My frost date is around mid Jan, when should I start the grafting process, in fall after all the leaves fall off the tree, or before spring starts for new growth.
Start your grafting in Southern California when the weather is around mid 70s and no more frost plus wait until the understock tree leafed out first to get the sap flow then graft.
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Fruit drops are nothing new. There are several causes such as a lack of (or poor) pollination, maturity (or not) of the trees, weather, etc.
Of only a few varieties I grow, Shanxi Li seems to have early fruit drops at a larger number and a higher frequency than other varieties.
I am waiting for the tree to mature and start producing a better quality fruit than these past few years.
Bob, have you noticed more fruit drop in Shanxi Li, too?
Mine doesnât drop, but look at this, very tiny Shanxi Li, about 1/3 of the unripen fruit out there. It was sweet and crunchy. The green Shanxi Ali is almost the size of a small apple. Iâve yet to taste a big one that is brown completely.
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Although Shanxi Li is known for its larger fruit, its fruit varies in size. Glad yours did not drop. Mine has had more drops than any other variety.
I have not tasted âsweet and crunchyâ Shanxi Li. So far, it has been ânot that sweet, not crunchyâ with somewhat styrofoam-like texture. @castenea said its eating quality will improve as the tree ages. I am waiting. It is only 6 years old tree.
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Oh no, this is my first year of growing Shanxi Li, the green ones are crunchy, just not very sweet.
Yes, Shanxi Li has repeatedly set a lot of fruit, then disappointed me by dropping a large portion of it.
Last year, I had some like that which would ripen a bit earlier than the others, yet be small. A large proportion of them would be missing the stone in the middle. Hereâs a pic- the fruit in my hand is from the same tree as the green ones still on the branch.
Last year was #6 for me and eating quality was better. Shanxi Li still wasnât as good as a Honey Jar, but they were reasonably crunchy and mid to high 20âs brix.
Even the size was better- hereâs a pic from 4 years earlier of one of the few Shanxi Li I got early on.
I did get some cracking and wasp/YJ on Shanxi Li last year.
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Youâre right Bob, it has no seed.
Here are pictures of my Shanxi Li this morning. I may have to wait until I come back from my vacation to pick my fruit. They take forever to ripen. Satsuma and some kind of mandarin fruit for size comparison.
Next to Satsuma
Next to a mandarin
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Not much Yellow Jackets on Shanxi Li and a lot more on Honey Jar and Sugar Cane.
Last year, I grabbed a HJ not knowing the other side of that fruit had a YJ in it. Got stung!!!
I have had many Shanxi Li that had no pit. Those were the one that ripened early.
Whatever cracks gets yellow jackets. Xu Zhou was the worst.
I didnât get many cracked Sugar Cane, but I did have one where the yellow jacket (I think) got in. I didnât see it and when I picked the fruit, I felt it buzzing against my finger. A quick toss lost the fruit, but I managed to escape getting stung. Roger Meyers mentions this in his video as well. He calls it a âminor issue which doesnât seem minor at the timeâ.
I think the seed is still there, it is just the stone/pit which is missing. I actually donât like those fruit, as I try to avoid eating the seed (donât know if it is a problem or not), which means I need to eat way around it. More mess and waste. The pit makes it easier to just pop in your mouthâŚ
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I just ate the whole fruit yesterday, not eating around it. I figure whatever in there thatâs my daily fiber, lol.
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I have amulti grafted So in a pot. I have to water this 15 gallon pot everyday. By mid summer, Iâve noticed fruit shriveled by the morning before I water the tree. They look like this at 7 am before watering.
And after watering. This was about 1 pm. The same fruit are now well-hydrated.
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Tippy
You need to put some grass clipping about 5 inches thick on the base of the potted tree to conserve water until the next watering time. Your fruits wonât wrinkles as bad.
Tony
We donât need to mow the lawn for over 2 -3 months now. Grass has been crispy brown!!!
Will get some mulch from my Home Depot
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Death Valley has temperatures over 120 degrees during the summer and amazing enough there is a date farm there. The trees are feed by a spring. Iâm sure jujubeâs would thrive there also. I love the idea of a place that rains at night only. It would help my insomnia. 
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If you eat a lot of jujubes you wonât have insomnia either.
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OH? Tell us about that.
I thought itâs common knowledge, it also reduces high Blood pressure. I could barely keep my eyes open at night when I eat them. I donât have high blood pressure especially coming from a family predispose with this problem. My relatives often said 10/10 people they know have high blood pressure, they say that with certainty, because a lot of people they know have it.
However, I do avoid salty stuff, no soy sauce, etcâŚ
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Thank you SoCalGardenNut for the info!
A special person gifted me with my first jujube tree. I also ate one for the first time. They are delicious! I can see how you can eat them like popcorn as mentioned. The tree is a sihong and beautiful!
I also learned something about grafting onto a root stock from seed. It was started in a can and the can has deteriorated adding minerals to the plant. I was told to plant it with the can still intact.
I hope to master the art of jujubeâs! I thank all of you for so much information that youâve shared!
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I did read your suggested article. Seems they say you eat the JUBUBE SEEDS to get the âsleep benefitsââŚis that something you recommend, eating the seeds?