Log in

View Full Version : Tale of two Manukka grapes


Richard
03-25-2015, 11:47 AM
Last week I received cuttings of Gold Monukka (DVIT 1328 (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1013002)) from Wolfskill to replace the plants that died during my move here two years ago. I have them potting up for rooting now. Yesterday I also transplanted my Black Monukka grape from its 25 gallon pot into the ground and will soon construct a trellis there.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=54841&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=54841)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=55615&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=55615)

Richard
05-25-2015, 03:12 PM
Black Monukka seedless grape on trellis.

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/imgs/black-monukka-grape.jpg

Lau
05-25-2015, 04:30 PM
That looks great. :woohoonaner:

JP
05-25-2015, 05:10 PM
You got a nice setup there!

Richard
06-20-2015, 12:31 PM
All five of the Gold Manukka cuttings I received have sprouted :)

Here they are in the foreground, and in the background there are six pomegranate cuttings that are slowly beginning to sprout as well.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58114&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58114)

JP
06-20-2015, 03:26 PM
We don't have the climate for that variety here... But I just planted Somerset, Himrod, Niagara, Vanessa and Einset. Should produce in 2 years if I can control that bug (Popillia japonica) that's been attacking every fruit producing plant in my yard...

Richard
06-20-2015, 04:52 PM
We don't have the climate for that variety here...
Actually it should work fine in Quebec. It's parentage is Ontario x Black Monukka, the latter being a northern European Grape. However, it is not commercially available.

JP
06-20-2015, 05:16 PM
Never seen it at stores... Anyways, I'm starting to lack space for planting... I've got a whole lot of small fruit bushes ( grapes, honeyberries, cherries, cherryplums, black raspberries, a few kinds of red raspberries, yellow raspberries, rhubarbs, white red and black currants, gooseberries, blueberries, strawberries, ground cherries, kiwis, mulberries...) I should have bought at least an acre! Climate is great for these fruits but I would have loved to be able to plant my tropicals directly in the ground. Maybe I'll get a greenhouse someday (I wish!!!).

Richard
06-20-2015, 05:24 PM
Never seen it at stores... ... it is not commercially available.
:D

JP
06-20-2015, 09:32 PM
Yes... it doesn't seem to be... I was just saying 'cause sometimes you can get lucky and find just about anything... Let us know if the taste is good. I didn't think it would be ok here but I'm no expert... I got those I mentioned from a farmer not too far away from here and the guy seems to be pretty good with grapes. His cuttings were all well rooted and didn't suffer any transplant shock. I exchanged 3 cherryplums for 8 grapes. We were both very pleased. It,s gonna make great jelly!!

Richard
06-20-2015, 09:38 PM
I'd be very interested if you did find it because I named that grape. :)

Kat2
06-20-2015, 09:44 PM
I'd be very interested if you did find it because I named that grape. :)Hehe! I'm always curious about plant names but never had the chance to ask the originator. Why Manukka? Any particular meaning?

JP
06-20-2015, 09:52 PM
Well I guess it's going to take a while to reach us... Lol! Off subject, what do you think of viollette de bordeaux figs? I know you have or had them and I recently purchased one. I was wondering if it's as good as they say...

Kat2
06-20-2015, 10:02 PM
Well I guess it's going to take a while to reach us... Lol! Off subject, what do you think of viollette de bordeaux figs? I know you have or had them and I recently purchased one. I was wondering if it's as good as they say...I may have grown them before. I had a mystery fig from Michigan Bulb (yes, them!) that ficus growers determined was probably just that. If so, it's a good one.

I don't eat figs (I had 1 variety I could choke down--cutting was probably from Smith Island, MD--not Marseilles but quite like it) but cuttings from "Blackie" (see I named one also!) were much coveted. Sadly, I believe I've lost access to both girls at this point. Women I sent fig sticks to along with detailed instructions doesn't believe she owes me a cutting in return.

Richard
06-20-2015, 10:55 PM
Hehe! I'm always curious about plant names but never had the chance to ask the originator. Why Manukka? Any particular meaning?

There are about 1000 unmarketed grape varietals in the UC Davis collection. This particular one is a cross between a standard European strain (Manukka) and a North American cultivar (Ontario). The resultant table grape is golden in color. The bunches are loose like Manukka, making it a favorable grape to grow in our southern CA conditions.

Well I guess it's going to take a while to reach us... Lol! Off subject, what do you think of viollette de bordeaux figs? I know you have or had them and I recently purchased one. I was wondering if it's as good as they say...

There are many, many flavors of figs. I grow figs in 3 different flavor categories, if I had more room I'd expand. In the category of "dark fig" flavor, I believe the Violette de Bordeaux is the holy grail.

Just to expand a bit on this subject of fig flavors, there are those which are sometimes called "strawberry" figs for their flavor (Panache is an example for the SW U.S.) -- and sometimes for their flesh color by innocent people, but really the taste could be anything; there are "honey" figs of which Kadota is an example but in my opinion for my climate I prefer Janice-Kadota; I have tasted figs with peach overtones, with banana overtones, and butterscotch (yes!) overtones. So when someone asks about "my favorite fig", I first want to know about "which flavor category".

JP
06-20-2015, 11:47 PM
The only good figs I ate were the ones an old italian guy had in his greenhouses. He brought cuttings from Italy when he came here and nurtured them for over 25 years. I used to go there and picked them right from the tree. They were as big as a pear an the flavor!!! Brown figs they were. I found them better than the white ones. No idea of the variety. The poor guy lost everything when snow crashed down his greenhouses in the middle of winter. Since then, I never ate a fig nearly as good as they were... and that was 18 years ago!!! I'm happy that you guys find the one I got to be good. I also have brown turkey and a white one. Also a few cuttings that I don't think made it...

Richard
06-21-2015, 12:18 AM
The only good figs I ate were the ones an old italian guy had in his greenhouses.
Ok so he brought them from Europe but they sound more like eastern European figs. V. de B. is a modest size dark fig.

JP
06-21-2015, 01:55 AM
Yeah... wanted to try something different. I didn't buy it from him though as he lost all of his trees more than 10 years ago.

Kat2
06-21-2015, 05:05 PM
Speaking of figs for a minute...

Yes, once upon a time I really did propagate them and other plants:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58126 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58125&ppuser=17055)

Some of what the birds didn't eat:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=58125 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=58123&ppuser=17055)

Left are Blackie's flowers, right are quite delicious and in between are who knows what.

JP
06-21-2015, 07:44 PM
The black ones look delish... I like when they split open like that... But about those grapes, can you describe the fruit a bit Richard? I'm curious...

Richard
06-22-2015, 09:55 AM
The black ones look delish... I like when they split open like that... But about those grapes, can you describe the fruit a bit Richard? I'm curious...
From DWN:
Black Monukka Seedless Grape.
Large, purplish-black, sweet, crisp. Does not require as much summer heat as Thompson. Use fresh or for raisins. Early midseason. 100 hours. Self-fruitful. Cane or spur prune.

Kat2
06-22-2015, 12:31 PM
From DWN:
Black Monukka Seedless Grape.
Large, purplish-black, sweet, crisp. Does not require as much summer heat as Thompson. Use fresh or for raisins. Early midseason. 100 hours. Self-fruitful. Cane or spur prune.100 hours! Sounds wonderful but I suspect the humidity here would be a problem; it is for regular grapes.

Richard
06-25-2017, 01:01 AM
Unripe bunch of Gold Monukka Seedless, 6/21/17.

http://growingfruit-images.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/original/3X/0/8/087ca80933cc85e50ed55a5f1a803bb06f74e2c0.jpg