Jujubes- Our New Adventure

[BobVance]

@castanea

I grew Sherwood for 10 years before it fruited.
They will fruit when they’re ready to fruit.

I’ve got 2 very large Sherwood. Not very productive yet. One has produced nothing (except some of the varieties grafted on) and the other maybe a handful of iffy fruit. Both trees have a ton of fruit on them this year, in years #6 and #7. The trees are large enough that I’m anxious to see what they will do if they finally get productive. Unlike GA866, which I don’t really hold out much hope for, though I’d be happy to be wrong.

Here’s a pic of the 6 year old one from a rental:

It also has grafts of Allentown and Moonlight.

When/If this one produces fruit near the top, I’ll need to setup a ladder in the neighbor’s driveway. No way I can reach near the top of the tree, even from their higher ground.

Here’s the 7 year old one, which is next to my driveway.

Closeup showing small fruit:

[Susu]

Thank you Bob. I do believe you are right about the tree not getting enough water. We’ve had .4 inches of rain entire last month. I don’t think my jujube trees get the care that they should get. I gave up fertilizing and watering hoping that would lower the growth and promote fruit. That has worked well for persimmon but not for jujube. I should baby it a bit more I guess.

[SoCalGardenNut]

Out of curiosity, what varieties are sold at the Asian supermarkets, this is the only place I can find them other than the farmer’s market. I normally get them from the farmers market and one did have a label GA-866, that’s when I ordered my tree. But the jujubes at the Asian market look like the Li version to me and they are pretty tasty.

[castanea]

Most Asian Supermarkets throughout California sell Li.
Some in SoCal will sell GA866 or Dong/Winter.

[Seattlefigs]

@BobVance

Ant Admire

your notes are very helpful! thank you for sharing. my Ant Admire hasnt fruited but now you mention dry. im not that excited for it to fruit.

[BobVance]

@Seattlefigs

Ant Admire hasnt fruited but now you mention dry. im not that excited for it to fruit.

Mine hasn’t been all that productive either. I had a handful of fruit in 2020 and then nothing in 2021. So my sample size wasn’t very large. I’ll post an update this fall.

@BobVance

If you have good growth 3-4’+ per year and still no production, then it is time to check to see if it is getting enough sun, certain nutrients (Borax?) and pollination.

I could have an example of this. I have one site with excessive (half day) shade from neighbor’s trees. I’ve got 4 jujubes (3 from 2018 and 1 from 2020, though 2 of the older ones did get transplanted in fall 2020) growing there anyway, as I’m interested to see if any varieties can produce there. And at some point there could be more sun- if I speak to neighbor about cutting, or just from storm damage over time. In fact one of the neighbor’s at this property lost a large black walnut when rain loosened the roots and wind blew the whole thing over (I was cheering ).

So far, the Honey Jar has produced a bit (maybe a half dozen fruit) and has more this year. Sugar Cane has also done OK (2-3 last year and almost as much as Honey Jar this year. Autumn Beauty, Fuicuimi, KFC, and Yahzoo Li all have 1-2 fruit this year (none in past). Li and Churchpoint have none so far.

But the trees are putting on 3-4’ of growth, so I’ll be interested to see if they ever produce in this shady site.

[SoCalGardenNut]

I had my first GA866, on the small size, it’s very sweet. I think I like Honey Jar better.

[mamuang]

I don’t have GA 866. I think I will have a few “new to me” this year.

My trees are young, anywhere between from 2-6 years old. I’ve found that they like water and some fertilizer. Maybe, they are older, they will not need pampering.

[SoCalGardenNut]

I’m in California, jujube can grow like weeds, so I didn’t dare fertilized them at all, I don’t recall giving them a Jojobe stick like other fruit trees. I did put some compost in the containers for Shanxi Li and GA866. I also grew some bush green beans to attract more nitrogen.

[mamuang]

I think giving them compost is a good move. I never use fertilizer sticks. I think it is pricier than regular fertilizer.

I do consider regional differences. Gardening is about location, location, location

[BobVance]

@castanea

Most people find Lang to be forgettable when eaten fresh.

I’ve got 2 half-trees of Lang left. One at home and another at a rental, both with better stuff grafted to them.

Here’s some of the fruit on the one at the rental. At least it has a decent set. The Li next to it (which also has some grafts, including Bok Jo, etc) has fairly small set, though some Li’s at other locations have more.

Lang (note the cluster near the top):

One which has surprised me is Chico. It has taken so long to set, I assumed it wouldn’t be productive. But. it seems to have quite a few little fruit, so it moved from nothing to a bunch (similar to Sherwood). I guess they are (reasonably) productive, but certainly not precocious.

Chico:

[mamuang]

@BobVance ,
What is the result of your gibberellin spray?

So far, fruit set from my trees have been good without the spray. We are so dry here. My jujubes need water more than anything else. Your pic looked like it just rained there. Lucky you!!

[BobVance]

@mamuang

What is the result of your gibberellin spray?

So far, fruit set from my trees have been good without the spray.

It’s hard for me to say. I really need a better control group. There is too much variability in the trees I am spraying and the control group. There are different cultivars, ages, sizes, and shade levels. To really get to the answer, you need rows of trees that are the same age size and type. And then treat one and not the other. I suspect that type of test has been done, but the target of these tests has been to increase already productive farmers yields, rather than coax production out of non-productive backyard trees. Nobody plants trees in an iffy site or climate for the purposes of this test

The Sherwood I sprayed is holding quite a bit of fruit, but the Sherwood at the rental that I didn’t spray also has fruit for the first time, so it could just be this year’s weather is great for jujubes. Even the GA866 has a few fruit (not much still).

