I have several varieties now, but for a time my only goumi was sweet scarlet, which happily set fruit as a youngster. My Moniz came from a place that did not give it access from other cultivars and it had fruit already on it. I think they have both solidly demostrated self fertility.
Now I have Red Gem and Carmine which fruited for the first itme this year. All four are in very different parts of my yard, but htat does not mean they could not cross pollinate. Sweet Scarlet was covered in berries this year, and astringency was lower on all of them even when very immature. I think age had more to do with SSâs bounty than cross polination, but having pollination partners, even if of the same cultivar may certainly improve yield.
Definitely the case that the netting would have shaded the two branches. It was a fine mesh insect netting, so Iâd guess more shade than bird netting. I am planning to net more next year so Iâll find out if it was the weather or netting. For me Carmine/tillamook was worth growing and I wouldnât put it down. Just the high production and good fruit size alone make it a worthwhile cultivar. I think it is a good one to have around but suspect that there is room for improvement in goumi cultivars based on how the seedlings were comparing relatively well to it.
I also wish more people would collect data and share like Austrian_FruitNut. This helps everybody tremendously move the field forward in a positive direction. Nonetheless, brix is just one of numerous important variables to objectively measure the quality in fruit.
I only have one Red Gem (so far!!), and it had a full fruit set this spring (for its small size). I do have a neighbor within bee traveling distance (1/4 mi) with two bushes, who claims he only planted one and the other was a seedling from it.
Excited that one of Cliff Englandâs âchorusâ scion grafts took on mine this spring, so hopefully I get to try some next year.
I have some of my neighbors seeds stratifying in the fridge- how long does it take at a minimum? Just looking to have rootstock.
To wrap up this discussion â I totally understand your point, and Iâm sorry if I came across as too provocative. I can see how watching my video might not feel great if youâre a fan of that cultivar.
Here in Europe, everyone seems to be after Carmine and Daiougoumi, as theyâre among the largest fruited Goumi varieties around. Daiougoumi is easier to find here than Carmine, so itâs gained a bit of a following. That said, maybe the word âhypeâ came across too strongly â Iâll take that on me.
One of my goals is to help make Goumis a more mainstream fruit. While many of us enjoy a bit of tartness or even mild astringency, the general public isnât as used to those flavors â most people tend to gravitate toward sweetness. Thatâs why tracking Brix levels makes sense to me. I agree itâs not everything, but itâs still a good indicator of how enjoyable a fruit might be, especially when paired with low astringency.
Beyond that, I also plan to measure lycopene and vitamin C content, since I think these are solid selling points when it comes to encouraging consumers to grow or buy Goumis.
Overall, I believe data can really help people choose the right cultivars, and Iâve noticed thereâs still a real lack of detailed information when it comes to Goumis â thatâs what Iâm hoping to contribute to.
As I already mentioned, I am currently determining the carotenoid content of different Goumi cultivars, with a main focus on lycopene.
Today, I obtained the first extracts for this purpose. The analysis will be carried out using HPLC.
In the photo, you can see the remaining extracts â this explains the different volumes.
The solvent is acetone, and the sample concentration (fresh weight) ranges between 0.056 and 0.064 g/ml.
Some differences in the colors are already visible.
What you see in these pots is my new generation of goumi seedlings.
On the left side, youâll find what is refered to as Elaeagnus multiflora var. gigantea â offspring of DaiĹgoumi, which turns out to be a cultivated form of the Japanese TĹgumi.
TĹgumi were selected from wild goumi during the Edo period in Japan. They typically have no thorns, often whitish flowers, and consistently better fruit compared to wild types.
On the right side (for comparison), you see a crossbreed of Bigaard 2 Ă Carmine.
What I really wanted to share is something Iâve noticed about how they grow.
I pack these 5âliter pots with seeds â about 20 seedlings per pot â and Elaeagnus multiflora actually seems to thrive in this crowded setup during the first year. The competition appears to push faster growth.
By contrast, single seedlings grown alone in pots tend to stay smaller in their first season.
Thatâs it â just a little growerâs note I thought might be worth sharing.
I find it hard to say just yet.
When grown in full sun, they tend to spread in width rather than grow tall.
I have one seedling, AM2, that really shows a dwarfing habitâit stays around 1.80 m in height and rarely spreads more than 1.50 m. However, Iâm not too happy with its fruit quality.
Lara is also very compact in growth.
As for the more common varieties, I canât really point to a true dwarf, but I agree with @Mtncj that SS is very manageable and wonât get much taller than 2â2.5 m if itâs not grown under heavy light competition.
And are you really sure Sweet Scarlet is self-pollinating? One nursery claims that their Sweet Scarlet grows to 3x2m, maintaining a narrow habit, but they describe it as requiring cross-pollination and instead, for growing just a single bush, they more recommend the self-pollinating âSSPâ variety, which is supposed to have a slightly lower growth rate than Sweet Scarlet, but be a bit more spreading and reach the final dimensions of about 2.5x2.5m. It is also supposed to have more sour fruit than Sweet Scarlet, which needs to hang longer (until they wrinkle like raisins) to develop more sweetness. This might be why you didnât recommend this variety in the past, right?
Have you tested carotenoid levels in Elaeagnus umbellata ?
I know the plants are cousins. The Elaeagnus multiflora is the better behaved member of the family.
I enjoy the late fall fruit of Elaeagnus umbellata that comes at a time when the fruits of other berries have passed. They have a unique ability to quickly repair the soil in a neglected area. As you know they increase organic material rapidly and fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. They are drought and heavy rain tolerant. The plant is considered an invasive in most places its grown for these unique attributes it possesses.
What is your source for the info on Togumi Japanese historical Goumi cultivation? I couldnât find anything googleing but Iâd love to do some more reading up on this topic
I was in correspondence with a German garden historian last year. She wrote an article for a professional journal about Elaeagnus multiflora. She asked me some questions, shared a lot of information, and sent me her article a few weeks ago. Thatâs where I got the information from.
If your German is good enough, you can find it here â
But unfortunately, itâs behind a paywall.
As the article is from last months Journal I can not share it here publicly yet.
