I think @castanea rates it even higher than I do. He puts it ahead of honeyjar and sugar cane, while I see all 3 on the same level (though with different tradeoffs). I’ve never tasted any aftertaste with BS, unlike SC.
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There’s several problems with SNP studies (and others) carried out by PCR assay. The main issue is that in horticultural PCR, they do not examine the contents of the sequences extracted by PCR. Instead they only estimate their lengths. This has been shown to be fallacious, because when the contents are examined investigators find:
- extractions of the same length with different contents
- extractions of different lengths with the same contents
These results have been known for over two decades but plant scientists have ignored it because (a) they’d have to upgrade their assay equipment (b) manufacturers of PCR equipment won’t discuss the problem.
This particular issue is why leading geneticists refer to PCR assay of extraction lengths as phrenology.
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Not only possible but probable. I sometimes graft dual trees and I try to match that growth pattern but it is hard when you want super varieties together. I think I see that here in sunny Texas more so than maybe some of the more northern guys. My SiHong that is a year younger than my honey jar is massive while my HJ is still about the same size.
Ok that is good to know.
I’m just getting Sihong from Cliff England, as they were out of Sandia.
So, I’ll probably try to cleft graft that to my Chico and not my honey jar, based on your information. I mean just in case…My honey jar is just such a slow grower. And I have two Chico trees, so it is not that big of a deal if one of those chicos gets a little over taken by the Sihong’s growth rate.
If you plant them out now and they have leaves they are going to get frozen at some point. While it may not kill them they will get a set back. This winter has been strange and some of my trees started budding out before all this cold weather. My jujubes were smart enough not to.
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how well does chico jujube do for everyone? i dont see it mention here as much.
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Great Q - I have the same Q 
I just got 2 Jujube trees bare root and am going to put them in 15 gal pots or root pouches (for now) and then plan to up-pot next year as needed.
I got Li and Chico.
I would also love any advice on pruning as I set them up. I’ve never grown Jujubes myself but have eaten a bunch and like them a lot.
I’m in SoCal Zone 10.
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It has a fairly distinctive flavor- most largeish jujubes don’t have as much tart to them as Chico.
In my climate though it has some issues, Here is an extract from my season-ending wrap-up last year:
I haven’t written a summary for 2024 yet, but the sneak peak is that Chico produced very little fruit this year. It was a slightly cloudier year and the already scant production was reduced even further.
So, my thought is that Chico is not very productive in Northern climates and has a few issues. But, from what I’ve heard, it is great in very sunny climates, such as CA and Australia.
I’m not sure about Seattle, though I suspect it wouldn’t be great. When I pulled up a map showing how much solar could be generated in different parts of the country, Seattle appears to be in a lower-production band than the NYC area. Maybe your sun is better distributed into the summer (with very cloudy winters), in which case, maybe it could work in some years. But, I think people in CA and TX have much better shots.
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I can see how @BobVance can arrive at his observations just because of some Chico behavior here in sunny Texas. I personally love it…most of the time. I lost my big Chico when the vortex hit in 2021 but there is a story behind its acquisition that might add to its vulnerability. I had good production on my tree and enough sun without a lot of rain during ripening to get good results. Chico was a bit later ripening for me which would also make it a bit iffy for you. The first fruits were never quite as flavorful which led me to believe that it needs heat to bring out the flavor. Another reason I believe that is because one year I had a second crop that ripened in October and I didn’t even eat them for lack of flavor. Also as Bob stated Chico must be fully brown to taste good. When all the stars align for this the tart/sweet taste is excellent. My climate can make this happen most of the time but it is these requirements that makes me believe that it might not be as desirable in climates that don’t provide all the elements needed.
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I have two Chicos, one in Las Vegas and one in North Georgia. I’ve only had fruit from them for two years, but at this point, Chico is my favorite jujube for flavor – but there are many that I have not tried.
Both of my trees are somewhat stronger growers than my average jujube. The Vegas tree obviously gets more sun and is much larger (and produces significantly larger fruit, so far, too). Both began fruiting around their third leaf. Another notable characteristic, from my experience, is that Chico seems to develop particularly wicked thorns.
