Che fruit

[TJ_westPA]

Thanks for the info! That’s encouraging to know that they may ripen late enough to be able to avoid the SWD. My rasps continue ripening through any frosts until we get a hard freeze (mid November last year). I have some osage orange seedlings that I started growing in pots last winter, which I plan to use for grafting che. The fruit drop thing is concerning but it seems like that happens less as they get older.

[JCT]

Last month (Sept), someone brought a large bowl of Che fruit to our local CRFG meeting. The fruit was very tasty with soft seeds that could be eaten or spit out. I’m not sure who brought the fruit, so didn’t have an opportunity to pump them for information.

[tonyOmahaz5]

My Che fruits are about ready to be pick.

Tony

[Primoz]

Same here.
And this year we had a lot of heat and also enough rain. I think I’ll replace my Che with something else.

I hope @Austro_PawPaw share his experience. He has both male and female.

[castanea]

I had males and females for years. I got rid of the males because they served no purpose except that they caused the female fruits to produce seeds.

[castanea]

Nothing here will eat the fruit, the branches or the leaves. We are on the edge of hundreds of acres of pasture that has just about every critter you can think of and they all need food. They bother every other fruit and nut tree I have, but they won’t bother che.

[Paul]

Tony, which variety of persimmon is the flat one at the back?

[tonyOmahaz5]

Tam Kam non astringent Kaki. One of the best in size and sweetness.

[Paul]

Great, thanks. I will try to get it.

[lilke]

Does anyone here have the noriss variety? My friend is eager to find it because, supposedly, fruits earlier. He have some female plant but majority of the fruits drops, or those which dont fall of can’t ripen on time. I read that dropping may be from weather conditions or plant age. We speak for usda hardiness zone 6b. I’m grateful for any info.

[Primoz]

It is listed here:

http://www.kwekerijdezoetewei.be/Fruit_che-fruit.php

[Bambarbia]

I bought Seedless Che from Etsy, grafted on Maclura, which was really weird looking, even with long roots somehow looping few times before putting into plastic bag… and it seems “looping” plant spent at least a year there, with worms…

It spent Winter in a pot, in a basement, graft union was too weak to plant it outside.

https://growingfruit.org/t/che-fruit-maclura-rootstock-cudrania-tricuspidata-does-it-look-good/24653

After reading this forum posts I found myself not willing to waste time or space on it so I’ll plant it in fabrics pot to see what can grow from it and probably I’ll give it away. I am in zone 6b, Toronto, Canada, with roses still flowering in October-November, and super hot Summers.

Question:
Should I plant is with graft union below soil? I think I should. Maclura graft is used only as propagation method, and if tree will make its’ own roots then better chances for better healthy tree. Am I right?

[lordkiwi]

Grafting to Osage Orange prevents suckering so burring the graft union would be rather counter productive.

I have had my che in fabric pots in NJ overwinter outside for over a year and they have not done well. The female is growing but my male i think died from the roots up.

I

[Mikatani]

Che is a really tough plant it’s a surviver…the graft doesn’t look to bad but it looks really recent, like it hasn’t put on much callus growth. Anyway, if you plant it with the graft union below ground it will certainly grow its own roots which results in heavy suckering which is exactly what you want to avoid and why it is grafted onto Maclura. I would keep it in a pot for another season in good potting soil so it can really put on some growth and then plant it outside next season. I must say that zone 6b is a bit tricky, I’m not really sure it is sufficiently hardy in 6b. I also don’t think it will fruit on its own. Che will set seedless fruit on its own in Mediterranean conditions but I don’t think it will work in 6b. I grow Che in zone 8a and I always graft a male branch on the female tree if space is lacking or I advise customers to plant a male tree next to the female tree. The fruit will then be seeded but it always ripens. Without pollination the fruit doesn’t grow bigger than pea size and finally drops off near the end of the season…

[tonyOmahaz5]

I decided to put my two 4 years old Che trees in the ground last Fall and buried the bark grafted unions 1 foot deep in the ground for insurance. They both surprised me and woke up this Spring as they handled the -12 F low for a few nights with hardly any died back.

[Lucky_P]

I had Che here in 6b for years; it fruited on its own without benefit of a partner.
It woke up dead last year… but it had become enveloped and overshadowed, over the years, by an ever-thickening encroaching thicket of callery pear seedlings, courtesy of the local birds.
Have a friend who had Che, for years, in the mountains near Bristol TN/VA… originally had both ‘male’ and ‘female’ trees… male died, and female continued to fruit with no apparent decrease in crop.

Another friend, in LA, said he’d seen thickets of thorny Che, on its own roots, that you’d need a bulldozer to get through.

[Bambarbia]

Zone 7a, Afton Virginia, “Edible Landscaping” nursery, seedless variety, they say it tastes like best figs, video: Che

I also read in many places that Che female will have seedless fruits if there is no male variety around.

Thanks for mentioning suckering, I forgot about it. But it may behave differently at my location.

There are some principles to follow to make plants to survive in colder zones; I tested it with potted roses and potted rare Japanese maples, all survived; and as we know if my zone is 6 I should think that potted plants will be in zone 4.

• Stop fertilizing in August, allow plant to harden wood
• Water very deeply few times before first frosts
• Plant must have deep roots to reach unfrozen layers
• Plant will die not because of frosts but because of super sunny days in January-February when temps are around -23F (-30C). Plant must be in a shade.

For instance, I moved my potted plants in a shade; in a spot adjacent to house (warmer spot); surrounded with other pots. It became zone 7 there. I didn’t wrap my tall Harp Japanese Maple at all, and it is absolutely healthy.

My Che is looking very good now. After watching this video I believe this is the same variety. It is still in a pot, I need to at least ensure graft union fully healed. I will plant it with graft union above soil, I like planting trees with roots at the surface.

P.S. Almost forgot… grafted trees: so many zone 7 trees can grow very well in zone 4 if rootstock is suitable. And Maclura (rootstock) grows in extreme conditions, it became invasive in 13 US states.

[Chills]

** I must say that zone 6b is a bit tricky, I’m not really sure it is sufficiently hardy in 6b. I also don’t think it will fruit on its own.**

I’ve got a 10+ year old Che in my front yard that is 20 feet tall and rarely loses a branch to winter chill that would beg to differ… Oh yeah, mine is the Edible Landscaping seedless variety.

Though I will tell you it has never ripened a single fruit for me in all that time. It forms fruits, they hold well, develop but at around dime-size they drop, still hard and un-ripe. I’m not sure if I’m looking at a pollenation issue, which would be difficult to solve as I have no room for a second plant and at this point, adding a male nearby impossible.

Scott

[lordkiwi]

Your killing me with this one.

Graft on a male branch!!!

[BlueBerry]

Maclura became invasive???

How do you give that designation to a local plant that was here before any of use were here?