Che fruit

General Fruit Growing
#503

An Old Osage Orange tree in my neighborhood in Washington DC.

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4049 Benning Rd NE - Google Maps

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#504

WOW :flushed: Had no idea, and they are all around here, old, mature hedgerows!

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#505

I’d be surprised if they were sensitive to Juglone. They seem like a cousin of Robinia almost, though they’re not related. Black Locust grows well with walnuts.

Che on che is a bad idea is the consensus. Crazy vigorous suckering with brutal thorns is the word on the streets. Stick to Osage

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#506

I keep wanting to like this fruit, but it’s mildly unpleasant.

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#507

In year 4 (this year) my california dreaming seedless CHE from englands orchard… held about half of its fruit to ripen.

Last year it dropped all… this year dropped about half but ripened the rest.

I was so ready to be disappointed by CHE fruit… from all the talk here… but was pleasantly suprised to find it very nice to eat.

Juicy, sweet, with a nice very ripe watermelon flavor with hints of berry. I ate several this fall and liked them all. My wife agreed… good eats.

They look in pictures like they might be chewy but were not… texture similar to a ripe strawberry and more juicy than i was expecting.

Not really any tartness… but still good flavor, sweetness and quite refreshing.

If you like a good ripe watermelon with some extra berry flavor… you will like CHE… cant speak for all of them… but this one I got from Cliff was suprisingly good this year … in its first year to hold fruit. If it gets any better with maturity… which most fruit trees do… cant wait to have more.

TNHunter

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#508

I reached out to them to ask about che scionwood availability this winter, and it looks like they have a lot more than are listed in their online tree catalog or even the online scionwood list. Here’s what they sent me, which they organized by rows in their orchard (so some duplicates), but I’m curious if anyone has a good opinion of any of these other than the California Dreaming, which I’ll definitely be ordering based on @TNHunter’s review:

First/main che row:

  1. California Dreaming CHE 2022 Maclura tricuspidata.
  2. Oregon Exotic’s CHE 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  3. Hwang Kum #2 2018 Maclura tricuspidata
  4. Adam Barr Che 2020 Maclura tricuspidata
  5. Darren Bender Che 2020 Maclura tricuspidata
  6. Hwang Kum # 3 2020 Maclura tricuspidata
  7. David’s low bush Che & 2 Seedless CHE same tree 2018 Maclura tricuspidata
  8. Oregon Exotic’s CHE 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  9. California Dreaming CHE 2021 Maclura tricuspidata. Chinese Melon Berry
  10. Chul Ri Korean 2020 Maclura tricuspidata
  11. Darrow CHE 2020 Maclura tricuspidata
  12. Turkey’s Best CHE 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  13. Chinese Best Che 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  14. Chinese Best Che 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  15. California Dreaming 2022 Maclura tricuspidata.
  16. Seedless Che 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  17. Chinese Che 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  18. California Dreaming 2022 Maclura tricuspidata.
  19. CT. Seedless 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  20. CT. Seedless 2022 Maclura tricuspidata
  21. California Dreaming 2022 Maclura tricuspidata.
  22. CT. Early ripening Che 2022 Maclura tricuspidata

Another row (first two were mulberries):

  1. Hwang Kum # 3 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  2. Hwang Kum # 2 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  3. Stevenson Che Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  4. Hwang Kum # 4 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  5. Hwang Kum # 1 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  6. Hwang Kum # 1 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  7. Hwang Kum # 4 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  8. Darrow CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  9. Hwang Kum # 3 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  10. Chul Ri Che Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry

And a third row:

  1. Hwang Kum # 2 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  2. Chul Ri Che Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  3. Hwang Kum CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  4. Hwang Kum # 1 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  5. Hwang Kum # 4 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  6. Chul Ri Che Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  7. Hwang Kum # 1 CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
  8. Darrow CHE Maclura tricuspidata 2017 Chinese Melon Berry
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#509

Do you know what cultivar that is? I just want to avoid it based on your negative review.

#510

The Edible Landscaping one. We’re due to get a few hot days this week, so maybe they’ll be better this weekend.

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#511

thought I would add that I asked England’s nursery what their favorite is and their response was:

"Michael

That would Be Hwang Kum # 2 is the best fruit its Large, Tasty and grows like a large bush but best of all it ripens very Early

Thank you

Clifford England"

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#512

I want to add my couple of cents here as I like this fruit very much. But my main experience with it is the Oregon Exotics accession. Yes, I sell the scions and you can call me biased. We consumed close to 20 lb fruits in November. I was looking for other cultivars and got to this thread. Actually, I grow a few other cultivars, but they haven’t fruited yet, I just planted them this past summer. My note on my recent experience with Oregon Exotics is here Gardening : Oregon Exotics Che (Zhe) trees, foliage, fruit production, and processing.

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#513

wow, 20lb is a lot. interested to read more about your experience. i just ordered some cuttings from you, but didn’t take notice of the che. If I were to add them to my order perhaps youd ship them together? if so, let me know how to arrange that. its been said by slme that che are nearly identical, perhaps apomictic? It sounds like you have experience with only this cultivar. Curious to hear your take regardless given your profession and training

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#514

Just follow the link in my post, I described there everything. What is your order number?

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#515

Does your variety require pollination?

#516

Also, i know that it says that you are out of kando scionwood, but what if i said pretty please with a $50 on top?

#517

I don’t know. I never grew it in the isolation

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#518

Send me an email to marta@reallygoodplants.com

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#519

I planted a che this past summer and it looks to be doing well. I’m in zone 5A Vermont, and I decided to try it after seeing the video in upstate NY. (The now-infamous taste-testing video!) It’s annoying to read through this post when one particular poster keeps posting and reposting the same comments over and over and over. We’ve read it; we know you don’t like che. That’s fine. Once was enough. My gosh…enough already. The repetition is driving me nuts.

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#520

Hey @Barb -
Ive got some che that I grafted here spring 2022. I got scionwood on a whim and didn’t have any rootstock, but lucked out when a friend was able to acquire some on short notice through a swap on a FB group. I wound up with 10 rootstocks, so went ahead and grafted 10 che, not that I need that many!

One thing I noticed about @Marta ’s blog post was the ripening time: November. Thats really too late for here, and almost certainly things are going to ripen sooner in the Sacramento Valley. My cultivar is the ‘seedless’ one from Edible Landscaping. Those of you growing che in cool climates, when do they ripen for you?

#521

Here in southern TN… my California Dreaming seedless CHE… ripened fruit from…
Sept 20 thru Oct 25.

At least that is the first and last date of pics of ripe Che fruit on my phone.

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#522

Assuming we’re somewhere around a month behind you, more or less, thats better but definitely pushing it.