Author Topic: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry  (Read 15999 times)

Solko

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #50 on: May 24, 2021, 02:42:24 PM »
Here are some pictures of my best pitanga, the one I mentioned above here, seeds came from Brazil. It is small but super productive and has no turpentine flavor










And these next pictures are of the 'orange' pitanga that turns out to just turn red as well. It is bigger and more meaty, but it has the turpentine flavor. It has a very different tree habit and is not so productive. It also flowers and fruits a month later than the other one. Not my favorite and very different from the other one.








Next month I'll post some pictures of the plants that fruit for the first time this year, if they are any good.


FlyingFoxFruits

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #51 on: May 24, 2021, 02:52:17 PM »
the one i have with double sized flowers is really good, it has an unusual texture and taste, and fruits are huge...

reminds me of pitangatuba and pitanga mixed...firm fleshed fruits...
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roblack

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #52 on: May 24, 2021, 04:44:18 PM »
Someone please send me a decent Surinam cherry!

I have a hundred+ of them bordering parts of the yard. They all suck.

Barbados cherries are the bomb!!

Yook

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #53 on: May 24, 2021, 05:16:39 PM »
I’ve had trouble finding online listings for named varieties or seedlings of those varieties as well. They grow true from seed fairly reliably right? Anyone have tips on sourcing these high quality cultivars?

simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #54 on: May 24, 2021, 06:00:30 PM »
K-Rimes, thanks so much for all the information! I am really starting to love this fruit. It sucks some of the seedlings aren’t bearing fruit for you or they’re shy bearers.

Simon

K-Rimes

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #55 on: May 24, 2021, 06:14:42 PM »
Someone please send me a decent Surinam cherry!

I have a hundred+ of them bordering parts of the yard. They all suck.

Barbados cherries are the bomb!!

Wow maybe I haven't had the right acerola or something cause I think they're kinda shwag compared to a great pitanga. I look forward to trying more off my tree this year. One thing for sure is that acerola REALLY improve after sitting overnight post picking. Pitanga don't make it further than my elbow bends when they're ripe - they get eaten immediately.

K-Rimes

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #56 on: May 24, 2021, 06:19:19 PM »
K-Rimes, thanks so much for all the information! I am really starting to love this fruit. It sucks some of the seedlings aren’t bearing fruit for you or they’re shy bearers.

Simon

I totally switched up my fertilizer regimen this year going from chicken manure and MiracleGro from Costco (which is the standard 12-4-8) to using Schultz Slow Release 12-24-12 without chicken manure or anything else. My thoughts are I just totally had the nutrition wrong last year and that's why I got no fruit. Both of those that don't produce are in 30 gallon fabric pots which I kind of hmmm and hah about. Not sure they're really all that. The soil is also muck in both of the biggest ones cause of worms. Kinda want to leave them in it for extra stress...

It also seems they REALLY turn up fruit production when they get rootbound. My most productive vermillion was brutally rootbound last year in one of those plastic fake half barrels from HD and gave us lots of fruit. I up potted to 25g so it's going to take a while.

simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #57 on: May 24, 2021, 06:20:04 PM »
I'mma have to flex on this thread later...

nice pics ya'll, beautiful fruits....

Flex away Adam, I can’t wait to see what you got!

On a side note, I planted some seeds and discovered that one of my seedlings produces huge leaves. I measured the largest leaf and it was 3 inches long and 2 inches wide.

I don’t know if there is a correlation between leaf size and fruit size but if there is, this seedling may produce some huge fruit in the future.

I believe this seedling is from JM Thick leaf but I’m not positive because I didn’t mark it at the time of planting. Here are a few pictures of my “ Giant Leaf”





Simon

K-Rimes

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #58 on: May 24, 2021, 07:53:12 PM »
My black star made nominally normal leaves last year and now they are XXXL. I think it depends on fertilizers or something.

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #59 on: May 24, 2021, 08:44:09 PM »
My black star made nominally normal leaves last year and now they are XXXL. I think it depends on fertilizers or something.

Combination of fertilizers and sun exposure, I have it in my spreadsheet but I can't remember where I read it - generally more sun results in smaller foliage but possibly more fruits

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mYXkqn80a0i-uXdy_kPy95PpGZJl91ofv88C0ar9Z5E/

Here is a leaf from a random blackstar seedling, my bonsai which gets less sun also had similar behaviors.. leaves as large as the one Simon posted.





simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #60 on: May 24, 2021, 11:02:54 PM »
Thanks for the info! I’ve been giving my Surinam Cherry trees all the same fertilizer but this one is just bigger for some reason. Looks like it’s pretty normal to have large leaves though from SoCal balconies pictures.

