My other Black Sea from my another graft does not have such a pointed end like this but this is the first year of this graft.
It is very tasty. Beat Sugar Cane, even.
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I have my whole younger Sugar Cane showed chlorotic leaves. The tree did not set any fruit despite having flowers.
By mid sumner, another growth spurt showed up. This time leaves are normal. I do not know what caused chlorotic leaves. All jujbe trees are treated the same way. Only that tree had the issue.
Maybe, @jujubemulberry can diagnose it.
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Most of my Honey Jar are ruined with cracks. Almost half of the Sugar Cane and others are cracked up. The only one with no cracking is Li. This has been a problem for me most years so far. I may graft more Li next year since it is doing so well. May look for some Shanxi Li scion to try also. Looking like the larger the fruit the less cracking they get.
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If you ask me. I would say DO NOT grow Shanxi Li. Bigger fruit yes but do you like to eat fruit that tasted like styrofoam?
Someone in the west coast said it tasted great there and it tasted better with age!!!
Mine has been in ground for 9 years, has fruited for 7 years. It has never tasted good, not even close. Also, there have been a lot of deformed fruit and early drops. Shall I go on?
Get Black Sea. Mine have not cracked yet.
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If you have the patience, certainly. I have had luck planting near an ant hill. Taking care of itself now after 5 years and growing nicely. I would dump a bucket of water around it maybe 3 times a year. Ironically, the variety is ant-admirer.
This could describe either Black Sea or Early Golden Crisp. Either one could be the best jujube youâve eaten 
Early Golden Crisp isnât generally too small, but it isnât a large one like Shanxi Li either.
Hereâs a pic for comparison:
I think in past years there was some discussion at home about if Sugar Cane or Black Sea is better. This year, it is hands down Black Sea. If you add EGC into the mix though, I think it is a bit more of a toss-up. EGC is crunchier (while still very crisp), but BS has slightly more juice to it. I personally think that for a small handful, I prefer BS and for a larger serving, I prefer EGC of Bing Tang (not pictured).
I should note that the EGC in the pics is from last week, while the other two were picked today.
From what Iâve seen, the amount of cracking has a lot to do with how ripe the fruit is when the rain hits. It could just be that Li happened to be the least ripen when you got the rain, so it was the least affected. From looking at ~100 trees at ~10 sites, Sugar Cane is one of the more crack susceptable varietes, with Honey Jar and Li around average. If you want one that doesnât crack much, Iâd suggest Maya/Massandra. It has better quality than Li and cracks only a little, even when close to ripe.
I wouldnât say âstyrofoamâ, unless you pick it really early, like the ones in the Chinese market. But, at least as I grow it, it is far inferior to Honey Jar, Sugar Cane, Black Sea, etc.
I also get a lot of early drops. It is one that sets a lot early and gets you excited, only for most to fall off. I have gotten some OK production out of it in years which were very sunny in June/July. But, this year (which wasnât as sunny then) the production dropped a lot for Li and to almost nothing for Shanxi Li and Autumn Beauty (another large one).
If you are looking for a large jujube outside of a sunny jujube growing area, Iâd suggest wanting something else
Or, grow Pinggua/Apple. It has also set almost nothing this year, but at least when it does produce, the quality is very good, unlike Li/Shanxi Li, which are only OK.
Black Sea cracks just as much as most other varieties for me. Of the ones I picked today, 80%+ were cracked. Though that is partially due to how ripe they were before the last few days of rain.
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Iâve got Black Sea and it cracks about the same as Sugar Cane. I think @BobVance is right about the ones most ripe cracking. When the rains came the HJ were almost all ripe and almost all of them were destroyed. The rest of the varieties were not quite as ripe and did not get as much damage. Really disappointing to see all that HJ fruit trashed.
Thanks for the heads up on the Shanxi Li. Iâll pass on styrofoam.
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i agree it does look like black sea.
i wish would be able to diagnose it as we experience the same symptoms here too, followed by healthy new growth.
a sick juju is like a kid who complains of tummy ache. Mom takes kid to emergency dept, and spends 2 hours in the waiting room and then wait 3 more hrs for the radiology/blood tests be carried out. Doc tells mom not to feed kid in case surgery might be needed. Kid soon gets bored and hungry and no longer complaining of tummy ache, asking to drop by mcdonalds then go home. Mom tells kid she is obliged to wait for radiology and blood test results, which get finalized after 3 hrs and all coming out negativeâŚKid finally gets discharged with no prescriptions needed.
so yeah, jujus do get inexplicably sick, but they also inexplicably recover/fight off symptoms(of unknown etiology) without having to be treated.
where am at-- zero irrigation in the middle of summer is pretty much the only thing that kills jujus, especially when grown in tiny potsâŚ
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You are probably right about the timing of rain and ripening condition of each variety.
In my yard, Sugar Cane often gets hit by rain during its prime ripening period. A lot of cracking.
This year, Shanxi Li a good amount of fruit. Several dropped early and/or deformed, no seeds developed. Iâve waited until it is totally brown because it does not taste any good in earlier stage.
While it may not taste like styrofoam, its taste is inferior and not consistent. Maybe, after 20; years, it may taste better. I would stick with SC, HJ, Black Sea and Massandra.
Glad that from what you described, jujubes can adjust and recover from illnesses.
Li is just starting to ripen here and I found a cracked one on mine. You were right, itâs all about who is ripening when it rains. Bad year for jujube in my location.
jujus are just inscrutable. Even more weird is that weâve had certain wild-type rootstock that are worse off than the scions grafted to them. Seems to be one scenario in when the scionsâ disease tolerance/resistance is what helps protect/sustain the rootstock. Usually it is the other way around.
will be posting these strange maladies on youtube once compiled photos and videos re: juju symptomatology
Is there a jujube cultivar named âJulyâ? I have a friend at work who is not really a fruit person and her friend from California gave her some delicious fresh jujube.
They were Sugar Cane and July (what she called it) I hadnât tried before and she shared with me. She also got Honeyjar which I have yet to taste and have tried to grow.
It convinced me to try Honeyjar again so I ordered it from Burnt Ridge. If we can identify the July, and it is early ripening, I really want to have it. The fruit was at least twice the volume of the Sugar Cane and also more flavorful Delicious.
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Could be Qiuye.
Thanks for the reply. Why do you think it might be Qiuye?
By âQiuyeâ, Iâm guessing he means âQiyuexianâ, AKA Autumn Beauty AKA Alcalde #1.
It could be âJulyâ, just because it is larger than Sugar Cane and ripe around the same time. Though I donât think Autumn Beautyâs texture is really as good as Sugar Cane or Honey Jar.
Best solution would be to see if your co-worker can put you in touch with the person who grew it. Maybe she can send a bit of scionwood next winterâŚ
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I got some of the âWinter Jujubesâ from the Asian grocery store today. Theyâre around an inch in diameter, globose, but slightly squished, and with a dimple at the bottom. Iâm not sure what variety they are, but these ones are actually sweet and taste good. Hoping to have a bunch of my own finally this year. 
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They are likely âDongâ (Chinese for Winter). They generally ripen for me in early November, though this yearâs season is a couple weeks ahead, so maybe it will be only 2-3 weeks from now.
For them to already be in stores, they must have been grown in a warmer area. There are also several variants, Sandia (about a week earlier, but identical fruit), and 2nd and 3rd generation Dongs which I think have larger fruit size and/or more productivity. Those last two are just gradually spreading around the US and I donât have any experience with the fruit.
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Qiyue means 7th month in Chinese. Sorry, I spelled it incorrectly earlier.
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