Honey Jar and Sugar Cane Jujubes just became available!

@BobVance, Yes. Bob, a big upgrade (based of the size of the tree). When I dug the little one up, there were some roots that I cut off. There not not a lot of roots, though. Could be the fact that I did not give the tree any fertilize last year. .

My friend just text me. She called the HJ I gave her “a twig”. I don’t blame her. She will be busy fending off voles (killed many of her trees and rose bushes), bunnies, deer, groundhogs. She is willing to put a chicken wire fence for this HJ.

I hope she succeeds. Among our group of 10 friends, I am the only one who have eaten fresh jujubes. By next year, I may be able to convert a few of them to grow jujube as long as the trees remain disease-and insect-free. :smile: .

2 Likes

I am actually laughing at how obsessive I can be…

There is green starting on my HJ

Katy

6 Likes

i, too, fuss about the fuzzy growth(no matter how microscopic), especially with newly-acquired cultivars or if grafted them recently.

with bare-roots, this period is most critical-- so best to keep the roots moist at all times for at least three months. Most fruit scionwood, including jujus, are packaged and shipped in ziploc bags by nurseries. When left outdoors in spring, many of these will ‘try’ to leaf out in warmer weather, using what little stored food/moisture they may have in their stems and from the foggy conditions in the bag. This of course ends in death once the stored moisture runs out(since it is difficult to get them to form roots as plain cuttings).

every time we receive bare-root trees, the specimens are expectedly better off compared to bud wood, since roots store plenty food and moisture, and have ability to grow rootlets/root hairs, but there will always be that possibility that most of the roots, having been cut too closely to the trunk, may not be able to sprout rootlets(since the closer the roots are to the trunk, the more woody they tend to be), so keeping the entire root system moist maximizes the chances of rootlets developing, especially if the root buds are few and far in between. If it so happens that part of the root system with the only viable rootbuds is on the dry side, the chances of those developing decrease.

some bare-roots will leaf out and even flower, giving the impression that all is well, but this is because merely using food and water from the thick, woody root stumps. Ultimately the moisture runs out especially if the root stumps cannot generate rootlets.

of course, bare-roots leafing out are always better than bare-roots not leafing out at all. And the ga-866 i obtained from burntridge which intend to give away has yet to leaf out from the three or four undamaged nodes along its length… Pointless to ship a 5 foot long specimen if the majority of the nodes have been recklessly cut off/destroyed :rage:

3 Likes


A terrific sign!! Several green nodes coming out of my Honey Jar. Six in fact. Awesome!!!

4 Likes

I was really getting nervous after seeing all of you guys pushing green for a few days now. I finally got my first tiny glimpse myself! Yea! Mine looks about like @k8tpayaso ’ s photo- you’d really have to zoom in to see it! But its there…and I’m excited. We are all a bunch of nuts aren’t we? Who gets so excited about a tiny bit of green. Imagine how we’ll be acting when we get fruit! ha

4 Likes

Very good! Have been wondering how yours was doing. Mine is very visible now from multiple nodes so I am quite chuffed. (as my hubby would say)

6 Likes

Taken today. Looking good.

4 Likes

Very nice! Mine looks about the same. Waking up!

1 Like

Mine is finally showing signs of life!

3 Likes

I just have to join in…MINE TOO! :slight_smile:

4 Likes


I like what I see today!!

5 Likes

Almost identical to my HJ. My Sugar cane is way ahead of my HJ, which is interesting since I planted them on the same day, they came from same place, the the HJ was much, much bigger. Oh well…they are both doing good. Nice to see yours and mine are so close…now the race is on to see who gets the first fruit! :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Outstanding to hear yours are doing great and at about the same growth rate as mine. I have mine in absolute 100%- 360 degree full sun. Can’t wait for some fruit! Would be awesome to see some fruit set in its first season with me. Also, I may have to get a SC as its partner at some point. Let’s see how your SC does over the next 7-9 months first. :;

1 Like

sure…let me spent the $50 and be the guinea pig! haha. just kidding…be glad to let you know how it goes.
It is in the realm of possibility to actually get a fruit or two the first year. I know @mamuang got one from a couple of her jujubes the first year, so fingers crossed. Btw…I’ve forgotten if you have said- have you ever tasted a jujube? I haven’t but can’t wait.