These fruit are so fragile, I can’t imagine them ever being sold in the supermarkets. I love walking by the trees and seeing the dark fruit and testing them for ripeness by palming them.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #61 on: June 02, 2021, 08:58:05 PM »
I decided to take a Brix reading from some of the smaller JM Thick Leaf fruit and I got a reading of 17.0% Brix. I will stop by Leo Manuel’s place soon and test some fruit from his mature, in ground Vermillion.





Simon
« Last Edit: June 02, 2021, 11:46:28 PM by simon_grow »

shaneatwell

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #62 on: June 02, 2021, 09:19:18 PM »
I had some great ones this morning. 3 different bushes. One had a mongo flavor. Two more like tangerine.
Shane

simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #63 on: June 02, 2021, 11:45:17 PM »
Shane, please post some pictures and some more details when you get a chance. I’m hoping to collect some good information on this thread so that members can determine which varieties may suit them best. Mango and Tangerine flavor sounds awesome!

Simon

shaneatwell

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #64 on: June 03, 2021, 01:35:57 PM »



This is the one that reminded me of mango. Grafted from Gary, an acquaintance in a horticulture class. He has a tree at his place in ocean beach but no idea where it came from. The other two were seedlings from buddy roo and a late winter sparse bloom. very few fruit. I think the quality might have more to do with the season or some other factors. None of these was exceptional last year. Although the fruit Gary shared with me from his tree were. I’ll let you know if the Gary continues to impress.
Shane

behlgarden

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #65 on: June 03, 2021, 01:50:02 PM »
are there seedlings that never fruit? I got a plant some 9 years ago, didn't grow much and no fruits.

simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #66 on: June 03, 2021, 04:45:20 PM »
Thanks for the picture and the information Shane! Hopefully the fruit will get even better as the tree matures or perhaps with more fertilizer.

Behl, there were other reports of seedlings not fruiting. It could be genetic, lack of light or lack of fertilizer. I wonder if girdling would help.

Simon

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #67 on: June 03, 2021, 05:00:02 PM »
I have a grafted red Surinam Cherry.  It's called "Ben's", as in it originally came from Ben Poirier.  I think it was one of his seedlings.  It's the sweetest fruit I have tasted so far.  What is very interesting about this fruit is that it does not have the deep lobes that you normally associate with Surinam Cherries.  I will post a pic later.

I've tried some of the black varieties like "Black Star" and expected them to be sweeter than mine, but have been disappointed.   I just added another Surinam Cherry to my collection.  It's a "Zill's Black" seedling that came out red.  The fruit is huge and it too is sweet. 

I talked to a long time grower of Surinam Cherries in California, and he told me that the same tree from year to year can taste different.  I haven't experienced that with mine, but would like to hear if others have experienced this.


« Last Edit: June 03, 2021, 05:08:37 PM by joe_OC »

nexxogen

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #68 on: June 04, 2021, 12:47:38 AM »
Judging buy the leaves and the fact that the fruit isn't lobed, I'd say you've got a Eugenia Pitanga (Pitanga-peba, Creeping Pitanga) rather than Eugenia Uniflora which would be your regular Pitanga. Does this one have any of that diesel flavor that Pitangas are notorious for?

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #69 on: June 04, 2021, 08:48:43 AM »
Judging buy the leaves and the fact that the fruit isn't lobed, I'd say you've got a Eugenia Pitanga (Pitanga-peba, Creeping Pitanga) rather than Eugenia Uniflora which would be your regular Pitanga. Does this one have any of that diesel flavor that Pitangas are notorious for?

Thank you!  You are right.  No, it does not have any diesel taste to it.  I’ve always thought it was just another Surinam Cherry.  As I said, it’s the sweetest one I’ve tasted.  Until today, I didn’t know about Pitanga-peba.

joe_OC

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #70 on: June 04, 2021, 09:39:01 AM »
Found a good write up on Pitanga -pebo:

https://www.colecionandofrutas.com.br/eugeniapitanga.htm

“ Uses: Fruits from September to November. The fruits are tastier and juicier than the Arboreal Pitanga ( Eugenia uniflora ) and can be consumed fresh in the form of juices, jellies and ice creams .”

