Yangmei (Morella/Myrica rubra) thread

[sc4001992]

Reedo, wow, nice photos and plants. You grafted tree really did well for one year growth.

Did you say it takes 2 yrs for the seeds to germinate to the size you show in the photo? It sure takes a long time to grow. I'm planning to try both cracked seed and untouched seed germination to see if cracking the seeds open will shorten the time for it to start growing out.

Ronnie Demler is the person on Facebook that wrote a nice 10 page PDF paper on how he germinates the yangmei seeds (written in Jan 2020). Here's the facbook link below with the document.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/402462807192797/posts/1405283506910717/?comment_id=1405564263549308&reply_comment_id=1406670503438684&notif_id=1675185274339327&notif_t=group_comment_mention

I agree with you on the grafting, no different than any other grafting like citrus, lychee. One interesting thing I noticed about how they graft all these bare root trees we got is that they are all veneer grafts. So, for those people who wanted to know the trick, just copy their technique. I haven't had good scion wood to do the grafting on myrica californica rootstock until now so this time I will do a lot of grafting. Problem is, there are not that many sources for the rootstock, all out of stock since many people are buying them up.

[sc4001992]

Very nice to see that you can get cuttings to grow.

[CarolinaZone]

Reedo is using some secret rooting sauces I think. I will be acidifing soil this week with:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81pUUSjfJxL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_FMwebp_.jpg

[simon_grow]

Dongkui cutting started on 1/3/23
So excited to see flower buds

Please let us know if/ when the cutting roots for you. That would be awesome if they root easily.

Simon

[Reedo]

Reedo, wow, nice photos and plants. You grafted tree really did well for one year growth.

Did you say it takes 2 yrs for the seeds to germinate to the size you show in the photo? It sure takes a long time to grow. I'm planning to try both cracked seed and untouched seed germination to see if cracking the seeds open will shorten the time for it to start growing out.

Ronnie Demler is the person on Facebook that wrote a nice 10 page PDF paper on how he germinates the yangmei seeds (written in Jan 2020). Here's the facbook link below with the document.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/402462807192797/posts/1405283506910717/?comment_id=1405564263549308&reply_comment_id=1406670503438684&notif_id=1675185274339327&notif_t=group_comment_mention

I agree with you on the grafting, no different than any other grafting like citrus, lychee. One interesting thing I noticed about how they graft all these bare root trees we got is that they are all veneer grafts. So, for those people who wanted to know the trick, just copy their technique. I haven't had good scion wood to do the grafting on myrica californica rootstock until now so this time I will do a lot of grafting. Problem is, there are not that many sources for the rootstock, all out of stock since many people are buying them up.

I tried Ronny's seed cracking method with some seeds last year. He's correct in stating that it takes a bit of skill development, and you'll likely damage a lot of true seeds in your learning process. Haha... After mangling several seeds, I decided to give up on the method, as I only had about a dozen seeds. I'm not sure there is any reason to do his method unless one struggles to keep track of their seeds over and extended period of time, or if one is on some sort of schedule that requires expedited seed germination. Putting them in peat moss in the fridge, then planting in Jan/Feb is a nice simple way to get them started.

[Reedo]

Reedo is using some secret rooting sauces I think. I will be acidifing soil this week with:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81pUUSjfJxL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_FMwebp_.jpg

Haha... No secret sauce. Just sandy soil, an established rootstock, and grafting at the right time.

[Reedo]

This might be a helpful place to start in experimenting rooting yangmei cuttings. Given all the imported plants have been grafted, there must be some obstacles in obtaining a high success rate in rooting them. Perhaps they're similar in rooting feijoas; it can be done, but varies from cultivar to cultivar, and isn't practical at a commercial scale.

https://courses.washington.edu/esrm412/protocols/2017/MOCA6.pdf

[roblack]

How about air-layering?

[pinkturtle]

Wow.  Only one month, the root is not developed yet and flowering.  I would knocked down the flowers to develop root.

