Hello! Anybody knows if che needs a lot of chill hours? Here we have about 300-400 chill hours and I don’t if It is going to produce fruit (i planted it this year).
Here’s a pretty good summary by Cricket Hill:
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/What-is-a-Che-Fruit-.html?soid=1103110484098&aid=-l-vdmEQ-fY
1 Like
I visited Cliff’s Orchard last year and we try different ones from some trees ( the ones were fruiting at the moment) I don’t recall the names of the ones we tasted but the one we really liked was the Darrow one! Because of that I decided to purchase one of the grafted ones from him which at the moment I thought I was getting a Darrow but somehow I end up buying an Oregon Exotics!
Then I went and get a Darrow one from other place.
Can’t wait for those to two start producing so we can enjoy them!
I thinking on getting a couple osage orange trees and graft Hwang Kum # 2 and maybe one other variety
2 Likes
I didnt know there was a Darrow che. Will have to check into that. What differences did you notice from one variety to the next?
The others didn’t have much flavor or sweetness on them but Darrow it was great!
4 Likes
Thank you so much!!
I took an air layer of my male Golden Che / Cockspur Thorn, and it seems to be striking properly. I don’t think I’ll cut it off just yet, but there’s roots.
I have a second tree of unknown sex, which I hope to layer this week.
5 Likes
Is this cochinchinensis?
Yep! Maclura cochinchinensis.
1 Like
Whats the chill hours needed/reccomended for Che? We get about 100-150 hours, but if you were to do the “subtract hours above 70” it would probably more like 50. I know they need some, but I saw someone say they’ve fruited them in Martin county (southeast of us) and wanted a second opinion.
How do they handle high heat and drought, if anyone has experience with either of those?
Idk about chill but apparently they handle the other two questions really well.
1 Like
Figured I would throw in my two cents on Che fruit. Planted it 4-5 years ago in 8a DFW area of Texas. We have 700-800 chill hours, kind of varies a bit depending on the winter. We also have some brutal hot summers. Past two years fruits formed but dropped before ripening and this year finally got a few ripened fruit (that the birds didn’t get). Heard very different comments on taste. I would put this as a mid fruit. It is lightly sweet with a subtle cantaloupe taste. I think I can detect some hint of watermelon in there and if a bit more ripened it might come out more. Is it bad? No. Is it great? No. Is it worth having (besides the birds issue lol) depends on how much space you have and what your options are. We are constrained in Texas with the high heat and what will survive and I have space, so it is worth it. Would I grow this instead of a peach? No. Do I like it, think it is sweeter than mulberries? Yes. If you have the space, looking for some different things fruit-wise or a hobbyist like me, worth growing. If you want only stuff that is as good as apples, peaches, plums etc., this probably won’t be for you.
7 Likes
@Darby64 I’m in the DFW area as well and totally agree with you! If you have the extra space and want something unusual that very few people would have heard of let alone tasted, this is for you. The fall colors are nice to boot!
Unfortunately I will eventually remove my tree as it is in a bad spot and I have no more good spots left. The neighbors trees are beginning to shade it badly and there are too many squirrel highways leading to it.
I want to try Che, because I have an abundance of hedge trees that were spread by cows (they gorge on the balls). Have tens of hundreds I can graft on of all sizes up to 3’ diameter trunks. We just spray and chainsaw them out en mass every year.
I didn’t know anything ate those fruit, let alone loved them. Dang, cows are something else.
1 Like
They have very runny poo when hedge balls start falling because that’s what they mostly eat then.
1 Like
All that latex… Surprised the poop doesn’t turn into brown paint.
1 Like
LOL Thinking about latex I’ve been wanting to collect a bunch from hedge trees and try making rubber.
1 Like
You might have better luck with dandelions, I know they’ve actually been used to make rubber, never heard of Osage orange being used. Most plants that produce latex don’t have the right kind for making rubber is my understanding.
You could plant Eucommia ulmoides, the hardy rubber tree. It’s pretty fast growing, taxonomically unique, and while a Chinese native, it was widespread in North America up until 10 million years ago. It’s hardy to zone 4, which is crazy, and apparently produces a very flexible rubber. Supposed to be a nice ornamental too.
It’s pretty much a relic species, despite the genius having had a huge distribution in North America, Europe, and Asia until the ice ages. It’s the only one left in its genus and family, and even the order it’s in only has about a dozen species.
2 Likes
Very intriguing tree, another to my long wishlist of trees. Need to try it out too.
2 Likes