For the love of Prunus mume...

[Pitoon]

Good roots would be an understatement.

The graft should take off now that I removed the top. This one rooted pretty quick just a couple of weeks to get to this point.

 

[jal777]

Sorry for the slightly off topic but does anyone have a source for seed? Sheffields doesn't have 'em.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

Sorry for the slightly off topic but does anyone have a source for seed? Sheffields doesn't have 'em.

As a Canadian I find it interesting . Importing live trees has understandable legal paperwork and costs . Possible government inspection . So normally only worthwhile at the nursery level . But normally seeds are fine easy to get and or simple . Ie I could just put seeds in yhe mail to you under most conditions . BUT some seeds especially fruit bearing plants are restricted . If you look in shefields. Inventory you will notice restrictions to some countries . Even Canada for above mentioned seeds . So end result you may be facing a situation where seeds may have to come from USA source . Just a thought check with the government. If there not restricted . One would think there should be international source especially from Japan .

 

[jal777]

As a Canadian I find it interesting . Importing live trees has understandable legal paperwork and costs . Possible government inspection . So normally only worthwhile at the nursery level . But normally seeds are fine easy to get and or simple . Ie I could just put seeds in yhe mail to you under most conditions . BUT some seeds especially fruit bearing plants are restricted . If you look in shefields. Inventory you will notice restrictions to some countries . Even Canada for above mentioned seeds . So end result you may be facing a situation where seeds may have to come from USA source . Just a thought check with the government. If there not restricted . One would think there should be international source especially from Japan .

It'd probably be less of a hassle if I flew over there myself and smuggled them in.....

Hopefully someone here has some seed that they'll let me buy from them.

 

[Pitoon]

Just finished grafting a tray of 'Matsubara red' and 'Omoi no mama'.....hopefully these take.

 

[jal777]

Just finished grafting a tray of 'Matsubara red' and 'Omoi no mama'.....hopefully these take.

View attachment 449589View attachment 449590View attachment 449591

Nice.

 

[Pitoon]

Here's a 'Contorta' bud graft starting to break. This one should get some good growth in before winter arrives.

 

[Pitoon]

Here's 3 days worth of growth. 'Contorta' is a slower growing cultivar. I'm curious to see how much growth it pushes out by fall.

 

[jal777]

That's some really nice work...

 

[Pitoon]

That's some really nice work...

Thanks!

 

[Ming dynasty]

Iijama-san normally grafts on yabai rootstock, as those are the most vigorous varieties. I don't know if there's a mistranslation in the article, but the article states that he grafts more delicate white flower varieties on top of a strong red flowered yabai. The way the process is explained is that he starts with yabai seedlings or cuttings in small pot, does an initial root work then grows them in the ground. In the second year, he replants them at a slant and does a low graft. He covers the graft with soil, to maintain high humidity. Once the grafts have taken, he does an initial selection to only keep the best grafts (based on the nebari quality) and discards the rest. The selected trees are then replanted with generous spacing and field grown for up to 40 years (for the large specimens). The generous spacing is required to let in as much light as possible. He produces around 300 such starter trees every year.

His 'secret sauce' has two components:

• his growing field only has one foot of high quality soil (almost akadama) before hitting the bedrock. This lets him grow the trees freely without replanting for the entire period of time, so the top growth never slows down
• at the end of the field growing period, he digs the trees in November then cuts all the long roots and branches. The trees are then buried in the same field until March before being potted. This speeds up recovery

I currently have one ume coming from his garden, a small 'koshu aojiku'.

View attachment 388648

Does he have a website? How can we order?

 

[Pitoon]

The 'Contorta' graft has fully leafed out. I'm expecting a minimum 6 inches of growth before the winter comes.

 

[Pitoon]

Contortions have started. I expect some good movement before the shoot stalls and sends out a straight shoot.

 

[Pitoon]

I mentioned before this mume should hit at least 6in by the end of the season. It's already at 6in so it may hit 12in. It's grow faster than I anticipated.

 

[Sansokuu]

I love ume! Also for pickling lol. Don’t mind me I want to follow this thread.

 

[Pitoon]

I love ume! Also for pickling lol. Don’t mind me I want to follow this thread.

I would like to try picking the fruit once they start bearing. Maybe you could share your recipe when the time comes.

 

[Sansokuu]

I would like to try picking the fruit once they start bearing. Maybe you could share your recipe when the time comes.

My taiwanese family makes it their own way, it is a lot easier than massaging and sun drying fruit. Put one layer of clean, dry unblemished fruit (light green to almost yellow) in a jar. Add a dry red shiso leaf or two. Sprinkle a little sugar. Repeat layers. Don’t add a lot of sugar all at once. Over the next few days the fruit will start oozing out liquid, so add a little more sugar each day. I know it isn’t an actual recipe but it makes for a very delicious umeboshi. Sweet and sour. As long as the fruit is under the liquid these can stay out at room temp for years (like how honey doesn’t spoil). The traditional japanese method is a salt based method with no liquid. Umeboshi tastes best with steamed rice.

 

[Pitoon]

My taiwanese family makes it their own way, it is a lot easier than massaging and sun drying fruit. Put one layer of clean, dry unblemished fruit (light green to almost yellow) in a jar. Add a dry red shiso leaf or two. Sprinkle a little sugar. Repeat layers. Don’t add a lot of sugar all at once. Over the next few days the fruit will start oozing out liquid, so add a little more sugar each day. I know it isn’t an actual recipe but it makes for a very delicious umeboshi. Sweet and sour. As long as the fruit is under the liquid these can stay out at room temp for years (like how honey doesn’t spoil). The traditional japanese method is a salt based method with no liquid. Umeboshi tastes best with steamed rice.

So you don't remove the seed?

 

[Sansokuu]

So you don't remove the seed?

Nope! And funny thing is you can still plant it after you eat the umeboshi.

 

[jal777]

Nope! And funny thing is you can still plant it after you eat the umeboshi.

oh really... ? i think i finally found a source for seed

about to hit up Mitsuwa