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 SS’s 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 I’d guess more shade than bird netting. I am planning to net more next year so I’ll find out if it was the weather or netting. For me Carmine/tillamook was worth growing and I wouldn’t 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 England’s ‘chorus’ 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 — I totally understand your point, and I’m sorry if I came across as too provocative. I can see how watching my video might not feel great if you’re a fan of that cultivar.
Here in Europe, everyone seems to be after Carmine and Daiougoumi, as they’re among the largest fruited Goumi varieties around. Daiougoumi is easier to find here than Carmine, so it’s gained a bit of a following. That said, maybe the word “hype” came across too strongly — I’ll 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 isn’t as used to those flavors — most people tend to gravitate toward sweetness. That’s why tracking Brix levels makes sense to me. I agree it’s not everything, but it’s 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 I’ve noticed there’s still a real lack of detailed information when it comes to Goumis — that’s what I’m 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 — 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.
