You obviously didn’t get a good variety in its prime. Some are better before they turn brown, some when partly brown and some when evenly brown. After the brown stage they get wrinkled but a good variety should be even sweeter then–but they won’t have that crisp fresh texture. Some varieties are just not that good for fresh eating. Did you know what cultivar you were eating?
1 Like
Some turn brown without ripening. That’s what you got. There are different reasons for this including lack of heat, lack of sunlight and lack of water. If you get a ripe one, you will like it.
3 Likes
I tried one from 3 or 4 different trees, although I’m not really sure which was which. I know they had Li, Lang, Honey Jar, and Sugar Cane on site.
1 Like
Most jujube varieties are drying varieties and taste like sawdust, that sounds like what you ate. So in their older trees there are probably lots of those. More recently nurseries have figured out that people in the US want fresh eating ones mainly.
Try Honey Jar or Sugarcane. They are the best fresh. Sweet, crunchy and more juice without the sponge feel even at the brown stage.
Tony
2 Likes
How sweet it is!!!
Tony
2 Likes
you did it!
2 Likes
Raf, @tonyOmahaz5, et al,
I’ve saved a few HJ seeds. Could you please explain how I could sprout these seeds?
Should they be cracked open right away or leave the seeds to dry before cracking?
Once seeds are cracked, should I put them in potting soil right away?
I want to be successful growing seedlings… I killed them in the past 
1 Like
What I did the last several years by washing the whole seeds with 50/50 bleach/water soln. Let them air dried. I then placed them in a sandwich zip lock bag and stored them in the refrigerator. I cracked the seeds carefully with a vice grip in late March then planted straight into pots with Miracle Gro moisture control potting mix.
Tony
3 Likes
I have cracked them right after eating them and I have let them dry out. Both have germinated for me. They are softer before they dry out and I think easier to crack. However, it’s probably a hard time if the year for you to plant them now. Last year I planted one in late fall and it came up in early December. I kept it in the house until spring and even then when I took it outside for daylight sunshine it still went into a dormancy type period where it lost its leaves and I thought it was dying only to leaf back out in early summer. Unless you had a very sunny place to keep them warm until summer it would be best IMO to wait until spring like Tony recommended. I have found that HJ seeds are very quick to sprout but they don’t seem as vigorous as rootstock once “born”. That being said I have grown several into 1 foot tall trees. I’m hooked on growing these little seedlings!!
2 Likes
OK. They do need cold startification. Thanks, Tony. Will pick all of my remaining 7 HJ to eat and keep the seeds as you suggest. Muchas gracias.
I don’t think they needed cold stratify but I just do it anyway for long storage
Tony
2 Likes
Thanks, Katy. I tend to kill seedlings with over/under watering in pot quite a bit.
1 Like
They don’t have to have it but with winter coming on they will probably do better if you wait. These are my HJ seedlings I planted in late August but remember I have a very long growing season and usually don’t get frost until mid November.
3 Likes
i agree with @tonyOmahaz5 and @k8tpayaso 's inputs. And yes, i couldn’t discern differences in viability between stratified and non-stratified seeds. @k8tpayaso actually germinated non-spinosa jujus(named cultivars) en masse using seeds obtained from fruits harvested on the same year. More than i have, i think.
2 Likes
I overwatered a lot of my seeds. I don’t really know how detrimental it was but I think it did keep some from sprouting. I had one seed sprout in almost powder as it had missed getting watered. It’s really hard to decide how much they need watering. We just had a lot of rain and my seedlings are soaked but I actually think they are looking better so perhaps I was keeping them too dry. It’s really hard to judge but once they get up and growing they seem to be able to take a good soaking as long as they have good drainage and can dry out some in between. We were watering my inground Chico and accidentally left the water running all night…it actually did better after a good soaking. So, yeah, it’s hard to judge.
1 Like
most literature about jujus say you should stratify the seeds, but evidently isn’t true.
3 Likes
I planted my So in ground last year. It did not do much at all last year. This spring I dug it up and put it in pot. It has growm well and I saw several flower buds on it.
I got a small Maasadra which is about one foot tall has flowers on it. It is in pot, too. Anyone can tell me what Maasandra tastes like. @jujubemulberry, @, @BobVance, @tonyOmahaz5 , etc?
4 Likes
ogw messed up by massandra order last year(seems like it was black sea or winter d they sent me). So re-ordered this spring and from what could see it appears to be the real deal. It also appears to be ‘early’ but of course it depends on when fruits start getting tan. Will definitely update findings here
at any rate, below are the rapidly developing fruits took a picture of a couple weeks ago
4 Likes