Jujube fruit set if you don't have hot dry summers

[tonyOmahaz5]

Jujus,

I think Bass is the only one in PA that had his Jujube tree fruited well. I think he topped his tree to about three feet and let it branched out well then multi grafted with different varieties into a beautiful form. Here are some of his old photos. I have about 14 jujube trees but none looked like his. Hopefully in about another 5 years or so.

Tony

[scottfsmith]

I’d like to see how @Bass is doing now with jujubes - tagging him so maybe he will see this thread. Mine started off good but then really scaled back to nothing. I don’t think I am going to get any fruits this year at all.

[BobVance]

Update for me- I still have plenty of set for So, which should start ripening in a couple weeks (based on last year). But most of my new grafts have dropped their fruit, including the Winter Delight (pic in post 103). Only the Honey Jar graft seems to be holding the fruit.

[jujubemulberry]

i remember seeing those online before, and the specimens-- fruits and trees–appear quite promising, considering they were grown in PA.
from what have come across online, lowland farmers in taiwan, ‘import’ peach and apple budwood grown in the colder mountains so they could graft them onto their lowland trees during spring, just so they could grow cold-loving fruits.
jujus seem to be the other way around-- being more fruitful on their first year(of having been imported from sunny cali), then seem to wane in productivity in the succeeding years.

i hope this hypothesis is wrong. And seemingly it is, since Chills seem to have been successful(despite him being modest about it)-- and in MI, of all places!

[jujubemulberry]

so and hj also seem to be steadfast about nursing their fruits to maturity, even in las vegas. Could be that their smaller sizes facilitate this.
the wild-type rootstoc also nurse their fruits well, even when grown in sawdust, and in pots, gravely deprived of nitrogen and other nutrients from mother earth

[tonyOmahaz5]

Here is a photo of jujubes farm in a dry, desert like condition of Golan Heights. These trees were on a hilly surface with no irrigation system and they thrived well.

Tony

[jujubemulberry]

you betcha! jujus are at the pinnacle, among water-wise fruit trees.

btw, the domesticated juju(asian variety) was probably imported into the middle east > 2000 years ago, but could be mistaken for any of the jujubes native to the middle east, and vice-versa. They do look quite alike, and thrive in the most hostile conditions.
all with the same genus “Ziziphus”, but of different species.

[hoosierquilt]

Okay, so. Since I’m taking the mulberry plunge, I am considering adding two jujus to my yard. Raf and others - for my N. San Diego somewhat coastal environment, what would you all recommend as the two very best juju cultivars? I like my fruit on the sweet side - not a fan of tart fruit. We have a LOT of jujus growing all over the place out here. Again, great climate for them.

[tonyOmahaz5]

You can’ t stop at two go for three: Sugarcane, Honey Jar and Shanxi Li or Winter Delights.

Tony

[hoosierquilt]

Thanks, Tony. Will start a short list

[jujubemulberry]

i agree with Tony re honey jar and shanxi li.

as for sugarcane, i find it good, but not stellar. But it could be a regional thing(just as coconuts of a cultivar grown in brazil is less sweet the same grown in indonesia)
i have just started with winter delight and still not fruited for me.
for my taste buds though(i have tried >20 homegrown varieties) sihong is the best tasting, while honey jar and sherwood being peers as second.
sihong though, is quite a distant first for me. Also, when tree-ripened sihongs start getting wrinkly into semi-moist dates, they are almost the same as chewy deglet noors–with an intense apple overtone. Juju dates aren’t even related to palm dates, but seem to have converged in fruit-type and fruit taste.

I have actually been grafting sihong onto my sugarcanes, since sugarcanes tend to grow many primary stems relative to size.
the sweetest of juju’s-- including those other fruits in the apple category. There are >700 juju varieties, but enough for me to write a book about jujus with just sihong as the ‘centerpiece’

[BobVance]

In post #2 in this thread (1st paragraph), I noted that most of my So’s production last year was on the South facing side. I’m seeing the same thing this year and decided to take some pictures. I’m looking forward to these ripening soon- my first ones were ready last year about 2 weeks from now (9/19).

South side (I count 16 fruit in the pic):

North Side (2 fruits in pic):

[tonyOmahaz5]

Bob,

Jujube liked the full sun to fruit well like in your situation. I have to move 3 trees in full sun next March.

Tony

[Chills]

My first try at a picture.

This is fruit on R4t3 from Roger. Not like the fruit on any of my other ones.

I also don’t think it is ripe, there are green ones a bit larger, but this was the only 1 I have. If you look closely there are a couple developing green ones. This is trough the fence on my neighbors side.

[jujubemulberry]

very nice Bob, congrats!

[jujubemulberry]

quite unique those eastern european varieties. Thans for sharing!

[tonyOmahaz5]

Chills,

They looked interesting but with the seed and not so much meat.

Tony

[jujubemulberry]

maybe the flavor makes up for the size.
also, that it is fruiting in moist and cold michigan is, in itself, quite promising

[tonyOmahaz5]

Yeah, if the flavor is good and productive then it can compensate for the small fruit size. The fruit look like my Thai hot pepper.

Tony

[BobVance]

Correction for my post from 10 days ago: One of the other grafts, other than the Honey Jar is still holding a fruit. I don’t know much about it (Zang Huang Da), but the fruit is much longer than the So fruit on the same tree.

It’s not as strange a shape as the R4T3 from the above pic. I’ve also grafted this one, so I’m interested to see how the thinner fruit (higher skin to flesh ratio?) affects flavor. Here’s another pic of it, from Cliff England.

Zang Huang Da (my wife translated the “Da” part as meaning “Big”, but wasn’t sure about the rest- possibly a location):