In California, ripening dates were generally fairly consistent from year to year. In Missouri there is no consistency at all. Last year I think my first ripe jujube was Chico. I have never had Chico be early in California and this year in Missouri its once again later.
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Would the scions still be viable/graftable until next May-June if I take cuttings from jujube trees now and store them in the fridge?
@Fishsauce Itās better to cut your scions when the tree is dormant (late winter). If you cut them when itās actively growing, then the scions wonāt last very long. Dormant scions can be stored in the fridge for months.
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I picked my Honey Jar and Sugar Cane for the first time yesterday. HJ tasted good as usual. Sugar Cane had spongy, drier texture. This was not just one or two fruit. They were a handful that ripened first (half brown or mostly brown).
I am stumped, not sure how it happened. Definitely, not from a lack of water. It has rained at least once or twice a week for months.
This was my first time experience this. Hope it is a one time deal.
Lack of water.
Seriously.
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They are in raised beds with no bottoms. I assume by now, roots must have gone down to real soil. I agree that it looked like lack of water.
However, If lack of water is an issue, it should have happened last year when we had a period of drought. This year, it has rained every week, sometimes 3 times a week.
Yesterday, I read that in our area this year, the amount of rain we have got came in the second place in 50 years.
Itās still lack of water.
It depends on when the rain comes and how heavy the crop is and when the fruit is ripening. If a tree gets a massive amount of rain by August it will set a large crop, but then if it gets little or no water the week or two before the fruit ripens, the fruit can be spongy.
This is one of the main reasons people who grow jujubes in western dry areas and use regular irrigation get more consistent fruit quality than growers in the East who rely on rain.
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It has rained every week (several were downpours) since mid July.
I need to figure out why it is Sugar Cane, not Honey Jar next to it.
Just want to say that I agree that it looked like a lack of water issue.
I need to figure how that could happen with the record breaking rain we have had here. It is starting to rain now and will go on all day, today, tomorrow until Monday morning. We have rain for sure.
If you have too much rain early in the season, the tree sets too much fruit which it will be unlikely to mature well later in the season.
And no matter how much rain the tree gets during the season, 4 or 5 dry days before the fruit is turning brown can result in spongy fruit, especially on smaller or younger trees.
Raised beds can act like big pots and drain too well. The tree roots may or may not have reached the native soil. I am guessing they have not.
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I think Sugar Cane is more variable than Honey Jar. Iāve been picking both and of the 6 Sugar Cane trees, from 5 sites that Iāve been picking from (there are at least 4 others which arenāt ripe or havenāt been checked) which have had any appreciable amount of fruit, two had quite a few soft, shriveled ones on a girdled branches, a third tree has fruit which isnāt sweet. The last 3 are as normal, including two with 1+ girdled branches, though I think there could have been a few soft ones on the girdles (most were OK).
The Sugar Cane which was not sweet has a massive fruit load. Maybe my most loaded jujube tree. Interestingly, they are crisp, so at least they are somewhat useful in that my wife likes them. But this is just the first pound or two from the tree- maybe as the season progresses, they will improve.
If anything, this pic understates how much fruit is on this tree. In person, most of it looks like that branch on the upper right (which was not girdled). Maybe it is at just the right angle to show up well in the pic. Has anyone ever needed to thin jujubes? Iāve never heard of it being done.
Neither of these trees were irrigated. The one with the smaller load is sweet and crisp, while the heavily loaded one pictured above is crisp but not very sweet. They are at least better than the Chinatown jujubes, as they are crisp and 15 brix, while the ones from Chinatown are spongy and 10-11 brix.
In contrast to Sugar Cane, Iāve picked Honey Jar from at least 3-4 trees so far and all have been good/sweet. One young tree seemed a bit less crisp/crunchy for a HJ, but it wasnāt bad. But Iāll have a better idea of both HJ and SC in a few weeks. Between the two, I have about 2 dozen trees, so there should be a decent sample.
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This is the first time I feel I should pick HJ over a SC. I have young trees of one of each and is about to give one up. Glad I discover SCās inconsistency now than later.
How are you able to get enough juice from jujubes for brix measurement? I have had a hard time getting juice from them.
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For Honey Jar and Sugar Cane it is pretty easy. If you want a challenge, try Lang 
I cut a small wedge out:
Then, I break it in half and place the jujube skin against my finger and the top of the wedge against my thumb.
Then smush itā¦It generally gives me enough juice when working with crisp juicy jujubes. If you are still a bit short of a good reading, smush the other half of the wedge.
It often helps to hold the refractometer up to either a florescent light or a window during daytime. Some other lights donāt yield as much contrast.
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When I smushed it, it broke loose in tiny pieces all over the place. I will need to do better next time.
How did you do it? Will you be able to share a Recipe, pls?
I use a steam juicer to extract the juice. Similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Multi-Use-Juicer-VICTORIO-VKP1140/dp/B00B2CJNNU/ref=asc_df_B00B2CJNNU?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80470628883231&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070155901107&psc=1
I cut up my extra Li and Redlands jujubes into the steamer basket and steam them for about 4-5 hours. Usually then Iāll put a plate and weight (usually a pitcher of water) on the fruit and let it drip for 2-3 more hours. In this batch I used fresh and soft dried fruit and the juice was really goodā¦.almost like syrup at the very last.
I had 8 cups of juice and I used 5 1/3 cups of sugar with 2 packets of sure jell low sugar pectin. Jujubes donāt have a lot of pectin evidently because I have to use more pectin and cook for a little longer than usual recipes. So I cooked it for nearly a minute longer than the sure jell recipe. I kinda base it on the apple jelly recipe but I change it as I need to.
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Does its taste and/or smell like jujbes?
Yes! It has a lovely jujube taste and smell. I had made some before but I did not use any of the dry jujubes and itās was good but the taste was really enhanced with the dry jujus. These were some I gather off the ground that had dried and fallen. Still chewy but getting brown inside.
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Wish I had a steam juicer. I just got a dehydrator so there is no room for a steam juicer any time soon.
I love the sweet smell of dried jujubes.
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