The reporter first visits a 40,000 hectare jujube planting, and then visits a jujube festival where she samples different types of jujubes. Finally she visits a jujube genebank which has 640 different jujube cultivars, and samples a few fruit there.
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Nice video, thanks. I wonder how many of the 640 varieties China grows commercially?
I donāt know, but my impression is that 60-80% are used for dried jujube sales, not for fresh eating.
How is your Jujube orchard going in Mo? My Orange Beauty is 3 years old and about 15 feet tall now and hopefully it will produce more fruits this year for more taste test. I wish it is as productive as Honey Jar. HJ is a solid jujube here in Omaha Z5.
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Itās been slow getting things into the ground. Lots of rain, lots of wind, and not many people have been able to help because of the lockdown.
I thought it interesting that the āexpertā attributed part of the success of jujubes in that region to the alkaline soilā¦and I wonder how important it could be for flavor and yield.
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I was wondering the same thing. A lot of California soils where jujubes are being successfully grown are 6.5-7.5. New Mexico, Las Vegas, and the western parts of Texas and Oklahoma also have a lot of alkaline soils as well.
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According to my soil test I have acid soil 5.7-5.9. I did put out lime last fall and my trees do look better this year but then they are getting older so no control factor there. The first years I was growing my seedlings I was using a peat based potting mix and I have been generally disappointed in how well they grew. This year Iām using a neutral mix and so far I have seen a big difference in growth. Just based on that I would tend to think they do much better in at least more neutral soil than acidic.
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My soil is neutral and my water is high ph. For once, this is good for something 
I will put some lime down, too.
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pH may not even be the defining characteristic of good jujube soilā¦but rather the elements that are often associated with alkaline soils. I had very poor yields on my jujubes before I put down a bag of Azomite rock dust (which raises soil pH only slightly)ā¦but I had also added other soil amendments also, so I donāt know if the Azomite was responsible. BUT, this year production has been totally pathetic. We had virtually no winter this year, with only three nights dropping below freezing (in north Florida). It was also an extremely dry spring, so the little I did fertilize never made it down to the roots.
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PH 8 here in Dallas, the jujubees seem to love it
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What varieties are you growing? How old are they?
āLiā and āGA866ā are my oldest at 11 years old, followed by āSilverhillā, āSugarcaneā, Lang, and āAnt admireā at 8 years. āSihongā is a very big three or four year old. All my others are just a year or two old. I love jujubes, and was devastated to see such poor fruit set this year.
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How do you like your Ant Admire?
āAnt Admireā is very goodā¦Much like āSugar Caneā in flavor and texture, but not quite as sweet. It has been fairly productive alsoā¦except this year.
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