2 Likes

:joy: :joy::joy:"guinea pig". Hahahah!!
Sounds like the SC may even turn into your #1 jujube if any indication can be made from its very nice start. In fact I have not yet tasted a fresh jujube fruit or fresh picked fig, persimmon, paw-paw or even a mulberry for that matter. I grew up in western Washington and ate a ton of fresh apples, huckleberries and blueberries though. :metal:t2::heavy_check_mark::ok_hand:
I’ve got to come up and see your orchard at some point. My dad flys in to Nashville tomorrow but it’s after dark. At some point this summer I plan to stop by and come see ya though.:heavy_check_mark::+1:

1 Like

You are in for all sorts of treats then! I had a paw paw tree for 3 years before I finally got to try some (not from those trees though). I like them but people seem to either love or hate them- hope you are among the former. You really should be able to find some wild ones to try this fall- that’s how I got to try them. I just looked at lots of photos to learn what the tree and leaves looked like. Then I started going on hikes through the woods all around where I live (including just stopping on the sides of roads where I saw large patches of woods near creeks. I figured most people wouldn’t get too upset once I explained that I was just looking for a wild tree). Sure enough, I found several patches growing in many different places, made a mental note, and went back during harvest season. I even dug 2 trees up the following spring and put them in my orchard-something many folks said would be almost impossible due to the long tap root. The wild paw paws that grow in our area may not be quite as good as cultivated varieties (whioch I haven’t tried yet myself) but most people say they are pretty similar. So you might want to do some looking this year and you can probably get to pick some this fall.

I’ve only tried wild mulberries as well. THere are even more of those here where we live. But people say there is a lot of difference in the type of wild mulberries that grow wild here and some of the cultivated ones.

I think I’ve already told you my experience with fresh figs. Bought and planted my first tree before I ever tried one. I’ll never forget the first day I got to eat one off my tree. I just stood there in awe going “oh my god”. It was and is my all time favorite tree fruit- or at least tied with Spring Satin Pluot for that position. You will love them! Last I heard you were thinking about Celeste and/or Brown Turkey and I told you I hadn’t had much success with those but for me Chicago Hardy has been extremely successful. But the first 2 should do fine here, I seem to be the exception. Have you planted any?

Let me know when you want to come see my little orchard, you are welcomed. Give me a few days notice so I can at least mow! ha.

1 Like

Yes! I do plan to look around for some Paw-paws this year using similar techniques you have highlighted. That’s fantastic you were able to transplant some paw-paws (more proof, similar to growing sweet cherries in our area that you cant always believe what you hear or read). I do have two small whips planted (mystery paw-paws) I picked up from a farmers market near the WKU campus in Bowling Green. The seller said they were from Kentucky State University.
Yesterday afternoon I noticed many native American Persimmons budding out on the outskirts of my wood lines. At least a dozen or so of many different sizes. I can see a lot of persimmons grafting and transplanting in my future.

With figs I planted the Brown Turkey and Olympian in the fall and have absolutely no life showing on them (Is this normal?). Last month I planted a Chicago Hardy that has a few leaves growing on it and yesterday I added a White Versailles to the fig area of the orchard. I also received fig cuttings from a fellow colleague. Its mother tree he has had for 10 years and has reached as tall as his house. He says it gets 100s of figs every year. I would imagine its a Chicago Hardy (he has no idea the type). Hopefully those root out. I understand your documented struggles with fig cuttings but at least you still have managed to get a few to take. Sure would love to get a take from a fig tree (only a few miles away from my orchard) that has proved itself in a big way.
Ha! Speaking of mowing my orchard is already showing enough growth for the bush hog to be put to use. I was wanting to wait until May to first mow.

1 Like

Hey Zack. You mentioned wild persimmons, have you ever tried any of the Asian ones like Hachiya or Fuyu? Once again, I had some planted here before I ever tried them. I ended up finding them at Publix, which is the only retail grocery I have EVER seen carry them in our area, so you might keep that in mind. They are also the only grocery store in our area that I’ve seen fresh figs…though I’m VERY VERY reluctant to tell you that because I don’t want your first fresh fig to be one of those. THey pick them green in CA and by the time you buy them here at Publix they are all beat up and just not good at all. The good news is you have a pretty good shot at getting a few Chicago Hardy the same year you plant it- I hope so. On the Asian persimmons, you probably know by now that there are soft, astringent ones that are SLIGHTLY like the ones you have in your woods (but a million times better. The main similarity is they both have that pucker-your-mouth astringency if eaten a little under ripe. I like the astringent ones 1,000 times more than the hard, non astringent ones (they eventually soften up some too, but not as much). But of course that is just personal taste and many if not most people prefer the fuyu types. Have you tried any Asian Persimmons? I’ve planted several. In my experience in our area, Hachiya gets winter killed every few years if it gets too cold. I’ve had Saijo planted 18 feet away those same winters and it made it fine. Same with Fuyu. Chocolate has survived so far but its only been 2 years for it and no hard-core winters in those years.

