I’ve got a lot of slope too- I like to put the hose a few feet up-hill of the tree. I figure some water goes straight down, and other water goes down the hill before soaking in. Some wood-chips helps keep everything from washing away.
I like that- I’ve got some holey buckets too- formerly used as pots and one I tried to fill with holes and use as a sieve to get the dirt off weed roots (too much work). I’ll have to give that a try on some of the trees where it runs off too fast.
I’m growing all that too, other than pomegranate. I tried, but gave up due to dieback. though they might be OK in recent winters…
But it is jujubes which get the most love. It’s hard to not like a fruit which return the affection so freely with fruit. Some of the others are like cats- you can love them, but they will be a bit indifferent toward you.
Yeah- that would keep me from doing as much in the orchard as well… Maybe time to get your husband working on a drip irrigation system
It was just released for last Spring by OGW (same time as Confetti), so there probably aren’t a lot of firm opinions on it yet. I haven’t tasted the fruit, but have some on a potted Empress Gee.
Chico and Sugar Cane would be more mid-sized. Honey Jar, Black Sea, and Confetti are small. But there isn’t really anything wrong with HJ/BS sized fruit- they are basically bite sized, and you can then spit the pit, kind of like cherries. Some of the bigger fruits need to be held almost like an apple.
I don’t always agree with Castanea on varieties (different region, different timescale), but we’re an exact match on these two.
Not that I know of- maybe I should start a Bok Jo nursery Would probably be easier if an existing nursery started offering it.
I got the Sugar Cane (own roots) from JFaE in June 2019. I assume they took the cutting at least a couple years earlier.
It actually does have only one trunk. I looked closely at the pic and the 2nd “trunk” you see is the original bamboo stick they had it tied to. I also have a metal post which I added when I planted it.
You mean grafting? Yes I plan to do that, but I need to practice with my own scions first. I will try grafting GA-866, Shanxi-Li, and HJ in one Lang tree. But from my experience with 3x1 plums and 4x1 pluots, and 3x1 Asian pear, they take forever to get a decent fruit. It’s not the same as having your own tree.
But I also will try to grow them also, this is to guarantee success, or I can give them away if I do t want them.
With jujubes, grafts can sometimes bear fruit the same year as the graft, so it can be pretty quick with a mature tree.
A couple others you may want to consider would be Sandia and Dong from Chinese Red Date. Those two cultivars have taken their time to bear for me, but given your experience with GA866 (and the CA sun), they could be faster for you. And they are supposed to have extremely high fruit quality. Fruit for both should be mid-sized (bigger than Honey Jar and Black Sea (AKA Russia #2, which CRD also carries), but smaller than Shanxi Li and Li.
Winter aka Dong, is not the same as Winter Delight aka Mango Dong Zho.
By the way, you can also grow Mango Dong Zho. It is a very late ripening jujube with big fruit. The fruit is not the best when it matures in cool weather but it should be fine for you.
This is Winter Delight -
We grafted Li, Shanxi Li, Honeyjar, Sihong, GA866, Sugarcane, Russia#2, Alcalde#1, Fucuimi, Maya, Dabailing, Dongzao, Sandia, Kongfucui for spring of 2023.
He took my request, but didn’t guarantee that they could fill it. I’m guessing they will have a better idea when they count how many trees made it and sized up properly in the fall.
Fuicuimi wasn’t bad last year, but the fruit wasn’t very large, maybe about the size of Honey Jar or a bit bigger.
I should be able to taste Dongzao, Sandia, Da Bai Ling, and KFC for the first time this year, based on what is on the trees… KFC could be another one to consider- it is supposed to be large, excellent fresh eating (per NMSU), and productive. We’ll see
Note, the other “Excellent” are:
HoneyJar
Maya
Russia #2 (Black Sea)
Sandia
Sihong
Sugar Cane
These are also “Excellent”, but I’ve never seen them available:
Gaga
Liuyuexian
Miyun
Several in the Jinsi series
My goal next year is to cross Sandia with Bok Jo and hopefully the offsprings will inherited the bigger size of Bok Jo and a great crunch, sweetness and juicy of the Sandia.
That would be a great cross! I may have a while to wait, as Sandia is supposed to be a “winter” jujube, so we could be looking 2 months from now when they ripen vs the first other jujube which could be in the next 1-2 weeks.
I might get Sandia, if they have it. How is Bok Jo comparing to the following, Autumn Beauty, Winter Delight.
I think probably another HJ is preferable to me then buying another small jujube. I don’t even like small tomatoes, I don’t like to pick them.
I haven’t harvested any Winter Delight. I have one Winter Delight tree with 1-2 fruit on it, but they don’t look at all like the pic that Castanea posted.
Bok Jo vs Autumn Beauty- Bok Jo is much more productive (than just about everything, even Honey Jar, except maybe Xu Zhou). Fruit is smaller (length isn’t too different, but narrower), BJ is denser and sweeter, both have some crunch to them.
I can definitely empathize with that issue if there are rows of full size trees, like in a commercial operation. But, you have a few jujube in pots- how much work can it be
Also, I got a message from someone (trying to choose trees) who got this from CRD yesterday. Looks like they ran out of Sandia, as I don’t see it on the list anymore.
Li, Shanxi Li, Honeyjar, Sihong, GA866, Sugarcane, Russia#2 ($40 per tree), Alcalde#1, Fucuimi, Maya, Dabailing, Kongfucui ($50 per tree),Dongzao(冬枣) ($60 per tree)
Sorry Bob, I’m generally lazy, that’s the reason why, lol.
But what a shame they don’t have Sandia, maybe next year.
I will save one pot to plant next year.