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #71 on: June 04, 2021, 09:59:36 AM »
Judging buy the leaves and the fact that the fruit isn't lobed, I'd say you've got a Eugenia Pitanga (Pitanga-peba, Creeping Pitanga) rather than Eugenia Uniflora which would be your regular Pitanga. Does this one have any of that diesel flavor that Pitangas are notorious for?

Not all Pitanga aka uniflora have the diesel/petrol component.   That is the purpose for the choosen selections, to grow/propagate ones that lack the usual undesirable flavor.
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simon_grow

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #72 on: June 04, 2021, 10:42:51 AM »
I have a grafted red Surinam Cherry.  It's called "Ben's", as in it originally came from Ben Poirier.  I think it was one of his seedlings.  It's the sweetest fruit I have tasted so far.  What is very interesting about this fruit is that it does not have the deep lobes that you normally associate with Surinam Cherries.  I will post a pic later.

I've tried some of the black varieties like "Black Star" and expected them to be sweeter than mine, but have been disappointed.   I just added another Surinam Cherry to my collection.  It's a "Zill's Black" seedling that came out red.  The fruit is huge and it too is sweet. 

I talked to a long time grower of Surinam Cherries in California, and he told me that the same tree from year to year can taste different.  I haven't experienced that with mine, but would like to hear if others have experienced this.



Joe, that is awesome! I would love to get a weight, measurement and Brix reading on this selection from Ben.

Nexxogen, thanks for the information! I had no idea there was a different species or subspecies of Surinam Cherry. I see that the leaves of that smooth skin variety is more pointy and elongated.

If I get a hold of that smooth skin variety, I would love to cross it with the JM Thick leaf and the Vermillion.

Simon

K-Rimes

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #73 on: June 04, 2021, 12:19:50 PM »
are there seedlings that never fruit? I got a plant some 9 years ago, didn't grow much and no fruits.

Yes, there certainly are. I'm having trouble getting my 10' plants to reliably fruit. Damn near ready to give up on them, or at least, chop them down to a reasonable height and see what happens. Not much to lose at this juncture... I did graft a few of branches but, still, not really feeling top working 50-60 branches to make the rest of the tree produce.

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Re: Hunt for the best Surinam Cherry
« Reply #74 on: June 04, 2021, 03:01:52 PM »
I have a grafted red Surinam Cherry.  It's called "Ben's", as in it originally came from Ben Poirier.  I think it was one of his seedlings.  It's the sweetest fruit I have tasted so far.  What is very interesting about this fruit is that it does not have the deep lobes that you normally associate with Surinam Cherries.  I will post a pic later.

I've tried some of the black varieties like "Black Star" and expected them to be sweeter than mine, but have been disappointed.   I just added another Surinam Cherry to my collection.  It's a "Zill's Black" seedling that came out red.  The fruit is huge and it too is sweet. 

I talked to a long time grower of Surinam Cherries in California, and he told me that the same tree from year to year can taste different.  I haven't experienced that with mine, but would like to hear if others have experienced this.



Joe, that is awesome! I would love to get a weight, measurement and Brix reading on this selection from Ben.

Nexxogen, thanks for the information! I had no idea there was a different species or subspecies of Surinam Cherry. I see that the leaves of that smooth skin variety is more pointy and elongated.

If I get a hold of that smooth skin variety, I would love to cross it with the JM Thick leaf and the Vermillion.

Simon

@joe_oc - I concur that taste can vary year-to-year, I know someone in OC who has been growing rare fruits for 30+ years and he has echo'd these remarks

The smooth/lacking ribs is NOT indicative of it being a E. Pitanga, E. Uniflora var. Dasyblasta also is generally ribless.. Ben himself on his site has stated these as E. Uniflora, I will however note that the leaves do look more like the E. Pitanga leaves.. but leaves can look different based on nutrition.

I believe this one you have is either of these:
"Eugenia uniflora - Surinam cherry - seedlings and grafted plants available. Grafted plants are "Lolita" and a couple of our own selections (one is "Sweet Orange" fruit almost 1.5",bright orange and very sweet, the other "Black Beauty" fruit almost 1.5" dark colored with an intense flavor)"

- http://encantofarms.com/poirier.html

btw, Ben has said he no longer has any of these grafted ones for sale at this time last I checked