We’re good, but my experience is not just local, it’s throughout
the South. Wild Scaper is right. Methley is a strange bird. I have
a friend that works at the USDA in Byron, Ga and he’s told
me that my experience is the norm, not the exception. But the
big box stores sell it, and people buy it, not knowing they’re in
for a big disappointment.
2 Likes
I take the remarks of members of the forum much more seriously than anyone connected with commercial production. Around here, most commercial growers don’t attempt to thin plums. Without thinning plums here you can’t know how good they can be, and as I’ve said before, the way Methely sets here that goes triple for it. Most commentators on this forum, including those in the south, have at least a reasonably positive take on Methely by my not very careful polling.
Not that it is a very good plum to me. It is mediocre, but its earliness makes up for it when grown in a site not conducive to black knot. I no longer grow it in my nursery because of black knot susceptibility and the fact that I like Early Magic’s flavor and especially texture more and it’s only a couple of days later. .
2 Likes
I bought 2 burgundy plums and a Dapple supreme pluot from our local, very reputable, Green Acres nursery 2 and a half years ago. All trees had variety tags that were left on the trees. I planted a DS and Burgundy in the front yard. In the back I planted Burgundy for pollination. The one in back had three branches and two were grafted over to other plums. Turned out, one of the DS in front was actually another burgundy. Also, the Burgundy in back was actually DS. That’s two wrong marked trees out of three. I have had a handful of other mismarked fruit trees from DWN as well, it definitely happens. I have bought around a hundred DWN trees though, most through very reputable nurseries, so the percentage is not bad at all, probably about 10% mix ups. I believe some of these mistake can happen at the nurseries as well. Other wholesale nurseries like Burchell Nursury, are very bad with variety mix ups, with about 40% mix ups in the dozen trees I have bought. Mismarked trees usually are not identified by the home grower though. My last mismarked tree that I bought was Fortyniner peach, it turned out to be Frost, listed right after Fortyniner in DWN book. Most people would not know the difference in these peaches, so it goes unnoticed often. I am not saying the Gold Dust peaches above were mismarked, just pointing out that mismarked trees can be fairly common.
3 Likes
Where it is often noticed is by commercial growers so it is probably safer to buy from nurseries that provide trees to them- however DW has a different marketing system and their patents have to be purchased from retail suppliers that sell to home orchardists.
That said, all propigating nurseries are prone to some mistakes. I have a lot of “Valor” plums from Adams that are clearly something else- I may be able to figure out what when fruit ripens. Now I can ignore the mislabeled trees I’ve planted for customers or go to the big trouble of grafting them over. I guess it depends on how good the fake Valors are.
I’m wondering if Adam’s doesn’t have a mislabeled mother tree in this instance, because I think this mistake has been going on for a while- and all to the same wrong variety. Their Valors were true to name for years- can’t say the same for the Green Gages, which used to be some kind of Japanese plum that looked a bit like GG. But they were aware of that one. They just thought growers in the mid-Atlantic would have more success with the J. plum. GG is not a good variety to grow in the mid-Atlantic where they sell a lot of their trees.
2 Likes
It is interesting you were getting all these back a couple weeks (I think). Eastern Glo is just coming in here now and Jade for the last week. I prefer Silver Gem to Jade, although they are not quite the same season as Jade follows so I’m keeping Jade for now. Jade is a much larger nectarine which may explain its huge cracking issues to some degree. It even cracked a lot last year when we didn’t have a monsoon spring-early summer. It is still better than any peach I have now (Glenglo and Gold Dust) and a very enjoyable eating experience if you cut away hard cracked parts or with the few that are clean. Eastern Glo had lots of rot balls- nects not sizing up or dropping off, which I had to remove to avoid their spreading rot through the tree, but with the decreasing rain it is much less cracked as it sizes up later than Jade even though it starts to ripen just a few days later. It is also a smaller fruit. Jade has the size of a good sized peach.
1 Like
The USDA is not a commercial producer, in case you weren’t aware
of that fact. I don’t understand why you insist on defending a plum that,
was at best, only mediocre to you and that you no longer grow.
I only posted that I have not experienced the benefit of thinning plums that
you seem to have experienced. You’re the one that brought up Methley.
One would think that you just like to argue.
USDA is only concerned with commercial production- they don’t get to do anything else with taxpayer money. If the employee you mention has his own hobby orchard where he’s tried growing Methely, then it would mean something. I have no idea what his actual experience is with it.
