Hi Dennis, this is my DK tree. Overdue for a haircut. It is about 20ftx20ft.
I also get to enjoy similar fruit as you @DennisD. Itâs an old tree on a friends property. I thought it to be Green Gage. Perhaps it is St. Julien after all. @murky what made you convinced that yours is a Green Gage?
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After some pruning and in a better season, it made larger fruit. I had another gage on a neighboring peach tree, maybe Althanâs or Cambridge, and if you mixed the fruit together, I wouldnât be able to sort them back out by appearance or taste.
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I took a photo of a couple of 16 Brix berries I rescued before the 90F day. You can see the lack of ripeness on the tip. The difference in ripening is from the 90+ heatwave that hit this Summer. I was gone at a wedding for most of it, and things did not get watered well in my absence. I find the pink middle interesting.
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I picked a few more today that tested at 18 Brix. I am sure that mostly cloudless days, a record number of hot days, and a slight water deficit played a part.
I gave the berries to a friend, and she told me they did not taste like any blackberries she has tried. She says they remind her of purple candy or purple drink.
Beautiful! We just planted one of these has the centerpiece tree in our front yard in the city. So excited to see it grow!
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Perfect!! Itâs already a good-sized tree!
In spring, if you remove half of that centerpiece leader, youâll encourage a vase shape.
Each year will look better and better.
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Comparison of Ponca and Triple Crown blackberries:
Growth habit of Ponca
Growth habit of each is quite different! Poncaâs new growth is a sedate 4â.
vs. Triple Crown
Triple Crownâs new growth is 12â +. Thatâs great for tip rooting new plantsâŚbut can quickly get out of hand if youâre not on top of things!
As far as size and taste:
Ponca on left (a little beat up by bird peck) and Triple Crown on right about same size.
Brix of each similar 12-13.
Noticeable difference is that Ponca has a sweet smooth taste. Triple Crown has an initially sweet taste followed by sharp after tang. Ponca better for fresh eating. Triple Crown better for pie.
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remaily seedless grape. 2/3 lb cluster weight. 3rd leaf, probably has ten clusters this size plus some smaller ones, so maybe 10 pounds on the vine. not the best grapes, not the worst, definitely better than some store-bought grapes Iâve had this year. I think it needs another 1-2 weeks.
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For those of you growing grapes here, whatâs the best method and timing for propagation? Do you need to graft or will rooted cuttings or air layers work ok?
One of my neighbors has a huge grape vine growing along their fence that is loaded with tasty little green seedless grapes every year, and he has no idea what the variety is but told me Iâm welcome to propagate it if want.
youâd want to maybe see if it should be own-rooted or on a rootstock, most table grapes can be own-rooted (theyâre resistant to Phylloxera either from looking at their breeding, not too much euro, or from testing, and also adequate own-rooted vigor) but some should be grafted. as far as propagating, I honestly havenât had any fail unless I let them dry out (from going on vacation and not watering). Iâve done dormant hardwood, semi-hardwood during the growing season, and even softwood under mist bench, all rooted. all you do is stick a 3-bud cutting in promix or soil or probably anything, Iâve been doing two buds in the soil and one out, and keep it moist
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Michael:
I was going to do hardwood cuttings on my Lyden Blue but thought this might be easier i.e., tip rooting into pot. Do you think this will work?
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Anyone here growing Barcelona Hazelnuts? (Barcelona is 60% of Oregonâs crop.)
Iâm interested if you noticed quite a difference in nut size between last yearâs crop and this yearâs. Last year (hot weather!) the nuts were tiny, this year (cool weather!) the nuts are big. The Barcelona on left is from last year - the one on right is this year (granted this yearâs nut has not yet dried and so will shrink somewhat in size.) Trees are not irrigated.
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The individual Triple Crown berry shown above is still shiny with the ânoseâ (opposite from the blossom or stem end) slightly compacted. That is not fully ripe and will have some tart flavor.
It may be that at the pictured ripeness, the Ponca is sweetly smooth compared to the TC.
I have found that TC, even when not fully ripe, has been sweeter and more flavorful than Black Satin, Columbia Star, Obsidian, and Black Diamond.
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I agree that Triple Crown needs to be dull to be really ripe. At that point, itâs about to fall apart and has exchanged the sharp tang for an almost fermented taste âŚbut still good!
Iâm not a grape expert but from my tests I think any rooting method you can think of should work for grapes. Iâd leave the tip above ground for a better growing point (staple part of the stem under, like a stool bed) but thatâs just my intuition
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where can i find this variety? i havent heard much about it.
Thanks!
I got mine locally. ogw has sold it in the past but I can never tell from their website if they still carry it:
I planted it at the beginning of the pandemic without doing much research other than finding it in this OSU pub:
since then Iâve found some more resources that make me think itâs probably inferior to other options, like neptune. this is a great study for the willamette valley:
Iâm not about to rip mine out but maybe someday Iâll graft it if neptune or hope do better for me. I have about 13 kinds growing now, planted this spring
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