Prunus Mume (forum)

Gabby starts with ...
Hi all,

I am in the process of obtaining some budwood for named varieties of Prunus Mume (Japanese apricot/Japanese Plum) from a lovely man at the DPI who ran some Prunus Mume trials for RIRDC.

I am looking for someone to either graft the budwood or teach me how to. I am in Footscray, Melbourne, and of course I am happy to share my spoils initially with my helper, but then as the tree grows with anyone who is interested (so long as I am not out of pocket by much for postage.)

Gabby

Time: 29th July 2014 1:56pm

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sternus1 says...
They're for sale on ebay all the time.

Time: 29th July 2014 2:53pm

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Jason says...
Ive had one in the ground for five years or so. Originally it didnt grow much thanks to constant grazing by wallabies. But since fencing it of its growth has exploded. I does 5-6 foot a year easily. The weird thing is its green year round and doesnt flower..

It's a very important and potent part of Chinese medicine with western studies to back it up. Tastes good dried and salted too. If only it would fruit for me!.

Time: 29th July 2014 3:40pm

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BenW says...
Hi Gabby

I actually have a bit of mume budwood myself this year. It's a couple of flowering types, though they should fruit, just not specifically selected for fruit quality.

I'm using plum rootstock, though peach would also work I think.

Unless you know someone who can graft, I would suggest going to a grafting day for a demo. There are several in the next few weeks. Not a lot of rootstock this year, so go early if you don't have some already.

http://www.heritagefruitssociety.org.au/Resources/Pictures/HFS%20Grafting%20Days%20poster%202014.jpg

Do you have variety descriptions for what he is getting you?

I may be doing a little grafting for a friend in Footscray in a week or two. I could probably show you how it's done, or do a few for you, in trade for a little budwood, especially if they are something special.

I'm not an expert, but then again, it's really not so hard :)

Time: 29th July 2014 4:52pm

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MaryT1 says...
Jason you might like to try pruning your tree back?

http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2009/06/23/2606206.htm

Time: 29th July 2014 5:04pm

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Brain says...
Prunus mume is really more chinese than it is japanese. It is on the tail of china airlines. The chinese translate it to english as plum ( and sometimes prunes) . But it is different from the plum on supermarket shelves.

The fruit isnt eatten fresh, but preserved in salt and added sugar for it to be a treat. You can find a good selection in the chinese grocers, generally called salted plums/prunes The japanese uses the same fruit but makes it into a wine or a garnish for meals.

Anyway, the plant is special to the chinese because it symbolises strength and resilience through hardship, as it tend to flower in the coldest winter periods, when it is in thick snow and when no other plants dare to flower.

I have gotten myself one from ebay, but its a seedling and i also suspect it really need some really cold chill for flowers to break. So heres hoping for one day!

I suspect mine is a single flower and white in colour, and weeping in form. And i am actually curious as to what other mume is out there. I recall seeing pictures of a pink one in canberra and seen them for sale from a victorian nursery.







Time: 29th July 2014 5:52pm

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Jason says...
I think I will try and make some kind of shape out of it Mary, it's pretty much a giant weeping bush tight now. Really cant understand why it wont go dormant though. Its not like I live somewhere warm.

Time: 29th July 2014 5:54pm

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MaryT1 says...
Jason is it a grafted variety? Could it be that the rootstock had taken over? Has it flowered?

Time: 29th July 2014 6:36pm

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Jason says...
Mary it's a seedling, since its a seedling it came from a fruit and by all right should have flowered after three - five years or so?. So I read is normal for this species. Then again maybe it feels like taking longer. Sometimes Apricots take eight years or so for me. They aren't almost instant flowering like a Peach. Just keep waiting I guess, but I dont see how it'll ever flower when it doesn't go dormant. That's the weird part.

Time: 29th July 2014 10:55pm

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Gabby says...
Hi All,

Thanks for your replies.

The varieties in the RIRDC trial are Nankou, Ianjy, Ellching, Daching, & Bungo, so I hope I get some fantastic fruiting varieties. Nankou is meant to be Japan's best variety with higher fruit to stone ratio than other varieties. I have a bare root tree for rootstock, the Prunus Mume "rosebud" from flemmings on order, to pick up Sunday.

The RIRDC trial says peach rootstock is a fail as it snaps at the graft union. It recomends using prunus mume rootstock as far as I gathered, (I did not read every page word for word as the marketing parts are quite dry.)

I am very excited about the grafting day and am going to ring Ceres tomorrow and see if I need to book.

I am a bit of a freak as I am intolerant to "nightshade" vegies, so eggplant, potato, tomato and capsicum/chili all hurt my rheumatoid arthritis, I am hoping if I bottle these fruits unsalted then I may have a reasonable canned tomato substitute for pasta sauce etc. Currently I use steamed pumpkin mixed with beetroot, enough miso paste to get the right "umami" flavour and enough cider vinegar to get the right acid flavour. A bit of a production compared to opening a tin/fowlers bottle of fruit.

