The Tropical Fruit Forum
Temperate Fruit & Orchards => Temperate Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: EvilFruit on May 27, 2018, 08:17:49 AM
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Hi,
Just got some fresh Chinese bayberry from the local Asian supermarket. Hopefully the fruits are not irradiated because they taste so damn good and they are almost as big as a golf ball.
Any idea how to germinate these seeds ?.
Thanks
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The cultivar name is "Dong Kui" Chinese Bayberry. The taste is quite unique, i will say it taste like a "melonish" Kiwi ;D (watermelon + kiwi) with a hint of mulberry, very pleasant to eat.
Here is the box I got (not my picture).
(https://s33.postimg.cc/a0sov4svf/Dong-_Kui-_Chinese-_Bayberry.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/a0sov4svf/)
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You piqued my interest. Apparently, it's a dioecious nitrogen-fixing tree, but I don't know if the commercial cultivars require a male pollinator (¿pollenizer?) or not. Tradewinds Fruit states they are difficult and slow to sprout (http://tradewindsfruit.com/myrica-rubra-yumberry-seeds (http://tradewindsfruit.com/myrica-rubra-yumberry-seeds)).
I tried looking for a retailer of named varieties, but there don't seem to be any stateside. I found one in China that ships worldwide... No idea if it's trustworthy, but I'm tempted to place an order. It'd be better if they put the prices in the actual page, though. They have 4 named varieties, with their qualities listed in-page, but there's no mention of a pollenizer. One of them is the Dong Kui you mentioned. Jason Nursery: this is their link (http://www.fruit-trees-nursery.com/myrica_rubra.htm#sthash.go2Trng7.xnU5AEk6.dpbs (http://www.fruit-trees-nursery.com/myrica_rubra.htm#sthash.go2Trng7.xnU5AEk6.dpbs)).
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You piqued my interest. Apparently, it's a dioecious nitrogen-fixing tree, but I don't know if the commercial cultivars require a male pollinator (¿pollenizer?) or not. Tradewinds Fruit states they are difficult and slow to sprout (http://tradewindsfruit.com/myrica-rubra-yumberry-seeds (http://tradewindsfruit.com/myrica-rubra-yumberry-seeds)).
I tried looking for a retailer of named varieties, but there don't seem to be any stateside. I found one in China that ships worldwide... No idea if it's trustworthy, but I'm tempted to place an order. It'd be better if they put the prices in the actual page, though. They have 4 named varieties, with their qualities listed in-page, but there's no mention of a pollenizer. One of them is the Dong Kui you mentioned. Jason Nursery: this is their link (http://www.fruit-trees-nursery.com/myrica_rubra.htm#sthash.go2Trng7.xnU5AEk6.dpbs (http://www.fruit-trees-nursery.com/myrica_rubra.htm#sthash.go2Trng7.xnU5AEk6.dpbs)).
They don't seem to accept Paypal. You could easily get tricked.
Anyway, I gave this fruit to other people that I know. All of them seems to recognize the kiwi flavor and everyone agrees that it is a great fruit to have.
If you want to compare Chinese bayberry to other Chinese fruits like kiwi, lychee and loquat in "must have list". i will say it just right below lychee and kiwi, and above loquat by a little, in my opinion.
Thanks for links
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Someone here in the US has dubbed them "Yumberry". Isn't that cute?
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Search the forum for yangmei or myrica rubra. lots of history here.
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Many of us have been hunting seedlings in the States for years knowing seeds rarely if ever sprout. Hey EvilFruit, I am currently right down the road from you in Abu Dhabi. Where did you find the fruit? Really tempted to try and get some fruit before I leave and bring the fresh seeds back with me. Unfortunately that will still leave me in the beginning of Winter when I can pot them so it might be a wasted effort.
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You mean seedlings of named varieties right? Cause if you're talking any old Yangmei then you can make up for the low germination rate by buying seeds by the pound.
I have a healthy BiQi seedling from Rtried, but likely a male based on leaf symmetry. 7' tall. Tried grafting this year for the first time and was not successful.
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I think at this point most of us here in the States would be happy to get any variety, named or not if it was a seedling. So weird that such a requested and sought after tree is relatively unobtainable. Congrats on your success. You are one of the few people who seem to have gotten lucky on the seed route. Where are you getting that much seed from?
--BTW Is Jason Nursery the place that doesn't take paypal? They have a neat selection of many cool trees but I wonder about the safety of ordering trees from China.
