If you are in colder areas it's a good choice,. In the Okanagan area it might be good for up around Armstrong and Enderby. It's good choice for colder sites. It's would also be a decent cultivar to try around Grand Forks or Kamloops. You could also try Montreal Blues, Somerset or Trollhaugen as well. All of these are Elmer Swenson grapes and were developed for colder areas ie zone 4. What did you have in mind. Cheers
Hey Gilligan is that you.......it's Stu in Kelowna. I have been playing around with over a dozen seedless table grapes over the last couple of yrs. This yr Skookum & Sommerset got alot of praise from some of the top chefs here. My market potential is wider than the convetional as my audience is after taste and not concerned with size (bunch/berry size) So I have cuttings on their way but haven't found alot of grower experience with this grape. Looking for production figures etc. Do you know anyone PJ? Stu PS Trialing some hardy kiwis but have a friend here who is breeding kiwis in his backyard.....has some interesting results.
Here's one US growers experience with PJ....... I've only just planted my petite jewel vines a few years ago (2006), but they seem to lack vigor, and have yet to establish and fruit. Vines of frontenac, la crescent, marquette, foch, as well as others planted the same year have fruited and fully established in the same time period. The mother vines I collected from are at the UMN Hort Research and Breeding Center- those vines usually had severe die back each winter and yielded very few cuttings (winter low -30 degrees F). Although, those mature vines generally seemed to come out of the winter with enough surviving fruitful buds to produce a decent crop- considering that the vine is low vigor and produces small clusters. The fruit can be a complete loss in some years due to the lower third of the clusters not ripening. The top of the cluster will have plump juicy red seedless berries as normal, but the bottom of the cluster will have green shriveled tart unripened berries. Since the clusters and berries are small to begin with this defect can be a major problem, and I'm unsure what the cause is. As for eating quality, I think it is a very tasty and good grape for the northern climate, but I've decided not to sell it as it is not fit for commercial use. A more commercially viable alternative to P.J. is Somerset seedless, S.S. is the offspring of P.J., it has larger berries similar sized clusters, a slightly larger and more noticeable seed remnant, and more orange than red color. If P.J. was hardier, more vigorous, and always ripened clusters I could recommend it, but it also gets mildew on the foliage. P.J. is excellent for the backyard grower who can't grow any other seedless grapes, and doesn't mind the extra work and patience. It is one of my favorites, and I've used it in breeding to try to improve on its flaws. Good luck,keep me posted on your success!
Hi Stu. Thanks for the info. Have you tried Jupiter or Marquis there yet? There's spme interesting seedless grapes for the Valley. Personally my two favorites are Einset and Skookum. Andy Reynolds and I did a tasting at the Orchard Museum a few years back it was interesting to see the response to the grapes. As you know Einset can be really difficult to grow there. Another grape that I liked was Vanessa. It's a nice grape. I think Vern Rose had some up at his place as well. Another interestine vine was S 434 it had some nice fruit but was never named. Do you have Somerset there? Cheers K
Yes I am trialing .......Einset is such a challenge, not sure what to do with this variety. So far Vanessa (on my soil) has shown to be of low vigor. But like Einset, an excellent grape! I just received Andy's notes on his selections. I'd like to try 434. As for Sommerset, it ripened here late Aug, very sweet, beautiful color. Gave some to Rampone's Fruit Stand to give out.......most said they would buy. Given that they are a small grape with a small crunchy seed shows this has some market potential. Cheers
Here's more grower experience that's different......... REPLY IN CAPITALS within the body of your email (below) > Have received growers experience re PJ. Is this similar to your experience? > > Hi Stu, > > I've only just planted my petite jewel vines a few years ago (2006), but they seem to lack vigor, and have yet to establish and fruit. VIGOROUS HERE IN NEW BRUSWICK. Vines of frontenac, la crescent, marquette, foch, as well as others planted the same year have fruited and fully established in the same time period. The mother vines I collected from are at the UMN Hort Research and Breeding Center- those vines usually had severe die back each winter and yielded very few cuttings (winter low -30 degrees F). WE HAVE JUST HAD -40C (-40F) AND I DO NOT EXPECT ANY VIABLE BUDS ABOVE THE SNOW LINE /// CUTTINGS SHOULD BE TAKEN IN LATE FALL (NOV/DEC) BEFORE -30 TEMPERATURES OCURR !!! Although, those mature vines generally seemed to come out of the winter with enough surviving fruitful buds to produce a decent crop- considering that the vine is low vigor and produces small clusters. The fruit can be a complete loss in some years due to the lower third of the clusters not ripening. The top of the cluster will have plump juicy red seedless berries as normal, but the bottom of the cluster will have green shriveled tart unripened berries. Since the clusters and berries > are small to begin with this defect can be a major problem, and I'm unsure what the cause is. NONE OF THE ABOVE HAPPENS HERE. As for eating quality, I think it is a very tasty and good grape for the northern climate, but I've decided not to sell it as it is not fit for commercial use. A more commercially viable alternative to P.J. is Somerset seedless, I AGREE THAT SS IS A BETTER COMMERCIAL CHOICE BECAUSE IT HAS LARGER BERRIES. S.S. is the offspring of P.J., it has larger berries similar sized clusters, a slightly larger and more noticeable seed remnant, and more orange than red color. If P.J. was hardier, more vigorous, and always ripened clusters I could recommend it, but it also gets mildew on the foliage. P.J. HAS FEW MILDEW PROBLEMS HERE IN THE 'MILDEW CAPITAL OF CANADA' WITH HIGH HUMIDITY CONTINENTAL AIR MASSES IN SUMMER. Stu
So this posting is super old but is one of the only resources in Google when searching for Skookum, Einset and Petite Jewel. For those looking for seedless grape growing in zone 4 you can read about my experience north of Ottawa. I'm growing Somerset, Concord seedless, Petite Jewel *but has seeds so probably mislabeled, Valient, Vanessa, Catawba, Swenson Red, Bluebell, and 2 mystery grapes (supposedly Polar Green from Green barn but it is actually blue, and Pink Pearl from Green barn but is also blue). This years summary can be found at: My Backyard planting experience (Part 2) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Canada or My Backyard planting experience (Part 2) - Zone 4a/b Quebec, Canada Summary. Somerset is an AWESOME seedless grape. Super sweet, amazing flavor, nice crunch and ripened this year between 1st and 3rd week of august in zone 4b!