[Galatians522]

I would try this for starters. They got 80% take with California Wax Myrtle from soft wood cuttings taken in April and propagated under mist. Seems like a good place to start with Yangmei.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://ucanr.edu/repository/fileAccessPublic.cfm%3Ffn%3Dca1912p10-174549.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiwz9OZlPj8AhXljLAFHZ-kDg8QFnoECCwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3qXkgxWdAr5JXQC7K5bt-_

[fruit4me]

Hello, I'm excited to share some  pictures of my Dongkui grafts done on 1/3/23. All are on Californica rootstock





This one got flower buds, it might fruit4me

[sc4001992]

Wow, impressive, nice job.
I better check my grafts so far, I didn't see any growth, but it was done this month (2/1).

[pinkturtle]

Hello, I'm excited to share some  pictures of my Dongkui grafts done on 1/3/23. All are on Californica rootstock





This one got flower buds, it might fruit4me

Nice job fruit4me.  Please update your grafts status 6 months later.  All my grafts I did around Feb of last year death after 1/2 year included the rootstocks.

[sc4001992]

pinkturtle, that's interesting that your graft and rootstock died in about 6 months. When all my plants died it was also about 6 months, the leaves were just stating to show then it died back and never recoved. Just curious what environment you had your plants (indoors, in shade, planted in ground)?
Also what soil mix did you use for those plants.

[jtnguyen333]

I only have 1 tree survived from both group buys (not the latest from dec 2022).  It is labeled as male dong kui.  I've read somewhere on this forum that the male trees from the group buys are not necessarily male trees but just a fail grafted male tree so they are just tree grown from rootstock?  Can anyone confirm?

[NateTheGreat]

My family planted 5 M. californica when I was young, and one by one they all died. The last one made it probably ten years, and looked terrible with dieback and discolored leaves. I don't know of any growing in other yards in my area. Maybe that wasn't representative, but I suspect Morellas just tend to have these issues. Some of the Chinese varieties are described as being dieback resistant; not something you see with descriptions of varieties of most fruiting plants. It also might be too hot for M. californica in the East Bay and Socal. Looking at iNat they're basically only near the coast, from LA up to Vancouver.

[RevivalR00ts]

I only have 1 tree survived from both group buys (not the latest from dec 2022).  It is labeled as male dong kui.  I've read somewhere on this forum that the male trees from the group buys are not necessarily male trees but just a fail grafted male tree so they are just tree grown from rootstock?  Can anyone confirm?

I do not think anyone can confirm until we start flowering the trees that we have received from these group buys.

[simon_grow]

The male trees that my friend ordered were all trees with failed grafts so I don’t know how they can say they are male trees unless they DNA tested them which I highly doubt.

Simon

[simon_grow]

I recently noticed that several of my M cerifera trees started to bloom. I’m guessing these are male blooms and I wonder if cerifera pollen could cross pollinate M Rubra?




Simon

[roblack]

What a lovely sight, Simon! I've wondered about pollination from other myrica species as well; let's hope so and find out.

[Luisport]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VWbJwZb-DQ

[simon_grow]

What a lovely sight, Simon! I've wondered about pollination from other myrica species as well; let's hope so and find out.

Rob, it looks like your Yangmei is about to bust out with a lot of growth. Your tree looks very healthy!

Luisport, thanks for the video! My Chinese is horrible and I only understood about 2% of what they said. Does anyone know what caused the difference in Brix between the 13% Brix Fruit and the 17% Brix fruit. It was around 9:30 in the video.

Now that there’s a bunch of Yangmei trees in the USA, we need to start thinking about the best pruning strategies and spacing for our trees. My ideal tree would be low enough to harvest everything by hand without a ladder.

Simon

[pinkturtle]

The net cover will increase the Brix due to the net blocked the inserts and rain out.

The variety is DongKui.

[Pneuma]

Cool seeing updates.
Those structures for the netting are pretty cool looking in the video.
Cant wait to add some Yangmei to the property.

[simon_grow]

The net cover will increase the Brix due to the net blocked the inserts and rain out.

The variety is DongKui.

Thanks for the translation pinkturtle! That’s a significant increase in Brix.

Simon