It’s easier to say what doesn’t have fruit:

• One of the 2 Sihong in my yard doesn’t have fruit (the other has a low-moderate set, while the grafts at the rental are loaded)
• A Chico which is shaded (I let 2 plums and a persimmon crowd it)
• Several young/small trees

I’m sure there are some grafts which don’t have fruit(most probably small), but even a lot from this spring do. One noteworthy one with no fruit is Vegas Booty. At least I haven’t noticed any on it- the graft has gotten kind of tall and I probably need a ladder for a close look. But at a similar height I can see a ton of fruit on the Dae Sol Jo graft on the same tree…

[mamuang]

I have seen fruit set in varieties new to me like Hetian Jade, Bok Jo, Coco, Orange Beauty, Sihong. Still, it is too early to know if they will grow into maturity or decide to turn yellow and drop.

Still, it is exciting to hope.

[scottfsmith]

@BobVance

I have one site with excessive (half day) shade from neighbor’s trees. I’ve got 4 jujubes (3 from 2018 and 1 from 2020, though 2 of the older ones did get transplanted in fall 2020) growing there anyway, as I’m interested to see if any varieties can produce there.

My initial jujube planting had half a day of sun and I got a few fruits when the plants were younger but as they got older they stopped fruiting. So, don’t be surprised if your couple of fruits degrades to no fruits in a few years there. I am not too optimistic about jujubes with much shade at all. That planting is now gone and my new jujubes are only in sunny spots. Still not fruiting well yet but the deer had something to do with that…

[BobVance]

@scottfsmith

So, don’t be surprised if your couple of fruits degrades to no fruits in a few years there.

If we get to that point, it will probably prompt me to knock on the neighbors door to ask about the trees

But I have enough trees at better sites that I’m mostly curious about what this will do. And a few jujube to snack on while I mow is always nice.

The Honey Jar seems to have much more fruit than in the past, but that could be due to the excessive sun so far this year. And just over the last week or so since I posted, I’ve noticed more on most of the trees- 1-2 becomes 6-10 and the HJ and SC have decent amounts. Just the Li is the barren laggard.

I’ve got a couple possibilities about the declining productivity of your shaded jujubes.

1.) Self-shading, as they get bigger (already short on sun, it gets worse when there are more branches)
2.) Bigger roots
a.) result in more and faster growth. Growth distracts jujubes from fruiting, which is why snipping vertical leaders (like pinching figs) promotes set
b.) I’m not sure if periodic dryness is needed, or if it just helps tamp
down growth (as in 2a). But big roots will ensure that it never goes without water, at least in our climate.

I had a Li in my yard which never fruited (maybe 1-2 would appear, then fall off). I transplanted it this past spring to a rental and it now has quite a few fruit on it (full sun in both locations). I’m not sure if that is due to all the sunny weather, but I suspect that the transplant had something to do with it. I remember reading that root pruning was one technique to push fruiting. Well, even though I was careful (used a hose for most of it), I’m sure I lost a lot of root during the transplant, so this was effectively a root-pruning…

Another thing I noticed on the large Sherwood is that it seems most productive on the horizontal branches (something many people have noted with other types of fruit trees). When jujube are shaded and/or crowded. they often try to grow up to get more sun. That could also contribute to the lack of fruit.

In the background of the above pic, there is an almost horizontal branch in the upper left corner of the pic. It is the most heavily laden one on the tree.

Edit: now that I think about it, the Sherwood that is producing for the first time (aside from a handful of poor fruit) was right next to the Li that was transplanted. I wonder if the accidental root pruning contributed to the heavy set in the Sherwood as well.

Edit #2: I added labels to the above pic. This row of jujubes is next to my driveway and gets almost complete sun, other than any shading from each other and themselves.

[scottfsmith]

The ones not fruiting definitely suffered from too much vertical growth… I could not get them to calm down. It seemed like they got into a bad rut from the combination of not enough sun but lots of root vigor. I can see how root pruning could help.

[BobVance]

@scottfsmith

The ones not fruiting definitely suffered from too much vertical growth… I could not get them to calm down.

Did you try branch bending with them? I think I recall that you did it with Euro plums.

I did it with a few branches and it alone isn’t enough to produce fruit (I did these several years ago), once the tree starts fruiting, the horizontal branches seem to have the most.

Here’s a Shanxi Li which I’ve been walking into for a number of years when mowing that finally has a good fruit-set. I don’t think the branch is as low as it looks in the pic- about waist high, not near the ground).

And yes, this pic does show my yard is a bit full, as you can see straw (potatoes), jujube, persimmon, and grape all in the same pic (with sour cherries and apples hard to see in the distance).

[scottfsmith]

@BobVance

Did you try branch bending with them? I think I recall that you did it with Euro plums.

I found them hard to bend, it was long ago so don’t remember why exactly. I probably should have tried saw scoring, bending always works with careful saw scoring but it is hard to get right. I have had several saw-scored limbs break off at the score a few years later.

[danzeb]

@scottfsmith

I can see how root pruning could help.

I was wondering about that. Do root bond jujubes in pots fruit well? A seed grown potted jujube 18 inches high fruited.