This is why I want a specific variety for fruit so I can get a decent harvest to bottle for myself for a year of pastas. If the flavour isn't quite right then no loss, I can make Umeboshi and Umeshi....

Cheers Gabby

Time: 29th July 2014 11:16pm

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Jason says...
Gabby prunus mume is the main ingredient in FAHF-2, a potent herbal formula under trials in the states for food alergies. The stuff is the bees knees. Your listed dodgy foods flare all kinds of immune system problems. But yeah, mume will be ok.

Time: 29th July 2014 11:23pm

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MaryT1 says...
Jason here's an interesting conversation about forcing trees into dormancy

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg101853095995.html?14

Time: 30th July 2014 7:58am

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jakfruit etiquette says...
The Ume is related to apricot, the fruit is fairly similar, ume is prettier. The colour of umeboshi plums comes from Japanese red shisho(Perilla)included in the process. O'wise any processed plums will be dull orange brown.

Time: 23rd December 2014 10:52am

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Aya says...
Hi Gabby,

I was looking for where to get Prunus mume online and happened to see this post. It's funny that I also live in Footscray ;) I'm Japanese and love Umeboshi and umeshu! :) how is your tree going!? Where did you get the tree at first place? I would like to purchase and grow my own Ume...

Time: 28th January 2015 11:36pm

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jakfruit etiquette says...
Hi Aya, havent heard from Gabby for a while. She is trying to grow her own tree, from the start.

Time: 31st January 2015 11:56am

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Akiko says...
Hi All, I'm also looking Prunus mume tree too. We got one tree from eBay shop but after some research, I found that you should have 2 trees (preferably different kinds) to yield better fruits. Does anyone know where I can get either 'bungo' or 'nankou'? Thanks.

Time: 3rd March 2015 10:30pm

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Gabby says...
Hi all,

I have not been successful with my grafting, I am not sure if it was the wrong time of the year or if i ruined the budwood by putting it in the fridge rather than the crisper (apparently the fridge is too cold and the crisper is a better temp).

I have asked a few nurseries if I can get the names variety budwood from my contact sent direct to them to graft and may have more info soon. I will remember to post here and let people know if i have success.

Thanks Gabby

Time: 22nd July 2015 6:40pm

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BenW says...
Hi Gabby.

Is there any chance your contact can send me some scion to try? I'm reasonably competent at grafting / budding.

Happy to pay postage, ect.

Cheers,
Ben :)

Time: 27th July 2015 2:29pm

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Shiho says...
Hi I have been looking for Prunus mume too if it is same plant as it is called "Nankou Ume" in Japanese? I am Japanese too from the prefecture which is famous for producing "Nankou Ume" and would like to have one in my back yard in Brisbane.

Time: 6th November 2015 12:03am

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Gabby says...
Hi everybody, I do not have any plants, the budwood I was sent died.
Sorry to disappoint but I will let you know if that changes.
Thanks Gabby

Time: 6th November 2015 1:06pm

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Brain says...
You can get seed grown seedlings off ebay. I would suggest you get 2 or more, as seedlings can be touch and go.

Time: 7th November 2015 2:55pm

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ume says...
You may want to get "roubai" plum. The flower is beautiful and bloomed earlier, approximatly 2 month earlier than ordinally Mume.

Time: 6th February 2016 3:07pm

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Diana says...
I just bought one of these from the rare plant fair at Mt Coot-tha today. The stall was 'JAC Orchids, rare & unusual plants' based in Greenbank (western Brisbane). The owner propagates them there and said the chill in western Brisbane is fine for them.


Time: 22nd May 2016 7:11pm

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Osakadaz says...
Jason did yours ever flower or lose it's leaves? I bought one two yeras ago and is now 2 m high..lovely green leaves with red new growth on tips...but never loses leaves and I am in Illawarra region, where it gets reasonably cold.
Have one down at bottom of slope and one up top.Would love to know if yours ever flowered, as mine will regrettably get the chop pretty soon.I want the fruit and the flowers. As it was bought on Ebay it is impossible to know the variety..it seems the Taiwanese ones did better in Australia.Thanks!

Time: 6th July 2016 9:17am

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MelBrackstone says...
@Osakadaz I'm a member of ausbonsai and I know there'd be local members from your area who would love to dig up that prunus and take it away, if you're wanting it gone... please don't just discard it, bonsai people LOVE prunus!!

Here's the link to the forum
http://www.ausbonsai.com.au/forum/index.php

Time: 31st July 2016 6:49pm

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Osakadaz says...
Cheers! I have taken cuttings, so if the take..will let the bonsai foum know!

Time: 1st August 2016 7:09am

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Jason says...
Osakadaz, just thought I better log in as I haven't for a couple of years. I went for a walk in my much neglected garden just now with a torch.. The Ume is flowering right now for the first time ever, couldn't say it lost it's leaves as it looks like it's been shooting new growth for a month or so. I doesn't have a lot of flowers, maybe 20 but that's pretty usual for a first try at fertility. Probably took about 8 years. maybe 9 at most. I wont expect fruit this year but next year I should. Smelly flowers! probably in a good way. Bit excited to eat the fruit, even though I don't eat fruit anymore well maybe just the skins.. But since this thing is super medicine I will give it a try.