The reason I defend Methely is because I believe it to be a useful plum in its season- the best readily available early plum in my experience and several others I’ve heard from and I want forum members to know what I consider to be the journalistic truth on the subject.
(I don’t play the saving face game so popular in village culture, it is not an efficient or useful model in the modern world). Of course I like to argue about things I care about, but in this case, there is a purpose.
I do believe you should learn to relax a bit about having your opinions challenged. This is a forum, not a social club. Debates help resolve questions. What would be helpful is for your suggestion of a better plum that ripens in Methely’s season.
Here’s what I read.
@rayrose does not like it because his actually experience with Methley was bad.
@alan, removed the tree because it was a black knot magnet.
People should be able figure it out if they want to grow Methley or not from reading these and other people’s posts on Methley.
3 Likes
Also I removed it because I have an Early Magic that almost fills in all of Methely’s season and it’s my private variety because no other nursery I know of propagates it. I do prefer Methely’s spreading growth habit, though. It’s a pretty and easy to manage tree until it gets black knot. It is also self fruitful and very productively so (at sites it can be productive).
1 Like
My “Gold Dust” were ripe today with one fell off in a bag. A lot of redness in the flesh. Are these really Gold Dust peaches? Free stone. Good balance of sweet and sour ( brix was only 13). Asked hubby and daughter for feedback, they said it tasted “peachy”.
6 Likes
They look like the variety that was sold to me as Gold Dust. I’m surprised how much later you are than me.
My Artic Glo are done also- much younger tree. I was unimpressed- it wasn’t as good as Jade or Silver;Gem- less sugar- less acid. However, the fruit was pristine while Jade was 70% cracked with fissures right through the skin- perhaps because it is double the size. Silver Gem is almost as small as Artic Glo and had more consistently sound fruit than Jade. AG had no red in the flesh, which is not a plus for me- I love lots of red in white peaches and nects. Silver Gem is still my fave white nect- it was a week earlier than Jade in spite of ACN’s ripening chart, which I already consider sometimes dubious.
2 Likes
There are things that I don’t like about Big Box stores but they do provide products that people like. Big box stores sell fruit trees that are well established as well liked peaches, plums, apples, etc. Trees might be mislabeled, poorly pruned, diseased, etc but they supply fruit that the average person will like. Maybe not me or you but the average person. It doesn’t make sense to propagate fruit trees for decades or hundreds of years and sell them if that aren’t liked.
1 Like
Scott do you have a pic of the Sha Zi Zao Sheng? In what ways is it different than Zin Dai Jui Bao?
2 Likes
Actually, this is not quite what they are trying to do, IMO. They sell fruit trees that customers will buy. As long as they live a season, the customer won’t ask for a refund, even if the tree is mislabeled or ill-suited for the region. Most people that buy fruit trees do not know how to bring them into productivity- the purchase is the main pleasure and the only harvest is anticipation, soon forgotten. Of course, this also happens with fruit trees purchased from common nurseries- even with appropriate varieties.
3 Likes
The average person that buys fruit trees from the big box stores has no real
knowledge about growing fruit trees, or even what they’re buying. All they
know is that they’re buying an apple, pear, peach, etc. tree. They’ll take it
home, dig a hole and plant it, and expect it to produce. A year or two
later the tree has probably died for lack of care, and they wasted they’re money. Heck, the big box stores don’t even know what they’re selling.
I have a friend that sells nursery plants to Home Depot. All they care about
is having nice looking plants to sell.
Just because the tree was at the store doesn’t mean it will produce the
quality fruit that you think you’re going to get. That’s the point I was trying
to make.
4 Likes
I don’t have a picture. SZZS is a huge early peach, somewhat elongated. ZDJB is also large but very round and with a punk blush. The texture of SZZS is soft and it rots easily. ZDJB is a firm peach which is better after a few days on the counter, and it is not prone to rot.
1 Like
Anyone familiar with these varieties? Are any of them at least 15 days before redhaven.
Early Amber
Early Treat
Early Redhaven
1 Like
I have early Red Haven, its reliable, taste good and produces most years unless a very late frost. I am not familiar with the other two peaches, but they are low chill peaches. Unless you are in a warm climate I would not recommend them. I am in Virginia and Early Amber and Treat would bloom too early thus making them susceptible to frost.
2 Likes
Thanks. They were the only early varieties offered by Fruitwood. I’ll have to rely on trades. No one on-line offers early peach scion.
1 Like