Jack,
Down the road, can you update me how the Globe jujube taste. I want to add on more good jujube varieties to my collection.
Tony
If it takes, I certainly will. Right no I’d say my chances are less than 50/50 with the globe. But the Admiral Wilkes is looking real good.
I had been babying the Globe but decided to give up today. I’m glad I did. There was no sign of bonding between the rootstock and scion when I tore it apart. I cut it off below the graft but above a new Tigertooth branch that had started. I had good green cambium so decided to regraft there. I plan to leave the tigertooth branch in place as a nurse branch. If the globe graft fails again, I’ll at least still have tigertooth root stock that I can try to graft again later in the field.
juju’s are quite responsive to grafting. True that grafting involves a little bit of skill, but among fruit trees, juju scions seem to get by on the slightest of cambium contact. Only problem is that jujube wood is very hard and tough.
which is why would rather graft using the tiniest of twiglets… Here’s a pic of one of the tiniest grafts i got lucky with. Grass around it is bermuda, for scale. Too tiny to have used my wide-bladed grafting shears…
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Juju
Good luck with the little guy. Watch out for rabbit because it will be gone in a second. BTW what is the understock and the variety of the graft?
Tony
Hi Tony, the understock is the rootstock sucker(wild type ‘spinosa’ used for nearly all nursery-grown jujus), which pops up every now and then, and here and there. The scion twig is the variety sihong.
I currently don’t get rid of them, and simply decapitate close to the ground and graft with tiny scion twigs from my preferred jujus. Our yard is fenced with concrete block and the lower part of the gate has a wire mesh grid, so no rabbits(so far). Rabbits/hares are not too common around here in vegas, but i do see them in areas closer to the mountains/periphery.
it is the amorous feral cats which usually end up disturbing the smaller plants, as they chase each other around and tussle and tumble over the yard as they fight/mate
I’m around 70 miles north of there, Autumn Beauty is the one that survived so far, around 7’ tall, no fruit yet, I have a rootstock nearby that flowers at the same time, so maybe some time will get fruit, plan to plant my tigertooth nearby, too.
After a couple accidents with grafting knifes, I made this simple grafting tool that gives a perfect cut.
The idea is to line up the device on the scion or rootstock, and then wack it with a small board. I cut the scion first and put the cut end in water. As soon as I cut the rootstock, I put a drop of water on the cut. You don’t want your scion or rootstock cut to dry out (but dab them dry just before joining. I only do whip grafting without cutting a tongue and have a high success rate. Also, I cover the whole scion in parafilm tape, sometimes wrapping the joint with electrical tape OVER the parafilm to get a more secure graft, finishing off with a piece of aluminum foil over the black electrical tape to reflect sunlight heat.
I realize that most of the people in this forum are very adept at grafting, but I spent several years and lost 90% of my jujube and persimmon grafts (everything else is easy) before I used this “cheaters” device.
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Just bark graft jujube and you will get greater than 90% take. You can also see Dr Yao video on YouTube.
Tony
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I don’t grow or graft jujubes, but I commend you on three things, Mark. You recognized you had a problem, put your creative skills to work to construct a solution, and shared it with others. Thanks.
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jujube wood is very hard, so any version of innovation, cheat, or hack deserves consideration.
btw, Tony, i saw Dr Yao’s video, and perhaps she has good stats with her grafts, but with the entire university system at her disposal, she definitely has plenty of budwood to practice with and that, in itself, helps boost confidence
as for the rest of us, many tend to be a little sparse on budwood supplies(specially the rare ones)-- hence the need to employ or even invent gadgets or techniques in an attempt to max out success rates. Speaking for myself, i use the newest or the most recently sharpened blades on those budwood which are hard to find or in short supply, and tend to give extra water to the rootstoc, and apply splints and even a ‘cone-collar’ to prevent wind/bird damage, just to max out peace of mind.
with other budwood, i tend to be less careful and don’t give much thought or extra care, using old and dulled blades, skimping on the paraffin,
and treating it less of an endeavor and more of a chore, lol!
sadly-- murphy’s law applies quite often, that my batting average for the latter approach is often just as good as my batting stats for the former.
but still, no regrets,as i will only have myself to blame for not being extra careful
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I tried grafting jujubes for the first time this year. I had some success with whip and tongue, but based on my very limited experience what I liked best were 3-flap (banana) grafts. The bark on jujubes seems strong enough to give a little more support than with other species, and since the main cuts with a banana graft are made with shears, it seemed to bypass the need for knowing how to keep a knife super sharp or having special skill with the knife for cutting extra hard wood.
Very cool! I had to look up banana graft, since I had no clue. Seems as though it would be an easy graft, as long as the bark is slipping. Thanks, I will give it a try.
The knife part of a banana graft is easy, I think, and, of course, the adjoining cuts between rootstock and scion (made with the shears) are super easy, but holding everything in place properly for wrapping/securing is, for me, the really tricky part of banana grafts. I’ve done banana grafts by myself, but it challenges my dexterity enough that I mostly ask one of my children to help hold things while I wrap and secure.
Try placing a rubber band over the stock after cutting off the top. Double it over enough times that it’s tight. Then after cutting everything and placing the scion roll the rubber band up over the junction. That will secure the scion until you can wrap it better.
I like the banana graft and should try it on more species.
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Four-flap is a staple for pecans and hickory.
Great idea. Gives you that extra help/fingers so the graft can be completed by yourself.
You jujube gurus. We have a jujube tree that is broken at the lower graft union. The graft union looks yellow and I think it is weak.
The root stock is very strong, and the top growth is long. I’m thinking of trying to graft the tree by myself.
The rootstock is quite think. I can either bark graft, or try to graft it on another rootstock. How should I prepare the scion wood? Keep two bud sections or longer? Is this a good time to graft?
bark grafting or simple budding are the two best options imo. If your other jujus are already leafing out, you may do it now, and if not, you might want to store your scionwood in the fridge, then plant the rootstoc in a pot/ground and wait for your other jujus or the rootstoclk to show signs of quickening. Then graft to the rootstock once your outdoor jujus start leafing out.
i try to keep the budwood as short as i can(one node per budwood), unless the node has signs of damage.
If you would like to have the same Jujube cultivar then cut the top of that broken tree into scion woods with one node per stick and follow Jujus instructions above. You can watch Dr Yao video on YouTube how to Bark graft Jujube. Good luck.
Tony