I just checked my fruit set… there are still a few blossoms left but only a couple fruits to be found. Another bad year. I cut down many of the permanently unproductive ones this spring so the trees left are getting more light, still only 6-7 hours per day though.
I put in a couple new stocks in the sunnier front yard but the deer munched them (motion detector sprinkler battery ran out) and I’m not sure they will make it. I will buy some Li/Lang types for next spring and graft to them. Or maybe I will dig up some root sprouts.
please keep us posted
quite peeved that a possible(future)juju advocate is not getting good results,
am also intrigued-- sorely in fact, why some of us seem to have sparse fruit production, which should not be the norm.
It looks like I’m still getting fruit-set, especially from this spring’s grafts. I’ve got (small) fruits on 2 different Honey Jar grafts and on one graft each for Winter Delight, Shanxi Li, GI 1183, and Autumn Beauty. I’m still not sure if any of this will ripen before winter- even if it does, it probably won’t be representative fruit. But, at least it indicates that they fruit relatively easily (when it is sunny and in the 80’s…).
It probably helped pollination to have so many on the same tree- that way ants and other crawling insects can help out. All the above grafts except one of the Honey Jars is on my large (really a 6’x6’ bush) Contorted So.
One other graft of note is GA 866. It has put on very good growth, but only has a few flowers. That could be a big part of the reason it doesn’t fruit much- fewer flowers to start with, as opposed to any particular pollination difficulty.
Here’s a pic of the Winter Delight graft, with a couple easy to see fruit and at least a couple more which are harder to see in the pic.
awesome update.
You actually got me beat re winter delight, when did you graft yours? Grafted mine earlier this yr and there hasn’t been much vegetative growth. Plenty flowers but all dropping off.
cells of budwood probably shell-shocked by and still adapting to the brutal summer heat and the dry air we have here, having been shipped from a milder and more humid state.
I grafted that Winter Delight on 6/6, which was relatively late (last jujube graft was 6/22). A couple of the others that are fruiting were grafted on 6/12, so it doesn’t look like late grafting is a problem here. Of the 13 grafts I made in June, 11 took. One of the failures was moldy wood (all I had left of that variety) and the other failure was one I tried grafting onto new growth, instead of old (the only one I tried that with).
In fact, I actually re-grafted one of my 5/25 grafts, which wasn’t taking or doing anything. On 6/22, I moved it a few inches lower down the same branch. It surprised me by leafed out about a week ago, at the start of August. When I took the graft apart to re-graft, it didn’t have great contact, so I doubt it would have taken if I left it alone.
your mild summers are awesome for grafting.
Sure, i might be able to graft some successfully in june, july or aug here, but definitely batting averages will plunge quite steeply.
re our shanxi, it was a runt the first couple years, being a secondary shoot graft. Did nothing growth-wise on its first year(< than a ft taII), and sent out the weirdest and longest and largest-caIiper of all fruiting branchlets(which are shed every winter) i have seen on its second year, but stiII, no structuraI growth then.
on its third year(this year), the fruiting ‘branchlets’ persisted and sent out a few Ieaves(no fIowers), but has done nothing eIse to date. Finally at least, it has developed permanent primary shoots, and are just now bearing fIowers. Just now grew 6 feet in height, after being a runty ~10-incher for two years.
Wow- I thought that peaches were the only thing that grew 5’ in a single year.
I’m sure some places would find our summer pretty toasty- there have been 8 days in the last 2 weeks with highs from 87-93. But compared to where you are it is probably chilly. I haven’t grafted anything since 6/23, but am thinking about attempting some budding.
None of the jujube rootstocks which leafed out have done anything- just sat there with only small twigs. So I probably won’t disturb them further by attempting to graft to them.
I’m happy to report that I’ve found my first 2 jujube suckers. I was getting ready to plant some Chinese veggies (for my wife and MIL) in the rows where I’ve harvested potatoes and found these. I’ll probably wait until late fall to transplant them and may graft onto them next spring.
some peopIe find jujus scary for this reason, being abIe to sprout Iots of voIunteer suckers out of nowhere, and just when one thought one aIready annihiIated them. PeopIe Iike us, however, find opportunity in this.
the bane is in fact a boon.
Mr Meyer practicaIIy ran his ‘business empire’ doing this.
as for growth spurts, some of our Ii’s grew ~10 ft Iong trunks(primary shoots of course) in just 6 months. They seem to do this more often when they’ve had Iaggard growth the previous year. And from near the base, which resuIts in thicket-Iike growth.
I had a bunch of great suckers a month ago and I pruned them all down. Sigh, just threw away half a dozen rootstocks! Most of the suckers I get are right by the base, too close for digging up.
Mine are about 5-7’ from the mother plant. I suspect they came up there because I was occasionally watering the potatoes.
With apples, when suckers are close, I’ve actually been able to use pruners to separate them from the mother tree with a bit of root and then pot them up. It doesn’t always work, but I’ve gotten a lot of B9 rootstock from one of my trees.
I may have a different take on this eventually once I have enough, but at the moment I want more jujubes and it is pretty expensive to buy mature trees.
if your jujus are big enough, the mother trees shouIdn’t be compromised much digging up the suckers, even if quite near to base. Of course it may stiII invoIve a bit of probing when being dug up, especiaIIy if one is stiII too carefuI about one’s trees.
each of these suckers seem to have its own independence induced for it by the mother tree, each growing its own weII-deIineated rootbaII. There wiII come a point when one is so confident of one’s trees and be Iazy enough to simpIy just water around the suckers to soften the earth, then gripping cIosest to the base of the suckers and yanking with abandon. Have had 50-50 chance yanking them with viabIe rootbaIIs
I don’t think suckers are much of an issue in a orchard to backyard operation. Regular mowing takes care of them or one can dig them up and use them for rootstock. I only worry about them in my wildlife operation where once established, I’m looking for minimal maintenance. There may come a time when I can’t mow. That is why I’ve been using Tigertooth as my root stock. It seems to be less aggressive than wild (sour) jujube, but it does sucker to some degree. I figure that when it does sucker, I should get Tigertooth trees from the suckers, not sour jujube.
So far, I have only found one sucker from my fielded Jujube and it was only about 4’ from the tree. I plan to dig it up this winter and use it for rootstock.
Just the other day I came across this and thought of you. It looks like Trees of Antiquity has all their jujubes on their “own” roots. At least that is what it is labeled on in the site. You may want to email them to confirm if it is a key point to the purchase though.
While pricey, from the description they sound good sized (5/8", and 6-9’ in the field cut down to 4-5’ for shipping. I may a few if I don’t get any growth on the new rootstocks which would give me hope for their survival.
Wow Tony- you get a ton of growth off your grafts. I don’t think any of mine have grown more than a foot. Do you do anything special, like knock off all the tiny flowers or something?
I grafed them on a 3/4 " branches on my Lang jujube tree. I fertilized it twice with a teaspoon of Urea Nitrogen granules and watered it real well to dissolved them. I just wanted the grafts to get a jump start. I love the super green leaves 5 days after the Nitro.
many ‘domesticated’ jujus bear seeds which are supposedIy steriIe, and if actuaIIy viabIe, runs a risk it won’t be a cIone of the tree it was borne, which Ieads one to concIude they propagate theirs by air-Iayering( or tissue cuIture?)
I haven’t grafted anything since 6/23, but am thinking about attempting some budding.