Photo of the Vegas Chico:
Photo of the Georgia Chico:
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Do you have any other jujube varieties for cross pollination or they fruited on their own? @marten
Tony
you mention chico is a strong grower compared to your other varieties. How productive is chico for you? its only been two years since they fruited for you. so i dont know if they are the same age in the two different locations? based on photo i can’t tell if they are the same productivity even at different climates. The warmer you said the fruit is larger which what i think most jujubes loves is more heat.
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The proper terminology is “spears”
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The Vegas Chico is growing next to So, Honey Jar, and Zig-Zag. The Georgia Chico is growing next to Autumn Beauty, Black Sea, Empress Gee, Honey Jar, So, and Sugar Cane.
So sadly, I can provide no evidence for the proposition that Chico might be self-fruitful.
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So far, it appears to be somewhat less productive than So, and considerably less productive than Honey Jar. But Chico has so far surprised me by being about average or even a little above – most of the reports I have read have suggested that it is relatively stingy. Of course, I don’t have a lot of data, but so far, Chico has been a relatively good and precocious producer in Georgia and Las Vegas.
They are roughly the same age, but there are complicating factors. Both trees had to make near-miraculous recoveries after sustaining severe damage – the Georgia Chico after getting accidentally mowed down, and the Vegas Chico after literally being felled by my German Shepherd pup, who must have spent most of a night patiently chewing it in half just above the graft. Both trees eventually sprouted back from above the graft and recovered.
Other factors are season length and irrigation. The Georgia trees are unirrigated, but in Vegas, almost any fruit tree needs near-constant irrigation during the summer just to survive. North Georgia has frosts as late as April and as early as November, and lots of rainy and cloudy days even in the summer. Vegas is much, much sunnier and has a significantly longer season – my jujubes there start breaking bud in March and are often still bearing fruit in the first week of December.
As a result, the Vegas jujubes are all much bigger now than the Georgia ones of the same age.
So far, the Vegas trees are more productive, but I think that is because they are bigger. Although I haven’t kept statistics, I think that controlling for size, the Georgia jujubes are competitive.
It does look like the Vegas trees produce noticeably larger fruit, even controlling for size of the tree. That is to say, the very first fruits on my Vegas trees were bigger than the very first fruits on my Georgia trees, and they are still bigger today. I’ll hopefully have a clearer picture on this in another year or two.
As to heat, it does seem that jujubes love it. For most of my fruit trees, Georgia seems to be a better growing climate. For instance, my Asian pears and persimmons in Georgia are much bigger and healthier (and more fruitful, with bigger fruit) than the same in Vegas. Most fruit trees do not care for the Vegas summer and go into a sort of quasi-dormancy once temps begin to stay above 100 degrees. Jujubes, though, don’t appear to mind much if at all, and Honey Jar and So still looked lush, with new growth and even new flowers, even when we hit 120 this last summer. Since this reply is about Chico, I will note that out of my Vegas jujubes, Chico was the only one that began to look a little sad in the hottest part of the summer, but it quickly bounced back once we got through the worst of it.
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Chico is one of my favorites out of about 15 varieties. I give away most of my Jujubes but don’t give away Chico! It has a good balance of sweet and tart when mostly brown.
Here in north Texas it grows better than most Jujube varieties(good vigor). I seem to get an early crop and then a later one. The fruit does tend to crack with heavy rains. As others have mentioned it has some potent thorns.
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Well, I now have that R4T3 Scion that I previously ordered from Cliff England, and then I recently added sihong scions from same company.
As mentioned earlier they were out of the Sandia scions, but I found another company selling Sandia as a bare root tree, but it’s tiny…two feet tall(no idea if this includes roots).
Should I plant this in a pot first for the first year to allow it to get a little more beefy, or should I put it straight into our terribly Texas clay soil like the others? I’ve never purchased one so small. I know they are tough but…
Anyhow first pears, then persimmons, figs, and now jujubes…
Have you already received the Sandia?
Not yet, they will ship in February. Just trying to get a game plan ready.
I have done both. I actually have dug up a tree I planted that was not doing well and kept it in a pot for a while. If it comes bare root and is very small I might pot it up in a fairly large pot for the summer. That depends on what it looks like when you get it.
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