Cherry Of The Rio Grande (Eugenia involucrata)

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#81

You have E. involucrata. They do not reproduce true to type from seed. For that you will need an airlayer.

#82

Hum, definitely bought it labeled as a Nelita seedling so I guess I will see what I get when/if it holds fruit. Pictures of the fruit it came from sure looked delicious. I bought it over at TFF.

#83

A seedling of Nelita is not Nelita. Sellers offer seedlings with a name attached as if it’s something special. It is not. On the other hand, Cherry Of The Rio Grande is an excellent fruit when allowed to turn dark before harvest. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

#84

You are right. It is a seedling from this tree’s fruit: Eugenia calycina or Eugenia sp. from Miguel.pt - YouTube. It produces very large cherry of the rio grande and he named it after his wife.

#85

Cherry Of The Rio Grande is Eugenia involucrata. It is named after the main river in a region in Brazil where it is found.

Eugenia calycina is sometimes called Savannah Cherry.

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#86

This year the majority of fruit was above the roof line so today I pruned the tree back to about 3’. Afterwards I painted over the wounds in a heavy-handed fashion with Morrison’s tree seal to discourage pests while the plant heals.

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#87

Any idea on the cold hardiness of COTRG? I live in Texas but we do get freezing weather here. Also if I grew it here I would need a make shift green house over it and might be able to keep the lowest temps it might experience to the upper 20’s F (this would not be a fancy greenhouse so this is probably the best I can manage. Related to that is it possible to keep this to 8 feet with pruning and still get fruit? Last question, are two required for pollination? Seems I am in an area of too much heat for regular cherries but too cold for COTRG to have in ground without such significant protection. I would love to have a fruit that tastes like cherries. The COTRG I got to taste years ago was very close to a bing cherry and was very good.

#88

@Darby64
It gets aggressive with age. It is a 15 meter tree in Rio Grande Do Sul. The fruit is borne on prior year whips. It is self-fertile. I wouldn’t trust it below 27°F for more than a few hours. Keeping it to 8 ft is not feasible in the long run.

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