Baby Red
Mushroom
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Wow that ‘Baby Red’ gets so dark maroon. That’s stunning.
And the mushrooms shapes are quite amusing too!
I’ve been having 
issues, I guess due to all the rain. I’ve been making coffee almost every morning to pour over them. Hopefully they start dying off soon. Never thought I would be making coffee for my trees but here I am…
That color is of immature fruitlets. They loose a lot of that maroon color as they ripen
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Wow! That’s even more interesting.
I was doing some research to figure out the Chinese name for Early Golden Crispy (doesn’t seem accurate) and found a variety whose shape matches (Youyou). When reading down the page, I found an extensive writeup on the technique they suggest for getting them to be productive:
I find it interesting that they suggest both branch bending and girdling. An earlier paragraph covered dormant treatment and suggested thinning out branches to ensure that the remaining part of the tree gets enough light.
Their dates are a bit earlier than mine. I think it is just because their climate is warmer, but maybe I should be pinching/pruning a bit earlier. I’ll probably start over the next few days…
Some of my jujube are just starting to bloom, but at some sites they are really going. A nice grape-soda smell is in the air.
A Honey Jar which is really covered in flowers:
And on the subject of strange shapes, here is a tree with neighboring Calabash and 2nd Generation Calabash grafts. I think Calabash is another term for Hulu or Gourd. Putting the 2 grafts on the same tree should help me compare them.
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Very fascinating read, BobV! I might try to bend some of the growth downward and try the tip pruning next May and see if that does the trick!
I have nothing to update except that the colors is starting to become a little more golden, and its size has increased a bit.
Is this about average size for a Chico in the first fruiting year? If so, I’m happy about it.
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That’s nice size. Mature tree hare will produce mostly that size and some bigger.
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That is wonderful to read!
Ugh I cannot wait to try this type! Alas not ready yet; the wait continues
Baby Red ripeness watch
@castanea. It’s brown on the sunny side but still pink at the end and on the shadier side. A couple of cracked ones still tasted a bit green.
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Those baby reds sure are pretty!
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Well darn!
I went from being thankful for the summer rain, to cursing it. 
There are a couple that appear to be ok, but that is it. All the rest have split. Luckily the biggest one I posted the other day seems to be ok for now. Fingers crossed it does not split in the next couple of days
Yeah…. I have some that have split on top of the splits.
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Well, the big one finally got a small spilt on one side, so i picked it and ate the other side.
It actually tasted very similar to a Granny Smith apple. Maybe a little less sweet than your store bought gs apple. It did have a grassy smell, which I did not like, but I’m sure it is due to not being ripe. Had I been able to wait a little longer I bet the flavor and smell would probably have been much better. Still, it was pretty good for not being ripe enough.
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Yep definitely not ripe. Sweetness would have come with the ripening. That being said Chico does have a tart taste mixed with the sweet.
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I just could not let the big one go, without trying it. I guess I should cut back on the irrigation. I was trying to keep the water condition consistent after the rain to prevent my American persimmon from dropping any of the four she has. Sadly, is was too much for the jujube. I have a few more left on the Chico tree. Hopefully they make it to ripe stage.
But at least I can tell that I will like Chico ripe, if I thought the unripe was fairly good considering.
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Holy smokes!
I just ate the one circled in the picture. The flavor is the best I ever had in a Jujube. Well, I’ve only had a Sugarcane, Li, and the unnamed variety from the champion tree at the Fort Worth Botanical gardens.
I am blown away! It was intensely sweet, apple-like flavor, and juicy with a nice bitey texture.
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Oooops……you’re hooked!!!
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Sadly they are all gone now.
Hoping next year has a bigger crop, and maybe, just maybe my Honey jar will finally give a fruit or two.
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