seems like the texas nursery is beginning to run on all cylinders, and getting close to full throttle @k8tpayaso ! So happy and excited for you!
glad you found at least one cultivar to your liking @thecityman . I hope your upcoming trees get to be productive.
totally agree. While it is important for the EPA and USDA to scrutinize/regulate use of pesticides, irrigation practice, etc, it is at least as important to promote alternative crops which will somehow trivialize, if not totally do away with pesticides and irrigation issues. Everybody wins with a minimum or zero pesticide-use, minimal irrigation, and a bounty of nutritious, antioxidant-rich fruits borne by beautiful trees that also happen to have the longest productive lifespans. Of course not all regions of usa have conducive climates for juju farming(though @bobvance seem to prove otherwise), but those regions hospitable to jujus should take advantage in full-force, even if just as backyard operations and not necessarily commercial.
have seen @k8tpayaso transform from novice grafter to master grafter, and just noticed also quickly evolved from hesitant web designer to now artful webmaster, both in just a couple years
judging by development of fruitlets, should be able to tell by late july or early august. That is if there’s accuracy to ogw’s description that winter d is one of the earliest. Also hoping fruitlets of ogw’s autumn b reach maturity so can compare with what we already have.
I hadn’t seen it either. One other con I’d mention is that I’ve heard they aren’t good to plant too close to foundations, as they can send out roots quite a ways searching for water. I don’t think that is as much of an issue where I am, as they don’t need to go anywhere for water.
I wouldn’t say that yet. I’ve got one tree which is productive on the South side (the Northern half of the tree is mostly ornamental, with < 5 fruit per year). I planted it in October 2011 my first small harvest was in fall 2014. That means it took 3 growing seasons for them to become productive.
I was impressed with the fruit and started adding more trees the next year in spring 2015. But they were from Roger Meyers and the long gap between when they were dug and planted caused them to not make it. I also added 6 more trees that fall, though several were small ones from OGW and two of the others had winter dieback that first year. My real hope for this year is for the 8 I planted in spring 2016, which were large (5 Trees of Antiquity, 1 Sanhedrin, and 2 mediums from Burnt Ridge) which are now in year #3.
But, until I have a 2nd tree which produces, I’m not too confident in a blanket statement that they work here. I just need to find out what the combination of factors is. I continued by adding 15 in 2017 and 24 this spring- I need a bigger sample size. That’s spread across 6 sites total. At two sites the combination of slow growth and hungry deer was enough to kill all 4 trees (luckily only 2 trees at each of those locations).
40+ juju trees and counting! Looking forward to your success on several more cultivars/trees, and do keep us posted on your out-of-zone trials. Also hoping it is just a matter of longer gestation periods of jujus in zones with short growing seasons/less overall daylight hours.
that doesn’t sound too bad, at least from a las vegan’s perspective. Apples, apricots, and peaches take at least 3 growing seasons here to start producing reasonably-sized fruits, so seem to be less precocious overall, plus the qualms of borers and sudden-death syndromes.
3 years isn’t too bad, if that is what I get. I had a few trees which I kept in pots for a few years before planting and they haven’t done much since, even though they have had more than 3 years.
Jujube just aren’t that vigorous here. Apples are quicker than them by quite a bit and even the apples on dwarf rootstocks grow much quicker (~10’ in year #2 is common). And peaches are quicker than apples- I got maybe a dozen large excellent peaches from a 2nd year Carnival peach last year.
I look at the pics of loaded first year jujube trees and wonder what I would need to do to get that. Maybe shine a big grow light on the tree whenever it rains?
keep them potted or plant them in dumpsters with wheels, even though it sounds ridiculous.
jujus are sun-worshippers. The tiny potted specimens received from ogw seem to have responded quite positively to being moved around the property(on an almost daily basis) just so they get direct sun from sunrise to sundown.
I’m looking forward to your reports in a few years Bob!
I have three new spots with jujubes being tested, all more sunny than my original planting, but it will take a few more years before I have any data. Last year the deer munched back two of the three spots. I probably should fence them in, but they are close to “busting above” deer height at which point they are home free.
That’s spread across 6 sites total. At two sites the combination of slow growth and hungry deer was enough to kill all 4 trees (luckily only 2 trees at each of those locations).
