I think there’s one at Meade Park in Topeka, I haven’t looked at it in more than 40+ years but I seem to remember it was a nice looking, interesting shade tree.
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Is there much difference in flavor between the different Che cultivars? I’ve also heard mixed comments about whether Darrow and Norris need a pollinator or are self-fruitful, if anyone can affirm this. Thanks!
@jxz7245 … I have a single CHE tree… California Dreaming seedless CHE… got it from Cliff at Englands orchard in spring 2020.
It held first fruits to ripening last fall… and they were very nice fruits. Flavor was most like a nice ripe watermelon… but with some extra raspberry type flavor included. Texture was similar to a ripe strawberry very sweet. We all liked them here.
No seeds… there was no other pollinator.
This spring i grafted some scion from my CHE to osage orange and have it duplicated and growing at our new home site. It is 6 ft and working on scaffold branches now.
Once they start growing good… they really take off.
TNHunter
Pics below from last fall…
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They sure look tasty! I started a che a few years back, and it’s got some little fruits on it…whether or not they’ll make it till maturity is anyone’s guess, but I’m eager to try them. I love all of the fruits mentioned in the descriptions above, so I think I’ll be happy.
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@Barb … in year 3 for my CHE… it set fruit… they turned red but it all dropped.
Last year in year 4… it set fruit… it turned red… and some of it dropped… but many remained and ripened.
I have some fruit on mine now that is turning red. Hope it all ripens this year.
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Honestly, I was shocked when I saw the little berries; I fully expected to have to wait a number of years before seeing anything. I was mowing and did a double-take. I then expected them to drop, because that’s what everyone says they’ll do. They are still rather tiny and green, so I don’t think that they’ll ripen up or amount to anything this year, but your post gives me great hope. Congrats!
It’s such fun to go around and wonder each spring what will have matured enough to fruit. This year I was able to taste mulberries, bush cherries and clove currants for the first. I have a few hardy kiwi and quince that I should be able to have this September. I am very eager for the persimmons, medlars and pawpaws to fruit. I have one peach that I’m waiting on…it’s been six years in the making; knowing that peach trees are short lived, I was getting pretty impatient. My stella cherry was loaded for the first, as well, but then covered with brown rot…very disappointing.
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Trev I’m thinking about buying some osage rootstock to graft che onto. How fast did yours grow. Are they out of deer range yet?
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@Robert … yes once my CHE graft to OO got started good it grew like crazy.
I have tipped it 2-3 times to encourage branching above deer browse.
Did you start your OO from seed or had it growing on your property? I thought about buying some seeds but they are a bit pricier than I want to spend on for rootstock seed.
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I suspect you could get osage orange seed pretty easy here on the forum by just dropping a request in the trading post.
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@Gkight … I got my OO rootstock from another member here.
They were bare root and a little shy on roots.
I got 2 of them… and planted them both in a good sized container with a compost mix.
They were dormant… perhaps a little bud swell when they arrived.
When the OO leafed out good I grafted my CHE scion… whip/tounge.
The w/t graft. After 2 ft of growth I removed the tapeand parafilm.
To my suprise the new CHE growth actually set some fruit.
TNHunter
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I may try to graft a few this spring onto Osage Orange rootstock Im getting.
From what i see maybe these are recommended:
California Dreaming, Norris, Darrow, EL Seedless
Some sources:
This one Hwang Kim variety seems like a loser:
“Bottomline is that we grow four varieties of Che trees. Only one variety, the Hwang Kim #3 has thorns. However, its thorns are so long and ridged that the tree is virtually dangerous. Further, the Hwang Kim #3 grows the most vigorously. Therefore, pruning is required annually and disposing of the many trimmed branches is hazardous.”
-source: Che Tree (Mandarin Melon Berry) - the BEST unknown fruiting tree!
So from what i see, you don’t want a male Che around, to make seeded fruit… as the seeded fruit will drop and Che seedlings are very thorny and spread around. Think i read you need a bulldozer/tractor to get through the thicket of thorny seedlings. So just get the females i listed above and graft onto Osage Orange to have avoid having seeds and avoid very thorny root suckers.
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Where did you find the osage at? I’ve been attempting to do the same, but all the osage rootstock I see is too small to graft on.
Says 1-2ft:
I heard their other rootstock products are graftable (like mulberry maybe quince), so hoping this one is at that price.
I got Osage Orange from another board member last year… and grafted my California Dreaming seedless CHE to it. It worked great and grew very well.
When I post my Trade List (soon hopefully)… I will be offering scions of my California Dreaming seedless CHE. It has lots of nice scion wood on it.
TNHunter
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I have what I strongly suspect is a very old male Osage Orange in my front yard. one of these years I’ll try and do a bunch of airlayers on the lower branches.