Author Topic: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews  (Read 1376 times)

Plantinyum

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Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« on: July 27, 2021, 04:29:49 PM »
Found this plant available and am wondering if I should order one. How do the fruits taste?? Any other general reviews on the plant itself are welcome !!

BayAreaMicroClimate

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2021, 06:54:55 PM »
Pleasant taste to me. Sweet mild acid when ripe. 1 tree my dog won’t dare mess with! Can be fruited in a pot but it grows in the ground just fine in zone 9b

CarolinaZone

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2021, 07:04:18 PM »
I have 3 all at least 3 yrs old and none have ever fruited. The flavor is very fruity in the front end but has a very vegetable taste at the end that reminds me of beets or maybe spinach. It's that minerally "dirt" taste that vegetables sometimes have. I love them but these are the "risks".

shaneatwell

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2021, 09:17:36 PM »
I have 3 all at least 3 yrs old and none have ever fruited. The flavor is very fruity in the front end but has a very vegetable taste at the end that reminds me of beets or maybe spinach. It's that minerally "dirt" taste that vegetables sometimes have. I love them but these are the "risks".

This is a good description. Plant is carefree here. Can get a bit leggy. Supposedly you need male and female, but you will get some fruit set without a male. Hard to find named varieties. Easy to air layer. I got an airlayered plant and it still took 4 years to fruit.
Shane

Plantinyum

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2021, 04:06:37 AM »
Thanks for the reviews !!

Plantinyum

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2023, 06:21:06 AM »
So i bought two plants from the seller. I was chatting with her for like a year, waiting for the plants she had to bloom, so that she could send me a male and a female, ended up bying the last two ones. They are seedlings, 3 years old she said.
In each pot there are 2 plants, i asked her if they sprouted from 1 or 2 seeds, she said that both of the two pots had 1 seed that sprouted 2 plants each.
So is dovialis caffra poliembrionic? Anyone sprouted seeds before amd got 2+ sprouts from each seed?
Does that actually mean that i now have 1 clone of the fruiting plant and 1 zygotic plant each pot?
So now i basically should have 2 female plants, and hopefully at least one of the other 2 ends up being a male to pollinate them, that is if they are truly poliembrionic.
Please share your 2 cents on this.
Here are pics of the plants.





Jal

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2023, 09:18:21 AM »
I have 10 seed plants that I sowed, none of which originated more than one branch, I don't think they are polyembryonic, at least in my case.

Plantinyum

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2023, 11:06:45 AM »
I have 10 seed plants that I sowed, none of which originated more than one branch, I don't think they are polyembryonic, at least in my case.
Thanks for the feedback, strange...the plants do grow very close together. I wonder could the case be similar to citrus, where some varieties are poli, others not....
I couldn't find any information about this on the web, there is just a tad basic information about dovialis seeds, germination conditions etc...
She/the seller may be joking with me,  she isn't a communicative tipe so may just have wanted to get rid of me asking questions....

Jack, Nipomo

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2023, 12:35:08 PM »
I have a male and female Kei apple, on opposite sides of property.  Plenty fruit produced, in my opinion one of the most sour fruits I have encounted.  Good flavor, have not tried with sugar.  Giant thorns, use them to clean sprayer orifices.  Stepped on one once, went through shoe to foot, good 2-3 inch thorns.  Read the plant is used to surround villages to keep large creatures out. I stay away from it (female).

nullzero

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2023, 12:44:16 PM »
Kei Apple has a good deal of flavor variation between strains. A good sweet with some sour selection is worth getting a clone of.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

elouicious

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2023, 01:42:30 PM »
I tried them at San Diego Botanic Garden-

Amazingly sour, would make a good lemonade style drink

K-Rimes

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2023, 01:45:25 PM »
All the ones I've tried have a real harsh dirt / vegetable / beets flavor that makes them not too palatable - but I've only tried a few of them and no named or selected varieties. I have 9 seedlings from a selected variety and will plant them out soon.

Plantinyum

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2023, 01:59:56 PM »
I hope at least one of mine ends up being a sweet fruited female, haha just how that sounds  ;D
I am puzzled since all the pics of key apple seedlings picture a single stem seedlings, i am begginning to think that mine are just 2 plants planted/sprouted very close together. I also think that if the species was to be poliembrionik, this would had been pointed out in the articles that i red about the species. Anyway i was thinking of transplanting them into individual pots, but i may just continue to grow them as pairs and just uppot them as needed, they will be grown in pots, if i dont end up planting one of them in the greenhouse, but that would be after i taste the fruit.

Raulglezruiz

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2023, 02:13:24 PM »
So i bought two plants from the seller. I was chatting with her for like a year, waiting for the plants she had to bloom, so that she could send me a male and a female, ended up bying the last two ones. They are seedlings, 3 years old she said.
In each pot there are 2 plants, i asked her if they sprouted from 1 or 2 seeds, she said that both of the two pots had 1 seed that sprouted 2 plants each.
So is dovialis caffra poliembrionic? Anyone sprouted seeds before amd got 2+ sprouts from each seed?
Does that actually mean that i now have 1 clone of the fruiting plant and 1 zygotic plant each pot?
So now i basically should have 2 female plants, and hopefully at least one of the other 2 ends up being a male to pollinate them, that is if they are truly poliembrionic.
Please share your 2 cents on this.
Here are pics of the plants.




sometimes they push two broths or suckers from the same plant
El verde es vida!

Jaboticaba45

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Re: Dovyalis caffra/ kei apple taste reviews
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2023, 09:02:15 PM »
Anyone have one of those hybrids from Adam?
How do those taste?