The fact that your PawPaws came from KSU bodes well for them. As you probably know by now, KSU is one of-if not the- premier research programs in the USA for pawpaws. I’d say your chances with those are better than my chances with my wild ones in terms of getting great fruit. Of course, I have that 1 in a billion chance that mine will turn out to be some extraordinary tree that I can patent and make millions from! (hey…a guy can dream can’t he. I know my chance of winning the lotto and getting hit by lightening on the same day are much better. ha.

I hope your fig cuttings work out. Just like I said about not letting my bad luck with Celeste and Brown Turkey discourage you (since most people in our area do well with them), the same thing goes for rooting figs. It seems everyone in the world has a much higher success rate than me, and I bet you’ll do fine. I will also tell you that I have a batch going now that is looking much better. And even the last set I did and complained about so much ended up rooting 3 out of 10. That’s a pathetic rate of success, but if you even get that then at least you will end up with a tree of the fig you’ve been sent, and in the future you’ll be able to cut your own wood and try to root it.

I can’t believe you’ve been able to avoid mowing this long. I tend to put it off more than most and I mow much less often than I should, but I’ve already mowed my orchard once and it needs it again right now. GRRR!

Sorry to babble on, but its always a little more fun chatting with folks who are so close by and have such similar experiences. Its also exciting to communicate with someone who-just like me 4 years ago- has never tasted a lot of unusual fruits and is also very excited to have found this new hobby. No one knew less than I did in 2011 when I bought my first fruit tree, and it’s been soooo much fun learning and growing and trying new things and so on. You remind me so much of my own experiences. I’m one of the least experienced and informed growers on this site, but because we are so close geographically I hope I’ll be able to help you as time goes on. And again, let me know if you want to come see my little Orchard some time. Just remember that the vast majority of my trees are 0-3 years old, and haven’t fruited so there isn’t much to see now. That is compounded by the fact that I lost all plums, most peaches, and many other things in the late freeze this year. Take care.

3 Likes

Hey Kevin, [quote=“thecityman, post:278, topic:9740”]
have you ever tried any of the Asian ones like Hachiya or Fuyu?
[/quote] Nope, never had the privilege yet of trying a persimmons of any type. I look forward too it! We do have a Publix near by so it will be tempting to check in with them this season and see what they carry near here. I am excited about my figs in particular the Chicago Hardy–especially since it has been the big winner for you. When I was in Nashville last night to pick up my father at the airport I stopped in and checked out what the Lowes up by Dickerson Pike had. They had one type of Fig, about 20 1 gallon “Nero” types. I was certain they would have been carrying Chicago Hardy. Anyways, since I have about 5 first year figs I decided to pass on it. Makes me wonder about the “Nero” though. Very little info from a few internet searches.“Nero - A large purplish black fig with light pink pulp. Turbinate-pyriform with a flattened apex. Eye is medium-sized and open. Very good to excellent flavor—fairly sweet and rich. Well adapted in the Southwest and South.”
Well maybe I should have picked one up after the statement, " Well adapted in the Southwest and South". When I take him back next week I am sure I will. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I usually put off the mowing until its about 2 feet high pasture grass. I cant be cutting 20 acres of grass every two weeks. LOL

1 Like

You know what is funny about the Lowes fig thing? For the last 5 years the only fig Lowes around here have carried IS Chicago Hardy!!! Then all of a sudden this year every Lowes I have been to have these “Nero” figs. I don’t know about them either. Also, in the past Lowes has usually had a pretty large selection of fruit trees but this year the ones in my area only have a few varieties of each fruit type, and not a lot of those. At a time when backyard fruit growing is on the rise, this is surprising. Walmarts, on the other hand, seem to have picked increased their selection and those in my area had some really neat trees. I picked up one of those White Donut peaches in Bowling Green, and 2 Euro plums in Springfield, TN. (Green Gage and French Prune (purple). Several of them also had Loring peach trees as well as several standard peaches (Red Haven, contender, etc). BTW…speaking of persimmons, if you get to Bowling Green very much there is a store there called Stockdales that also had some great trees earlier in the year, including Chocolate Persimmons which I’d never seen at a retail store. They also had a LOT of multi-grafted trees (ie 3-4 apples on 1 tree) for the same price as all their other trees (about $25) which really surprised me since they are usually more expensive. I don’t have any of those and most people here seem to think they aren’t a good idea since one variety tends to outperform the others…but its neat to see them so cheap at a local store.

Well, you didn’t ask for it but there is a run down of all the nursery stock in our area! haha (well, more my area than yours but you mentioned being in Bowling Green the other day.(I think). Good luck with mowing 20 acres. I’ve got 8 and start dreading the next mowing the same day I finish one. ha

1 Like