Are these the 5+ year old trees that weren’t getting enough light? I’ve noticed that most of my new and 2nd year trees have very few fruit set. Maybe 1-2 per tree, if that, with 0 on many, especially the new ones. My So and some of the grafts on it (like Honey Jar) again have a decent set. I bet that most of it is the fact that the tree is in year #6, but part of it could be the 15+ varieties grafted on the same tree. That’s got to help pollination. Maybe you need to try the paint-brush approach for a few days and see if it makes a difference. I may do that on some of the 2nd year trees.
I am excited to try some of the new varieties which have 1-2 fruits, such as Sherwood, Masandra, Tigertooth, and a few others.
I took @tonytran 's advice and have used a paint brush for the past 10 days on and off ( once every couple of days). HJ set fruit first. SC has had so many flowers but so far, I have not seen fruit set. Shanxi Li’s flowers open later than HJ and SC. I just started to use a paint brush on it. We’ll see.
I think HJ has a tendency to set fruit more readily. So far , I have about 10+ fruit on it and it is a new tree this year. Amazing.
The HJ graft sets well for me, but I’m not seeing any set on the HJ planted last year or the two from this year. Maybe it is a pollination issue. I’ll take a closer look tomorrow and maybe try out the paint brush.
if were to compare the productivity of HJ vs SC, HJ does seem to be more productive(on average), basing on findings over several years, while SC, even though quite productive compared to, say sihong and shanxi li, seems to be moody and inconsistent from year to year.
this year, however, SC proved capable of being the most productive cultivar, density-wise. Even more fruitful than abbeville, a cultivar we thought(for the longest time) was the most prolific of all jujus have come across.
below is one such SC, which have never seen this productive. Was probably subjected to the most favorable conditions of the microclimate it is growing in, and on the soil it is rooted on. Findings at Univ of New Mexcio report SC being a poor producer…
could also be the hole i dug up where dump most of the poop from feral kitty cats[quote=“k8tpayaso, post:326, topic:5823”]
Li has always been short and squatty…just jumped up another foot and a half
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your li and lang will likely be the tallest of your trees over a period of five years.
hj, chico, and sc tend to slow down around 10 feet. Btw, sc seems to be the best interstem to graft to as it seems to have the strongest wood… Most resistant to sagging even when branches/grafts are loaded with fruits. SC also produces plenty upright growth relative to size.
li may be the tallest, but upright stems often get saggy, especially if grafted over with budwood more prolific than itself.[quote=“mamuang, post:327, topic:5823”]
My HJ set sparsingly and several turn yellow and fell off like in the picture. I think poor pollination could be the main reason.
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pollination is definitely a factor. I veer more towards the roostock not ‘stockpiled’ enough to support fruiting, taking into account it was planted bare-root just recently. Production should increase with age, just make sure it gets as much direct sunlight
I have to share my recent experiment with jujubes.
I have been growing jujubes for ten years, but until this year I’ve been getting very dismal harvests. Until this year, they have only been given a meager amount of fertilizer in the spring…because they would have green leaves and good growth and I thought it would be a waste. This winter I spread a lot of horse manure and Azomite rock dust on all but three jujubes. All my jujubes this year are heavily loaded (not jujubemulberry loaded, but livinginawe loaded) with fruit…except for the three trees I didn’t fertilize and, of course, my GA-866.
I don’t know if it was the horse manure or the rock dust…but I will certainly continue with both. My theory (and it may be total b.s.) is that jujube’s long roots can easily reach down to the ammonium-rich layer of earth that lies from about 4 feet to 8 feet underground in dry western soils. Here in Northern Florida (where I live) there is no ammonium layer of earth…So here they need plenty nitrogen just like any other fruit tree would.
This is one of my “Li” jujubes. It has been the wettest year I can remember, and except for some splitting of fruit on my “Sugar Canes”, they haven’t seemed to mind the rain at all.
