It’s been a bit. I didn’t know there was a new place. The one I’ve been to was in Lindale.
We are now operating out of our new location at 975 CR 2220 in Mineola, Texas. Come visit Bob Wells Nursery at Sorelle Farms.
2 Likes
I went to the new location for the first time recently. It was much nicer than the old location in Lindale. The folks there were helpful, but didn’t hover all over me. All of the plants looked healthy. I saw no reason to believe that Bob Wells Nursery won’t continue to be a good source for fruiting plants.
2 Likes
Thank, I’ll be ordering sometime this week.
Did you happen to get a peek at the jujubes? Curious how big they are. I’m needing one more for a potted experiment. Trying to decide if I want to do 120 miles round trip for one since they’re priced so high.
What jujubes are you looking for? I’m selling a few large ones (Li, Lang, Contorted). In Plano
I have Honey Jar and Sugarcane. Shanxi Li is the target, but I’m curious. Did you graft them yourself? If so, where did you source your wood for Contorted? I might be interested in that one. How big are we talking and price? Appreciate it.
Sent you a pm
I bought a HoneyJar from B Wells last week. It’s a Dave Wilson. Roots seemed small for a Dave Wilson but were ok. Doan’s in Irving says they’ll have their jujubees in 1-2 weeks.
2 Likes
I ended up calling Ison’s to make my order and they said they had the Muscadine I was looking for but It wasn’t updated on the web site, so I didn’t order any plants from Bod Wells. From what I found out I would buy from them in the future, I found no reason not to. I’m just worried when I see a site with copied pictures and not actual grown fruit.
1 Like
Are the jujube they sell in the spring bare root? I’m guessing they could be, as they’ve probably just received them from DWN.
The ones I got from them in late July were potted. Here’s the post (inc. pics) about my order. One of the trees was a bit smaller than I expected (3/8"), but it looks healthy. Prices are a bit high, but I knew that going in, as there weren’t many options in July…I’d have no problem ordering from them again if they had what I needed and it wasn’t available at one of my favorite jujube suppliers (Chinese Red Date, Grow Organic, Cliff England, and Trees of Antiquity).
Ended up making a trip out to Bob Wells. Jujubes weren’t spectacular. Smaller caliper, but tall. The exception was the Contorted. Good size/caliper Ended up grabbing one that was a little over 5 feet tall with some great branching. It looked amazing! It’s going in my front yard. The Korean Giant/Olympic pears were a nice caliper/size as well. Grabbed one of those.
The new location is much better than Lindale. I’ve never seen so many types of trees. It was great. Both trees were freshly potted. The rootball was nonexistent when I planted them. Soil just fell off. Just an FYI if you’re expecting a pot full of roots at this time. These suckers just came off the truck.
2 Likes
That is helpful. I just ordered three jujubes from them over the weekend, Honey Jar, Shanxi Li, and GA 866.
Most of these jujubes (Honey Jar in particular) are out of stock basically everywhere so I am happy to have found them.
I planted a Shanx Li and GA866 last spring and they grew well.
I knew next to nothing about them except what I had seen checking out permaculture vids on youtube… and then reading about them in nursery catalogs…
The appeal to me for JuJube was that they bloom late (May…) which is (after last frost for me pretty much always) and ripen late Sept or early Oct timeframe… and I needed more stuff getting ripe later in the year. Per OGW they said no known pest or diseases… which is a big plus. If frost never gets it, and no known pest or diseases… wow that is the bulk of what normally gives me fruit failure.
Even though I just planted them last spring, they did bloom some last year in May, but no fruit set (as expected).
I selected those two varieties, mostly based on description (larger fruit), and sweetness.
Glad to see someone else choose the same. Hope we both have good luck with them.
TNHunter
1 Like
I do not want to burst your bubble but would like to share my experience with Shanxi Li. I planted it with Honey Jar an Sugar Cane in the spring of 2016. I’ve found that the advertisement has only been half-correct so far.
The correct part is the fruit size is often large. I said “often” because they vary in size.
The incorrect part is “crunchy and sweet”. It is neither so far. It has foamy texture and hard to detect sweetness.
It is also poor setter. It flowers abundantly but set only small amount of fruit. Many fruit grew some, turned yellow/brown and dropped. When I cut them up, seeds were not formed, a sign of improper pollination.
It is still a young tree so I still have hope.
As for G866, I heard that it is very stingy about fruit setting. @BobVance grow both varieties. Hope he will share his experience with you.
mamuang…
hate to hear that… of course everyone I saw eating them on youtube raved about the crunchy sweetness… if they do turn out disappointing… it would not be my first time with that result from a new fruit purchase.
I think Blackberries and Peaches are the two things (so far) I have just never been disappointed in taste wise. Well except in years like last year when frost got all my peaches… I have never lost a blackberry crop to frost… they always produce and they both always just taste great.
I ate my first home grown raspberries last year Heritage and Fall Gold and also LoganBerries and my own home grown blueberries produced their first good crop. Oh so good.
I had Japanese plums in the past and when they did produce they were never disappointing. But they bloomed in Feb… so in 11 years I only got a couple decent crops off them.
I have a couple of European Plum trees that should produce first crop this year. Looking forward to trying those. Mt Royal and Rosy Gauge… I hope they turn out to be another that produces regularly and never disappoints flavor wise.
TNHunter
1 Like
Shanxi Li get’s mixed reviews- some people seem to get large tasty fruit from it, while both Mamuang and myself have gotten sporadic production, variable size and not great quality fruit. In perfect conditions (hot sunny areas, like CA), GA866 is supposed to be a stingy producer of very sweet fruit. In my part of the country, it makes nothing at all, at least in the 5 years I’ve had it for. Honey Jar, Contorted, and Sugar Cane all produce much more fruit. And HJ and SC are top quality (crisp, very sweet), with So being a step below them, but still very good.
I’d suggest grafting some other varieties on. Not only will they be better than the 2 you have, but they will add some pollination. Jujube wood is pretty hard, but grafting with it is pretty forgiving, about the same as apples, in terms of success.
I still have a couple Shanxi Li, but I’ve started to put some grafts on them. About half my GA866 is other varieties (one of which produced in the first (and subsequent years).
Interesting- the Contorted I got last summer from them was good sized as well. The other (Lang, a variety I don’t recommend) was smaller.
1 Like
Must be a bit quicker to grow in the Dave Wilson field. I didn’t even go in wanting this thing, but wow are they stunning looking trees without their leaves. I kind of want one of those flying dragon trifolate plants now.
1 Like
There are several excellent jujubes. In the east coast, Honey Jar and Sugar cane fit the bill and easy to find. Honey Jar’s fruit size is small and Sugar Cane’s fruit size is medium.
Don’t give up on jujubes, there are plenty of good ones out there.
1 Like
I haven’t tasted Shanxi Li yet. GA 866 is good and sweet but I have also been told it is stingy with fruit. I hope yours do well. Good idea to graft to them for different varieties. When I first stated “collecting” 
jujubes I wanted the big ones too. However don’t let the small ones pass you by. The trees bearing the smaller ones usually make up for size in numbers and that is good because you can eat these little guys like popcorn. And sweet they are!! Good luck with them!
1 Like