Jujube Vendor Comparison

I just ordered a Li from Ison’s but I haven’t received it yet. I’ll try to remember to post a picture when it arrives. The website says 4-5’

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From what I recall, Burnt Ridge is in the 3/8-1/2" caliper (Chico is a bit larger, as they bill it as “extra large”, but they are out of it now). OK, but not big. If you want a bigger one (5/8-3/4"+), get it from GrowOrganic. It looks like they are out of Honey Jar now, but they still have Li. I’ve never gotten a tree from Isons to know what to expect. If you do get one from Burnt Ridge, I’d recommend So or Black Sea, as I’m not thrilled with Shanxi Li either in texture or productivity. So/Contorted is better on both counts (though not quite as good as Honey Jar). My Black Sea hasn’t had fruit yet, but that is likely because I got a tiny one from OGW. From what I’ve heard it is good on both counts and I am adding another this spring from BR.

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Thank you all. Shanxi Li is out then. Another question: does Li have an upright growth habit? Online pictures I’ve seen of all the jujube trees show a flopping mess. I want something that can be trained as a tree. Which variety would be best for that purpose?

Li is more upright than most. Mine is like a proper tree with canopy.

I’m have not ordered Li from Ison’s but I have gotten a lot of stuff from there and they are very reputable. They are saying 4-5 feet and I’m willing to bet that’s what you will get. Burnt Ridge is also reputable but I don’t think their trees are quite as big. I really like Ison’s.

Katy

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I was happy with my HoneyJar from Burnt Ridge last year. At $30.

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Actually I misspoke, it was a SugarCane, not HoneyJar.

If anyone is looking for honey jar trees, I have had only excellent experiences with Cliff England. Looks like he will have field grown honey jar this coming season: JuJube Trees

Give him a call or email! The sugarcane I got from him was about 6 feet tall, propagated by Dave Wilson. He also has some harder to find varieties and will custom graft any of them if you ask.

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I think BR is a good middle-of-the-road jujube vendor. They have a OK tree for a good price. If you are looking for the biggest trees (at a higher price) though, one of the CA nurseries is likely to be better.

Just for future reference, rather than making a new post, you can edit the old post. Just click the pencil icon at the bottom of your post. If you edit it right after posting, it is as if the edited post was the original. Anytime it has been more than a few minutes, the post will have an indicator on it that it has been edited (not a bad thing, as it lets people who have already read it know that it has changed).

Good to know- I got some very tall Sugar Canes from him as well, but didn’t realize that they came from DWN. I also got some beautiful So, which really showed off the zig-zag nature. I’m not sure why some So have fairly straight trunks (with zig-zag branches), and others (like the ones I got from him) have a regular zig-zag up the trunk.

Keep in mind that he also sells tree by grade and many of the varieties he sells may only be smaller ones. But, he does have a ton of types, so if you’ve gotten the common ones, he would be a good person to go to for more choices.

I’m also excited to see what Chinese Red Date orchard sends. They are growing in New Mexico, so I figure that they are getting plenty of sun to size them up.

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Bob,
What varieties you bought from Chinese Red Date nursery?

Alcalde #1, Fucuimi, Winter, and Russian #2.

The nursery is run by Professor Yao’s husband and the first two on the above list are new varieties she brought from China.

The NMSU site has descriptions and pictures:
https://aces.nmsu.edu/jujube/eating.html

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Bob,
You really know how to tempt your fellow jujube lovers, don’t you? :smile:

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I’ve got an Alcalde #1 and a GA 866 coming from Chinese Red Date. They were shipped yesterday. I’ll post a photo when they arrive.

Katy

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Bob,
Thank you for the link. I read the descriptions of all the varieties it offers. I am glad it lists Honey Jar “excellent fresh eating” and Shanxi Li “very good fresh eating”.

I use Shanxi Li’s description as something I probably won’t like.

If I were to have more sunny spots, I would buy any varieties described as “excellent fresh eating” on that list.

I’m not sure if that is the case. It could just be that Shanxi Li reacts poorly to our climate. There could be others which have similar quality (“very good”) in sunnier areas, but keep their “very good” results in our area.

Russia #2 also gets “Juicy and crispy, excellent fresh eating quality. Early fruiting and productive.”. The negative being small fruit size. But I’m actually OK with that- getting it productive seems to be the hard part here.

Alcalde #1 doesn’t even get “very good”. Just “good”. But it is supposed to be productive and “Good potential in marginal regions.”. So I got 2 of it- one for home and one for a rental.

Fucuimi isn’t on the NMSU, but he described it as:

Fucuimi is an new introduction, early season variety, sweet, crispy, precocious. Its fruit size is bigger than Honeyjar and Russia#2.

I agree- I’ve already asked to reserve KFC, Dabailing, Sandia and Maya for 2020. I need to work on buying some more land for them :slight_smile:

I think those are polar opposites of the jujube world. One is supposed to be productive & precocious with “good” fruit, while the other is famous for being non-productive with incredible fruit.

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That’s a good way to look at it. There was a GA 866 at a nursery I went to that was bearing fruit. The trees were very tall and lanky in 15 gallon pots and competitively trying to reach the sunlight. Not great conditions for them but the climate was similar to mine so I’m giving it a try. Their fruit were not ripe yet while other jujus were brown…another opposite trait from Alcalde.

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Man you guys! Now I want to try these. They look like cute little trees too!

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The order shipped Tuesday and arrived today. Im very happy with these trees and the Li jujube was the biggest of the bunch and was only $30. Caliper was 0.615" and based on the caliper where it was topped I’m guessing it was 7-8’ in the field.

The other trees are Stayman Winesap, Arkansas Black, and Korean Giant Asian pear.

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They look good. I placed the order for Li. Hoping to get something as big as that.

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@BobVance here are photos of Alcalde #1 and GA 866 from Chinese Red Date. I figure they will be right at 3 feet after planting. They first seam in the trailer bed (just at tree tops) is 4 feet.

Katy

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Thanks for posting that! What is the caliper of the tree, an inch or so above the graft union? It’s hard to tell from the picture, but I’d guess 1/2"? I like how they kept some side-branches.