I was actually a bit surprised. Confetti has been sizing up quite a bit and is already bigger than I expected. I guess the fruit on the 18" tall tree that arrived in a 1 gal pot weren’t entirely representative Confetti actually looks a bit bigger than Black Sea- almost up to Sugar Cane size.
Another fruit which was bigger than I expected today was Fuicuimi. Not only does it have a very heavy load (on a graft- the original tree only has 4 fruit…), but they look Sugar Cane sized. Last fall, they were more like Honey Jar sized.
Even though I try to size my jujubes up quickly, they don’t grow as fast as some other kinds of fruit trees. Here’s a pic at a rental, with 3 apricots on the left and 1 jujube on the right. All 4 were planted last year. The jujube is about 7’ tall and has a blackberry cane looping over it (but really about 10’ away) in the pic. This jujube is actually the tallest of 4 jujube at the site.
That’s better than any of my Li, though I do have one which has a reasonable amount- maybe 50-60% of what I see in the pic.
Among large fruited varieties, the Shanxi Li dropped a lot of fruit, but still has quite a bit. The whole tree isn’t as prolific as this branch, but I thought it made a nice pic.
I was able to talk to Cliff yesterday. Here is my list of scions I might order, I know, just for the fun of it, I’m sure for this newbie, my grafting will not survive, I’ll be happy with one.
What do you think of this list. I have 2 Lang trees to graft.
Orange Beauty
Dong Zao
Bok Jo
Winter Delight
Black Sea
Dragon Tsao
Shi Hong
Massandrea
Big Melon
So
Maybe Wang Dae Chu(sp?), but this sounds like Empress Gee phonetically(Wang dae Choo), if they are the same, I might order Dragon Yong Dae Chu.
I may purchase Autumn Beauty and Empress Gee as a tree, whenever the OGW is open for ordering.
You will one day suddenly find that each tree will produce tons of fruit if you don’t prune it hard. In the old days, 4-5 jujube trees would be enough for a whole village. You harvested the fruits with a long long bamboo pole - “hitting jujube” was a term specific for collecting jujube fruits and kids were always looking forward to the day that “hitting jujube” was allowed. A fun summer activity for a lot of boys was to hit the jujube tree with rocks and hope to collect some before getting yelled and chased away by adults.
There’s also a Chinese tradition - you don’t eat a lot of fresh jujube fruits, it could hurt your stomach. I don’t know why but it’s a tradition passed down for generations. We now know you shouldn’t eat a lot of persimmons - there could be some scientific reasons that you shouldn’t eat too many fresh jujubes.
My top two for fresh eating would be Black Sea and Orange Beauty.
My top two for eating dried would be Orange Beauty and Black Sea.
Dong is next best for fresh eating. I have not tasted Bok Jo.
None of the others come close to the top three for fresh eating, although many people do like Sihong, which has a unique taste and texture and is also good for eating dried.
Dragon is a very nice ornamental, but is not in the top 20 for eating.
I think we all should have a disclaimer for the location of the jujubes we grow and that taste is subjective.
@castanea has extensive experience growing jujubes in CA for a long time.
However, will Catenea’s top 5 or top 10 varieties remain the same if those varieties are grown and produce in Nebraska or Connecticut? That is a question worth finding out.
In a few more years, @BobVance will be an authority of jujubes grown in the east coast.
This has not even included the “taste is subjective” clause to the whole “best tasting” anything.
Confetti actually looks a bit bigger than Black Sea- almost up to Sugar Cane size.
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