Jujubes- Our New Adventure

Those seeds grow very nice rootstocks!

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Mine is just starting to ripen and I just tried one the other day. It was about half brown and I agree with Katy’s assessment of the flavor. I guess I need to wait until they are 100% brown. Given the forecast is for some rain this week, I may have some splitting.

it does look like lafleur. Here in vegas, it has a tinge of spicy-minty flavor to it. It is actually one of our favorites but the small size probably doesn’t make it marketable to the regular joe.

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I got the scionwood from you 3 years ago :grin:

glad the graft took!

have to say i don’t remember who i gave what anymore…

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Can anyone please report how their Confetti and Empress Gee did? How is the fruit quality and timing compared to other jujubes?

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@BobVance grows both but I don’t know if he gets any production yet!!!

I had some Confetti on the tree when it was delivered last fall. They were small, crisp, and mildly sweet.

None of my 3 potted trees grew much this year (2 EG and 1 Confetti) or produced any fruit. But I did get a backup graft of each onto more mature trees. Maybe one of them will produce next year.

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My Confetti died. Had 4 good sized fruit (small walnut sized) on Empress Gee. 2 foot tree in half sun. Had to pick them early (this week) because rats found them. They tasted mildly sweet and unexpectedly milky. No acidity. Good crunchy texture.

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when did empress gee ripen for you? early mid or late?

I’m in TX with plenty of sun, so my ripening times differ from you. In general Contorted, HJ and Sugarcane ripen in Aug. Empress Gee ripened in early Oct this time.

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really helpful to keep empress gee is late even in TX. concorted is that the same as SO jujube? and how does the fruit compare to honey jar since they look similar in photos like round and medium size. like i know honey jar is most sweet does the concorted taste as sweet?

If Empress Gee ripens in early Oct where you are, I question if it would ever ripen in time in New England.

I think Empress Gee ripened late for me due to conditions (baby plant in container, part sun location). Expect it would be faster with more sun and in ground. Contorted is So. Taste varies per source of tree but I find it less consistently sweet and smaller fruit than HJ or SC with just a touch of tart.

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My So from Burnridge is a big dud. After 4 years, it barely grows and has not set any fruit. It will get an axe soon.

At 4 years your So is a baby.
Many jujube trees do not grow much or produce much fruit until they are at least 6 or 7 years old. My Sherwood didn’t produce much fruit until it was 10 years old. I thought about getting rid of it but I didn’t. Here it is at about 17 or 18 years -

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I agree. Read it many times over that jujubes can live to a thousand years.

On my So, I’ve compared notes with @BobVance. My So is iffy at best. The lack of growth and the odd leave formation makes me feel that the tree may be diseased.

I have very few sunny spots. Any tree that is questionable must be gone.

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@jujubemulberry , @BobVance , @k8tpayaso , @Bhawkins , @castanea , et al,
Do you top your jujube trees?

Mine have grown to 12-14 ft now. Too tall to pick fruit easily from a ladder. Just want to hear from you if you lop the top of the trees off. Any warning I need before I do that?

I do top jujubes around 8-10 feet- basically about as high as I can reach with the pruners (at most standing on a bucket).

I bet you’ve seen it, but you may want to take another look at this PDF on pruning:

Basically, cut it to just above a side branch and make sure not to cut the side branch.

Or as Prof Yao says:

One cut stops, two cuts sprout

image

It also says:

Control the tree height with one cut if the trees have already reached 9–10 feet.

Earlier this summer (in August), I cut about 4’ (almost all new growth) off the top of a Honey Jar which had reached ~14’. Soon after, it set fruit and I was left to wonder if I had inadvertently re-directed it’s vigor from making wood to making fruit.

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Thanks, Bob. I did see it but I am a slow learner. I am also a visual learner. I like it when someone shows me how to do it.

I will re-read the article you attached. Probably will top my trees off this week.

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