Jujube 2023

Will XC 815 have a name? The long body with a pointed end makes it look interesting. How did it taste?

I got a few Sihong this year. It was sweet and quite dense, not what I call crunchy.

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No I didn’t.

BTW, I still think you’re review is awesome and has been very helpful to myself and others.

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Sorry- I just re-read it. You said it was a long season, but not much heat. The extra few months of season with highs in the 60’s looks a lot like the last month of our season, when late jujubes ripen. I think you would do better than you think with late season jujubes.

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@BobVance
But I have marine layer all spring. A dozen miles inland the later ripening varieties probably work just fine.

That’s possible, as jujubes do take a while to get started every spring, at least here. They get started earlier in Kentucky, which is why Cliff has issues with late frosts in April. Here that is just called a normal frost.

Maybe graft a branch and try it out? :slight_smile: That should be my motto…I think I’m close to 100 varieties now, even though I only listed ~50 that I’ve had fruit from so far.

That is the name I received it under. Though I do see “Xuan Cheng Jian” written next to XC815 on one of Cliff’s lists of trees, so it is possible that is the full name.

It wasn’t bad, but didn’t stand out. Not surprising for such a new graft. If it produced the grafting year, I think it has a shot of doing the same next years, so we’ll see…

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I grew Li here. I would not want anything later.

@BobVance
What are your favorite large fruited cultivars for fresh eating?

A lot of the large fruited ones blend together. In past years, I think Dae Sol Jo was a bit better than average, but this year it was about the same as Li, Shanxi Li, Allentown, Da Bai Ling, Redlands, etc.

Sihong and Pinggou are “pretty large”, though not quite as big as the above varieties. They both seem to have the most upside in terms of fruit quality, though maybe not consistently. Autumn Beauty is another large one that a lot of people like. It is early season and I think I like it a bit better than Li, though not by much. Though Autumn Beauty took a step back in production this year, so in a slightly sunnier area it could be more consistantly good.

The largest fruited jujube with high quality and productiveness are Sugar Cane and KFC, which are more medium to medium large.

Having said that, I think size is overrated for jujubes. I am just as happy eating small Honey Jars, as I am with the large fruited ones. In fact, when my wife was giving away (or in some cases selling) jujubes, she felt bad giving people Li and asked for more Honey Jar.

The one area where I prefer large jujubes is in terms of saving picking time. It is much, much faster to pick 5-10 pounds of Li, than of Honey Jar.

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Curious how long it took yours to start producing. It’s been freeloading for 5 or 6 years here.

Few years back we were both talking about getting Empress Gee. Did you ever get it?

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I have Li in Georgia (8A). On its third leaf, it set a lot of fruit, but dropped it all (or at least the birds got what it didn’t drop). Here is what it looked like this summer:

It is still a pretty small tree, about 7 feet tall, but spindly. It is not in the best location.

I ordered Empress Gee from OGW back in 2020 and planted it that fall. It was typical OGW size (very small), but took off well in the spring and even set fruit, most of which I picked off. The fruitlets appeared significantly larger than Honey Jar fruitlets of the same stage of development. Unfortunately, the little tree got mowed down in its first growing season and died.

I just put a new Empress Gee in the ground this fall.

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I think most Li have at least a few fruit by year 3, with a more substantial harvest by year 5. But, I have a site where the soil doesn’t seem to hold water well and all the jujubes are a bit slow growing. At that site, the Li still produced only 1-2 fruit in year #6. At that site, a Sugar Cane of the same age has a sparse to moderate set, only exceeded by a Bok Jo with a heavy set.

I actually got 2. I planted one 2 years ago and it is gradually sizing up, but still small. The 1 gal potted OGW trees take me forever. The other EG is still in a pot, also growing slowly. In 2022 it had 3 fruit. I accidentally knocked one off when it was green (trying to take a photo…) and something else ate the other 2. No fruit this year, so I haven’t gotten any yet. Maybe next year.

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That’s what mine has done the last some odd years and I’ve yet to taste one. I think Bob is right, the location makes a difference. I have varieties in other locations that are pumping out the fruit.

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SiHong is always consistent in my locale. It gets plenty of heat and sunlight. Yes, it is dense but it always has consistently good sweet flavor.

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Katy, I looked up your city in the Solar atlas and you are actually in the less sunny part of Texas (the Eastern half). Your solar generation potential is only 6% more than I have, with 10.5% more direct irradiation.

Since I saw a 13% swing in my generation from one year to the next, it would seem that Katy’s production isn’t out of my reach in a good year. And I did have some very good Sihongs in 2022.

I suspect the reason that the solar potential is only 6%, while the irradiation is 10% higher is that solar panels don’t work quite as well at high temps and you’ve got plenty of those.
In fact, the site also lists your average air temperature as 67F (including winter, night, etc). A while ago, I saw something (a journal paper?) from Prof Yao which said that jujubes could be grown productively down to about 50F annual mean temp. Mine is 53F and Mamuang’s is 50F, putting her just on the line. That could be another factor.

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And that surprises me…… but we are very much more vernal than most of the Texas areas and have more rainfall I’m sure but the summer sunshine is endless and hot. Our area is fairly forested but within 30 miles or less of the start of mesquite which begins the west and trees that don’t reach the sky so to say. It’s funny too that the hardiness zone dips right in my area and could actually be on the line of 7b……that is until they made us 8b which is really a farce. I tell you what though…… I’ll trade summers with you…… :woman_facepalming:

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Thank you for the recommendation. I would considerate it if I lived in Riverside, but not here in western Vista (sunset zone 23).


But doesn’t Li do well for you?
If so, why wouldn’t Chico?

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Marta describes Chico #1 here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I8PqgnN2iv4?feature=share
She says it’s unrelated to ‘Chico’. I’ll give it a try here in the Arizona, 9b pizza oven.

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Okay. I’m kinda of a die hard Chico fan and the Chico that was born in Chico California. I don’t know if I can do a Chico #1 that is so much different than Chico (plain). :joy::joy::joy:

Would love to try it but oh the name……

:flushed::flushed::flushed::joy::joy::joy::joy:

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I have a similar problem. I will not grow Chico 1 unless it’s renamed.

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I am with you and @k8tpayaso – I am too OCD to have two Chicos after all the work I’ve put into labeling and record-keeping for my fruit trees. Having both “Chico” and “Chico #1” would mess up my system.

But I also would hate to forswear a good jujube tree. I think that if all the jujube growers on this forum assented to a new name, we could make a de facto name change happen. All that we have to do is agree on a name, preferably one that will allow people to quickly associate the relationship between the new name and the former “official” name with minimal investigation.

I propose that Chico #1 should be renamed Chica. I could deal with having both Chico and Chica in my little orchard.

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