Remind me – what rootstock? Is it possible that this is an instance of poor compatibility?
I have to try it for myself on DV rootstock. I find it hard to believe that the Japanese breeders would choose to release a variety that they found bland. And sometimes Izu gets great review for flavor.
Also, the Japanese describe Soshu as “the best so far” for flavor. Izu is the female parent.
p.s. I checked the Japanese release notes. They say that Izu’s fruit quality is generally similar to its parent Fuyu. An early Fuyu would suit me just fine. I know that “early” is not a priority for you in your location. But as a benchmark, I’ve been picking “midseason” IKKJ in late Oct / early Nov, not completely ripe, in order to avoid a hard freeze. Tree-ripe fruit by late Oct would be a big plus. I’ll just have to see how Izu grows for me.
I have 2 Izus - one a Dave Wilson, other is on DV that I grafted myself many years ago.
Both are extremely poor growers. My neighbor down the road had an Izu for about 15 years. By year 3 my Saijo was larger than his much older tree and produced more.
He since cut his tree down.
Izu is not bland. It’s quite good. But not worth growing if you have any other pcna kaki.
My Izu seems to be growing with plenty of vigor. Comparable to the other two on the same tree I think. Maybe because it was grafted to a tree that was already mature.
See Table 7 and accompanying text re fruit quality of Izu grown in various locations / conditions. Very respectable results. But as far as In could see, there is no comment re growth / vigor of the tree.
Ram – Your message wasn’t directed toward me but this is the Izu that I just received from JF&E. It seems quite vigorous. Izu is the tree with the yellow labels and all the new green growth. [There are some DV seedlings breaking bud in the background, as well as a small piece of Black Zadar fig upper right.]
I know that Izu is supposed to end up small (“dwarf”), which is also true of IKKJ, but that’s different, of course. I’ll just have to see what happens.
Maybe I’ll like Cardinal even better, but in the meantime, Izu seems to be a couple of weeks ahead of my other non astringents. We’ve eaten at least 20 or 30 of them while the others are still yellow, not sweet yet, and have a bit of astringency.
This one was great. I don’t like them too much softer than this which is still pretty firm. My Izu gets a pasty texture when its squishy soft. But it doesn’t get stringy like some PCNA.
Izu fruits okay on my tree. I dont think the flavor is better than my others. In fact, I think there are less sugars in there. But I grafted it for season extension. To have another 4 weeks at the front is worth it to me to shift production over a longer, more manageable season…
This is a young Izu tree, purchased spring 2024. I just counted 20 fruits on it, having picked a few over the past week or two.
I’ve read complaints that Izu lacks vigor. My tree is ridiculously productive. I probably should have thinned it, but I wanted to see what it could do.
I’ll report on flavor in a few days.
Edit: As of a week later, ripening has been slow. I’ve eaten a few somewhere between firm and soft. Taste has been bland, even though Izu is reported to be very sweet. Maybe I haven’t let them ripen enough. More likely, I think, I left way too much fruit on a small tree. The Taishu that grew a few feet away with 1/4 the number of fruits on the tree were way more tasty. At any rate, I’ve learned that the variety with produce abundant fruit and ripen them early.
Hi Jrd,
For a potted tree your IZU looks quite vigorous. The fruit set is phenomenal! You probably should thin out about 1/3 of the fruits it sets next year if it repeats its productive vigor to see if that matures the fruit better. This year I experienced a similar situation with a semi dwarf Frost peach tree that set about 15 fruits the first time. I did not thin it but discovered later in the summer that the fruits could not ripen before spoiling on the tree. So next spring I will prune each limb back by 1/3 and thin the fruits set also to attempt to have a better experience.
Maybe I will look for IZU scions to graft onto my DV rootstock.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
Yeah I agree on every count. This is a tree that I bought last year, when it flowered but failed to hold any fruit (not surprising). This year I left the fruit to see whether the tree could hold it all and to see the quality. But as you note, I think sweetness and flavor suffered due to the quantity.
Size-wise, this tree seems comparable to many other similarly young trees. I’m not worried about its vigor. Next year I’ll thin it, encourage it to grow more.
