I usually plant the seeds by placing them directly from my mouth into the soil. The pots stay outside in a spot where they’re unlikely to dry out. Around the last week of March the following year, I bring them indoors, and that’s when they start to germinate. I keep them inside until the risk of late frosts has passed—then they’re ready to go back outside.
4 Likes
Yeah, I the goumi seeds I germinated didn’t require warm stratification.
If planted immediately after harvest, the goumi seeds get warm stratification naturally since the fruit ripen in summer. They will have months of warm & moist (cause you’ll keep them watered) before winter comes to give them cold stratification. This has worked very well for me. Only problem is that when they do germinate, something likes to mow them down so now I have to also give them protection.
2 Likes
I had great success this year with E. umbellata germination. I fermented the fruits for a couple of days after harvest and then washed off any remaining fruit pulp, and then put them into pots and left them outside during the winter. I had almost 100% germination rate like this. But from my experience, seeds from fruit that ripen in fall are much easier than summer ripening fruit, because those often need that warm phase and are much more prone to drying out. Cornelian cherries for example are still giving me a headache. I hope Goumi will germinate just as easily as Autumn olive.
7 Likes
Hey there, grüess di. I read with great interest your thread here. I’m Swiss. So im quite close to you. I saw the Variety Daigoumi the first time on hortensis. But he isn’t yet selling yet. I wonder if you offer rooted branches from your specimen? And if you can send them.
I’m trusted with E. umbellata since 5 years and i quite enjoy their many advantages. Since this year i’ve planted cuttings from E. multiflora: cherrific, sweet scarlet and Dr. Szczepan.
Best greeting
4 Likes
Hey there grapevine, may I ask your where you’re from? Im Swiss and i’d love to get my fingers on the Daigoumi. Maybe theres any chance you could send me rooted plants? thanks for an answer.
1 Like
I’m in the US so it would not be possible to send rooted plants.
My two goumies… red gem and sweet scarlet were purchased from one green world spring 2020.
They still have the OGW tags on them.
My red gem is a little larger than my sweet scarlet.
Of course they could have had them tagged wrong.
When we sell our current home… the red gem and sweet scarlet will go with the home.
That is why I did the air layer of Carmine… to plant in my new orchard. That air layer has bloomed and set fruit now.
I added 3 grafts of raintree select to my RG and SS this spring… and all 3 are looking good… two have bloomed on the growth on the gtafts and are setting fruit.
I cant tell much difference in the taste of RG SS or C. They all taste very similar to me. I would much rather eat the larger berries…
When I plant that Carmine air layer in my new orchard… the next spring I will graft some Raintree select to it for pollination. Those are both larger berries.
If I have those two larger berries… I will not miss RG and SS.
TNHunter
7 Likes
I was able to graft quite a few grafts of assorted goumi onto my autumn olives this spring. Several show a lot of growth; most show me a little bit of green. A couple seem to be trying to prove themselves with fruits, which I will likely pinch next time I walk by them without the rainfall.
I also did some grafts of the same things onto two of my goumi bushes. Although they were done a bit later, it looks like the grafts on the autumn olives may be showing more potential for success, although the goumi bushes themselves have filled out a lot more since the grafts than the A.Os did.
Sherwood and Chorus show significant growth compared to the others, but not in all grafts.
One thing I did on some of the grafts that I did not do on all that seems to have had a positive impact: I have a bag of those really fat plastic straws. I can usually get two or three pieces per straw. I cut them down the middle and place them over the grafted area. I write the name of the scion on the straw in addition to the flag. They were springy enough to not blow off and offer a significant level of shade to the graft zone, but not 100%, and some airflow, but again not 100%.
My current first flags are just orange masking/painters tape with “X scion on Y root on Z date” so prone to fade or rip relatively quickly. They usually last a year, and if the graft does not take, it comes right off with the failed scion. I usually put this outside the rubber band to slow it’s decomposition. It wraps around nicely and closes inside the split straw, so I manage to prolongue the life of all graft casings at one time, as well as a bit of tension on the straw from inside from the coil of painters tape. Bonus was to be able to color code the types of graft as the package I have has four or five colors of straws.
3 Likes
Goumi Seedlings 2025
Here is a video about my four most promissing seedlings so far.
We are doing an evaluation of those with two Austrian Universities.
More information will follow.
22 Likes
It is cool to see your evaluations and I look forward to your future videos!
1 Like
Do the seeds need cold stratification?
Yes! Super important. And they need to stay moist. Drying out kills the seed.
How do you manage them not drying out for 9 months? Do you put them into a pot and just keep watering it?
I found it to be pretty easy. I just sow approximately 20 seeds into 5l pots and leave them in a shaded area of my garden. For example under some bushes. I will take them indoor about march/April to start germination. After latefrost season is over I ll put the pots outside again.
1 Like
Do you have to water those pots regularly or do you leave it mainly to rain fall to keep them moist enough?
1 Like
In my area rain will do it.
2 Likes
Here you can see my seedling fruits compared to some of my Ukrainian cultivars
22 Likes
Nice! How do they compare to Daiougoumi though, and what is the breeding goal?