Time: 12th August 2016 8:22pm

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Joel15 says...
I'm also looking for budwood of superior varieties if anyone finds a source

Time: 15th August 2016 1:38pm

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Jack Dan says...
Hi Gabby,
Any luck yet? We have 4 trees bought from ebay, but the same problem as some others with it not going dormant in winter. Really interested to know if you have made any progress. We pick Ume every year in Japan and make umeboshi and umeshu that we bring home, but we really want fruiting trees here.
Let me know if you have had any success recently,
Jaq.

Time: 26th August 2017 8:25am

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Darren says...
Good news! Mine finally flowered 4 yrs or so from seedling. I hand stripped the leaves and got quite a few flowering laterals. I saw bees around them but no evidence of fruit.
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 28th August 2017 7:02am

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Zapjelly says...
Hi all :) I'm in Canberra

Also got 3 little seedlings from eBay, about 4 years ago, fruiting first time this year :D It flowered last year but no fruit.

Mine is also green all the time, doesn't go into dormant and Canberra has pretty decent cold winter.

@Osakadaz, pretty sure it will flower, hopefully you can give it a little bit more time to fruit and flower for you.

Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2

Time: 5th December 2017 11:18am

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Darren says...
That is awesome!!!! Your tree is slightly different to mine, as mine has red tips on the new growth.Very attractive, but looking grubby at the moment, with many of the leaves deformed..thinking maybe aphids (can't see any) or some kind of virus.Glad to hear that your tree doesn't go dormant either..very strange eh? Did you hand strip the leaves to make it flower? Hopefully I get more flowers this year after better pruning.I have two ume trees in the yard.

Time: 6th December 2017 5:05pm

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Zapjelly says...
I also get deformed leaves, not sure why, the tree looks healthy and still trying to take over my garden, so I assume it's happy.

I don't hand strip the leaves, all I do is feed it mushroom compost end of Winter and it does the rest.

Can't wait when you also get tonnes of fruits!!

Time: 7th December 2017 10:22am

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wildwood says...
Hi, those of you who bought on ebay did you buy plant, or seeds from China? Just wondering if anyone got those seeds in and also if they were viable?

Time: 1st August 2018 5:31pm

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Darren says...
So FINALLY I have fruit!The white flowering ebay variety.I have noticed differences in the two plants in the garden.The largest and most vigourous was covered with blossom this year but fruit set is very patchy..the fruit are classic green ume. The neglected and windblown tree at the top of my garden flowered sparsely for the first time and is heavily laden with fruit on the branches it flowered. The fruit are green with a red blush...they arrived from same seller but seem like two different varietals to me. Anyway, here's hoping for umeboshi and umeshu.Both plants in their 4th year.

Time: 19th August 2018 10:45am

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JohnP says...
I'm keen to obtain some Mume scion. I have red but looking for others.

Time: 26th August 2019 10:28am

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Stellar Violets says...
Hi, thanks to all of you for this very interesting thread. I’m Lucinda in Manjimup western Australia at Stellar Violets. I obtained a few tiny named variety grafted budwood trees from a very cooperative researcher a few years ago - it took great lengths to overcome WA quarantine restrictions so that was a major win in itself.
I moved them a couple of times, lost tree labels in the process ... and now a good four trees are flourishing. I’m sure one variety is Nankou, they’ll be listed in the RIRDC report.
I too was puzzled by the evergreen growth and bushy habit. Can’t think where to start to prune them!
Will continue to be patient for flowers given what I’ve read here. I planted these out as small or very small trees only a year ago, though I’ve had them for three. They seem to like this spot.

Time: 27th August 2019 9:06pm

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blossom says...
I live in perth stellar violets I would love some budwood :) happy to pay. as daleys cant send to WA.

Time: 1st November 2019 6:12pm

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Darren says...
Japanese have a saying “fools who don’t prune Ume, fools who prune Sakura” and I have just severely pruned my Ume again from a good three metres down to about 60 cm- trying to form a nice low framework and the Une can certainly take a hard lopping. Two years ago I got enough fruit to make a lot of umeboshi and umeshu but this year yet again what seemed to be flowerbuds changed to leaf buds with barely a handful of flowers. Maybe last summer was too hot or too dry. I cannot work out at all why the tree is so unpredictable other than the parent tree being not so fabulous either.

Time: 6th October 2020 11:30am

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jakfruit etiquette says...
I always liked the Japanese saying
Some Prefer Nettles,
but it also seems that its a translation of something more complicated.

Time: 8th October 2020 12:03pm

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george says...
Darren I bought my Prunus 15 years ago from eBay with the intention of making Umeshu and umeboshi but living in Sydney it rarely got cold enough to drop its leaves in winter . To this date I still don’t know if he colour of blooms. Perhaps you would want to trade cuttings?

Time: 22nd October 2021 6:57am

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