. Sweet with very mild flavor.

Tony

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You just don’t sound real excited about it.
I have started some Osage orange to graft Che to next year.
Was thinking a short row of them,
Having second thoughts, about taking up space for some thing that is just "alright "
Someone give a good report here or I may plant the Osage orange as is in the back wood lot.
How old is that tree tony ?