Author Topic: Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?  (Read 442 times)

Reedo

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Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?
« on: May 21, 2023, 11:35:37 PM »
I had hundreds of flowers on my Emerich #1 tree this year during good weather and had zero fruit set. Does anyone know if they are self fertile? My tree if about 5’ tall, so it should be mature enough to hold some fruit.

Epiphyte

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Re: Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?
« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2023, 05:52:24 PM »
i don't know whether it's self-fertile, but a couple days ago i grafted several capulin cherry scions onto a couple catalina cherries.  hopefully the grafts will take and subsequent cross-pollination will eventually produce a hybrid that embodies the best of both worlds.

i've only tasted one catalina cherry.  the fruit was large, and tasted good, but there was barely any flesh.  i haven't tasted a capulin cherry yet.  from what i've read the fruit is smaller but more fleshy with a resin taste.

have you tasted many of either fruit? 

it's crazy that i've only recently learned about prunus ilicifolia... now i see it everywhere.  i also recently learned about prunus salicifolia but so far i've only seen it in a few gardens.

somebody must have already tried grafting and/or crossing them?

when i was grafting the cherries, it was remarkable just how pungent the capulin scions were.  the smell was a bit unpleasant, but there was more than a hint of something nice... like fruity or a berry.  it smelled very familiar but i just couldn't place it.

the 1st time my dendrobium lituiflorum bloomed it smelled very familiar.  after weeks or maybe even months i finally figured out that the smell reminded me exactly of watermelon bubblegum, which i hadn't had in decades.


Reedo

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Re: Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2023, 04:18:30 PM »
I’ve had a few Prunus ilicifolia fruits, and had a similar experience. They were mild, but pleasant, with subtle sugar and very little flesh. So much so, they seemed pointless to grow for fruit, unless you had a passion for breeding, and 30 years to spend on the species. Haha… Maybe a cross could be made to make a more desirable fruit?

In regards to Prunus salicifolia, I have only tasted Emerich #1, which was pretty good. If I’m remembering correctly, even slightly underripe fruit  was pretty astringent and unpleasant. A little funky tasting. Not much margin for error in picking good fruit. However, the perfectly ripe fruit were delicious. They were slightly smaller than sweet cherries, but had a good flesh to seed ratio.

I probably had 200 flowers on my 5’ tree, so I’m suspicious it need a pollinator.

Galatians522

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Re: Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2023, 09:26:42 PM »
That sounds pretty good to me! I have wanted to try Capulin for years.

boticarioa62

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Re: Capulin cherries - is Emerich #1 self fertile?
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2023, 04:28:29 PM »
 Hello to everybody! I remember in my teenage years eating capulin cherries (Prunus Salicifolia), There was a mature capulin tree in my neiborhood over 30 feet tall. Any sugestion to how do I get my hands on a small capulin plant or young tree?
« Last Edit: June 03, 2023, 09:06:16 PM by boticarioa62 »