I have heard you say that (or read it somewhere) before. And I don’t have a sugarcane…yet! That will change even though when I went to Brenham I was less enamored of the taste of sugarcane fruit than the Chico I brought home. (Had a Chico straight off the tree this morning and even though it was only about 25% brown it was fantastic!!! It popped like a crisp apple when I bit into it and just a perfect balance of sweet/tart. Probably not as juicy as HJ will be–but certainly not dry.). Back to Li. It has put out a tremendous amount of upright stems but many seem to get “blighted out” easily. The growing tips will turn black. I don’t really see this happen on the laterals but many of the upright stems have been “nipped in the bud”
happy to hear your chico is fruiting on same year planted. Worth the brenham trip and the ~100$ investment, right? Chico seems to be a tough one to get to fruit in more northerly latitudes.
And yes, even though chico fruits during our intense summers tend to be dryish, the flavor is pretty good, we eat it like popcorn. Fruits ripened in cooler weather are more juicy and of much better quality.
chico and sihong are two of our faves, but they don’t even taste alike. Hard to reconcile they are of the same species!
as for sc, it seems to be better-tasting in regions with mild summers. It still remains one of the more popular varieties, so there must be a reason why.
as for summer die-back of your li, i have seen it occur on our trees too, but seem to be mechanical/thermal damage more than anything. If resulting from some disease, it is a localized occurrence. There’s literature have come across which mentions of jujus committing ‘localized suicide’ or something to that effect, to prevent systemic spread of disease/infection. Will post it when find it.
Chico is blooming now and has set some fruit so perhaps I will be able to compare but if it gets any better I will just be amazed.
I wondered if the Li was just self controlling its growth. It’s like it just gets to a point and stops dead (and black) but certainly doesn’t seem like it is hurting the rest of the tree or even lateral growth. Occasionally it will sprout another upright from just below that area.
I actually am paying more attention to how these trees grow–the structure, etc. They really have characteristics that are very interesting and are amazing at perpetuation which I guess adds to their longevity. The seedlings have been really amazing to watch. Here is an example…I call this one Lazarus:
you have milder summers(plus more humid), so possible your chico fruits are already at their ‘peak’ and not as dry as the ones we grow here. Still there is a chance it hasn’t attained its best quality since your tree was recently planted and relatively young. What was the size of the good one you just ate?
cicada damage is a possible cause. I have seen twigs go kaput after being slit by these >decade-old bugs.
speaking of lazarus’ wounds, some of the seedlings i thought were dead grew suckers( below soil level), figuratively rising from the dead. [quote=“mamuang, post:335, topic:5823”]
If this is a typical time Chico blooms in your area, I don’t think it will ripen in time in my area
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if remember it right, @BobVance or @scottfsmith(or both) have mentioned chico being tough to get to fruit. There’s no mention of chico(being grown relatively up north) in other fruit forums either. And there seems to be no mention of chico trees bearing abundantly in the state of washington, even though trees seem to grow well there(burntridge nursery being a reputable source of trees).
I don’t think it was me- I planted Chico last year, so it wouldn’t be fair to consider it a stingy bearer yet. After all, the Honey Jar I planted from the same BR order hasn’t fruited yet either. I’ll check it out tomorrow to see if there is any fruit-set on it, but I don’t remember it from a week or two ago.
) before. And I don’t have a sugarcane…yet! That will change even though when I went to Brenham I was less enamored of the taste of sugarcane fruit than the Chico I brought home. (Had a Chico straight off the tree this morning and even though it was only about 25% brown it was fantastic!!! It popped like a crisp apple when I bit into it and just a perfect balance of sweet/tart. Probably not as juicy as HJ will be–but certainly not dry.). Back to Li. It has put out a tremendous amount of upright stems but many seem to get “blighted out” easily. The growing tips will turn black. I don’t really see this happen on the laterals but many of the upright stems have been “nipped in the bud”
