first fruit from Eugenia spp. "aff Arvensis"

[brian]

Unfortunately these don't store well, the two I set aside are now like squishy blueberries.

If anyone thinks they might get better results with this one, PM me and I'll send you some seeds for cost of shipping.

[Alippincott]

Interestingly, I have grown out 3 of these. 2 of them have wider looking leaves like yours, and one of them has thinner leaves. There might be some enough genetic variability to produce good tasting fruit. I have heard that Eugenias can vary genetically quite a bit in flavor. I'll give mine time before I rip em out.

[Altrexy]

Unfortunately these don't store well, the two I set aside are now like squishy blueberries.

If anyone thinks they might get better results with this one, PM me and I'll send you some seeds for cost of shipping.

Did you try them at that stage? I thought guavaberry was bitter and astringent even when fully black until I started eating them half fermented and squishy off the ground. Absolutely delicious that way. Maybe it loses its bitterness once it’s aged a bit

[brian]

I ate one, it wasn't really different just squishy.  I am holding out another week or two on the last one but I am not sure I'll have the stomach for it when the time comes.  We'll see

[huertasurbanas]

Hey there, thanks for sharing these reports! It was very interesting! Many growers dont seem to be patient... for instance, for Ubajay: it can be the WORST fruit in the world if you have a bad variety or if it is not really ripe! But when it is ok, it is my favourite Eugenia with no doubt!

So here’s the lowdown on these Eugenia aff. arvensis fruits (E. subterminalis in fact): Maybe when grown from seed they can be a bit hit-or-miss flavor-wise because of natural genetic variation. If one fruit ends up tasting off, it might just be that natural variability or maybe it wasn’t fully ripe or the plant needs better soil/sun.

It happens the same with E. involucrata, uniflora and other ones... I even have an uniflora that tasted very bad in the first fruiting season, so I was goint to remove it... but by the next year it was pretty good! So: PATIENCE. Be wise!

A good trick is to let the fruits continue ripening after harvest—try putting them in a paper bag at room temperature to help boost their natural ethylene and let them soften up. That usually brings out the best flavors. Or maybe the tree is needing more sun? Or maybe by the next season will be better, and better (it happens here with Ubajay, Involucrata, Uniflora and others).

Also, my current supplier mentioned that these fruits are actually favored over pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) by him  in terms of taste, so they really shouldn’t be bad overall.

Hope that helps clear things up! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Jaboticaba45]

Hey there, thanks for sharing these reports! It was very interesting! Many growers dont seem to be patient... for instance, for Ubajay: it can be the WORST fruit in the world if you have a bad variety or if it is not really ripe! But when it is ok, it is my favourite Eugenia with no doubt!

So here’s the lowdown on these Eugenia aff. arvensis fruits (E. subterminalis in fact): Maybe when grown from seed they can be a bit hit-or-miss flavor-wise because of natural genetic variation. If one fruit ends up tasting off, it might just be that natural variability or maybe it wasn’t fully ripe or the plant needs better soil/sun.

It happens the same with E. involucrata, uniflora and other ones... I even have an uniflora that tasted very bad in the first fruiting season, so I was goint to remove it... but by the next year it was pretty good! So: PATIENCE. Be wise!

A good trick is to let the fruits continue ripening after harvest—try putting them in a paper bag at room temperature to help boost their natural ethylene and let them soften up. That usually brings out the best flavors. Or maybe the tree is needing more sun? Or maybe by the next season will be better, and better (it happens here with Ubajay, Involucrata, Uniflora and others).

Also, my current supplier mentioned that these fruits are actually favored over pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) by him  in terms of taste, so they really shouldn’t be bad overall.

Hope that helps clear things up! Let me know if you have any other questions.

So this species is eugenia subterminalis?

[gardenGnostic]

So this species is eugenia subterminalis?

Yep, that's the correct ID for it. I asked Marcos for clarification about that in a DM earlier.

[Jaboticaba45]

So this species is eugenia subterminalis?

Yep, that's the correct ID for it. I asked Marcos for clarification about that in a DM earlier.

Ok. I have heard subterminalis is not a good fruit from a couple other connections.
But I will give benefit of the doubt as there may be a superior selection.

[BloomAndSprout]

Does it get full sun? Not enough sun can equal not enough sweetness of fruit

[brian]

Does it get full sun? Not enough sun can equal not enough sweetness of fruit

Right now, it gets as much sun is available in a Pennsylvania greenhouse in winter

It is in a sunny spot in the greenhouse.  For comparison, a eugenia uniflora (pitanga) produced nice sweet fruits at the same time, in more shade.  Atemoya and citrus fruits developing over the winter also came out very sweet

When it first fruited it was outdoors in nearly full sun. 

[daisyguy]

I had the first fruit from ours today and it was bland. Almost no sweetness, no bitterness or astringency, some faintly grassy flavor but for the most part just didn't taste like anything. I live in Florida and it's gotten plenty of hot weather.

[ScottR]

Brian, thanks for report on this variety that sucks that your seedling came out bad but then again when where planting seeds we never know? What we are going to get hope it gets better if you hang on to it!

[W.]

Is there any update on whether Brian's plant got better with age or became compost?

[brian]

I still have it.  Still in the same ~3gal container.  Haven't had any fruit since the last report, or if I did it wasn't memorable.  I just checked it, looks like it has a new crop starting.  I think I will have enough room to keep it in the greenhouse through the winter so I can report back next crop.

EDIT:  I just noticed daisyguy's fruit report above.  Another knock against it. 


# current state

[daisyguy]

I got to try a 2nd fruit that was more ripe. Very mild sweetness and flavor, but not nothing this time. No unpleasant flavors. It tasted mildly reminiscent of honeydew melon or longan?

[brian]

I just got another large crop from this tree, and it is still the same poor taste.  I hacked it down to a small bonsai today. 

[K-Rimes]

Glad I didn't bother with this one.

[NateTheGreat]

Scammers and people making false claims ruined the Eugenia scene.

[Alippincott]

I should be getting a ripe fruit here in CA for the first time. Not very high hopes

[SDPirate]

Not very optimistic but at least it is a relatively easy tree to handle.  The seedlings I grew out from Brian's batch are pretty tough, I already have some handling direct sun for part of the day.

[SplorKeLZ]

someone should try to bring in a scion from Marcos or someone else who has a "good one" to see if its really worth it lmao

[Alippincott]

Finally got a ripe one. Sweetness close to an off season grocery store apple. The flavor is perfumey I guess, slightly grassy? Skin is slightly bitter. Honestly tasted like a sub par apple all in all. I could see it maybe getting better.

[brian]

Interesting!   Yours is a bright red color, while mine got deep purple.  Mine did not taste anything like apple. 

Maybe they are highly variable and I got bad luck.

[Alippincott]

Interesting!   Yours is a bright red color, while mine got deep purple.  Mine did not taste anything like apple. 

Maybe they are highly variable and I got bad luck.

Ya, it is very interesting.
I could just be bad at describing flavors, but I would definitely not call it flavorless.

I just looked back at huertasurbanas post and he also mentions "I would add apple tones and sweet pumpkin as well" which I could agree with.

[Alippincott]

I also saw this translated post on Facebook, "Eugenia subterminalis. Looks like a pitanga tree but tastes similar to apple peel, even the smothered leaves smell like apples."