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The seedling I mentioned was giving to me, but I was able separately to germinate seeds from Sheffields. They later died after transplantation. I've found that all my myricas are quite susceptible to something near the ground (seedlings and lower leaves of my larger plant being most effected). My suspicion is phytophthera ramorum.
I notice that sheffields page now mentions the collection locale as in Zhejiang China where there is coincidentally a yumberry juice factory!
https://sheffields.com/seeds/Myrica/rubra (https://sheffields.com/seeds/Myrica/rubra)
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Many of us have been hunting seedlings in the States for years knowing seeds rarely if ever sprout. Hey EvilFruit, I am currently right down the road from you in Abu Dhabi. Where did you find the fruit? Really tempted to try and get some fruit before I leave and bring the fresh seeds back with me. Unfortunately that will still leave me in the beginning of Winter when I can pot them so it might be a wasted effort.
First, try to find Chinese bayberry in some of the Chinese supermarkets in Abu Dhabi. Call them and ask them for red bayberry.
click on the link for Chinese supermarkets in Abu Dhabi
https://goo.gl/XxcyMy
Here is where I got it.
wenzhou supermarket (location)
https://goo.gl/ro2M5G
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The seedling I mentioned was giving to me, but I was able separately to germinate seeds from Sheffields. They later died after transplantation. I've found that all my myricas are quite susceptible to something near the ground (seedlings and lower leaves of my larger plant being most effected). My suspicion is phytophthera ramorum.
I notice that sheffields page now mentions the collection locale as in Zhejiang China where there is coincidentally a yumberry juice factory!
https://sheffields.com/seeds/Myrica/rubra (https://sheffields.com/seeds/Myrica/rubra)
Chinese bayberry enjoy acidic soil and very well drained soil.
Some info I found in the web
Regarding soils, they like slightly acid 4 - 5.5pH. They are growing very well on the red earth soil type at Maroochy Research Station and are virtually leaping out of the ground. I think that is slightly acid, very well drained and very fertile.
It comes from China particularly in Zheijiang Province, grows on low mountains and likes high humidity around fruiting and it is a very attractive tree. It has been grown over there and selected in China for many centuries. The wild types are almost inedible so one has to be very careful when trying to bring a product like that into the marketplace.
This is the sort of climate that it grows in: minimum temperature about -4°C, maximum around 40°C; so it is very tolerant to a wide range of temperatures, but the average is a fairly pleasant 18°C. It likes fairly high rainfall, particularly around fruit development. If this fruit is not matured at high humidity it has a prickly mouth feel, so picking the best areas to grow it in Australia is a little bit tricky.
http://stfc.org.au/myrica-rubra-the-red-bayberry (http://stfc.org.au/myrica-rubra-the-red-bayberry)
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Those conditions sound perfect for Central FL. Definitely going to try and sneak away to some markets when they let us off post. So much to do and see.
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For those who successfully germinated Myrica rubra, what did you do? Do the seeds need stratification?
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For those of you interested in growing any kind of yangmei, I see that Forestfarm nursery (in Oregon) is now selling Myrica Rubra as Japanese Bayberry. First nursery in the US i've seen selling plants as opposed to seeds.
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Guess they sold out pretty quick :(
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Hopefully some forum members got them and can report back.
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I snagged the last of what they had, sorry guys! I ordered 4 (plants not sexed) and noticed they disappeared from the website after ordering.
Thanks for pointing it out shane.
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Gotta have a male and female in there somewhere right? I'm sure they'll grow more after getting cleared out so quickly. Would really like to see this one get established in the US. And named varieties sold.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/Js7htYGr/IMG-0704.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/Js7htYGr)
Manage to get 2 before they sold out - I will hope one is male and other is female - not the greatest odds.
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Haha nice! I'm from Redwood city. Can always trade scion wood depending on which one of us gets a female. I also have a couple of seedlings from a supposedly bisexual M. rubra from hawaii. I found a white tag with an ODate at 4/16/2012, which makes me thinnk they may have been propagated in 2012? Seems crazy, although they are a pretty decent size.
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I will definitely be up for trading scions when we find out which sex we have - I am assuming in about 5 or so years:). Have your seedlings M. rubra from Hawaii flowered yet, seems like they should be close if they are around 6 years old.
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The seedlings i got from Hawaii are a couple months old. The plants from Forest Farm appear to maybe be 6 years old?
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For those who successfully germinated Myrica rubra, what did you do? Do the seeds need stratification?
I germinated them in coir in a Ziploc bag without any scarification and 5 of the 10 seeds sprouted. They are
slow growers and I will try and adjust the acidity as EvilFruit stated.