Jujubes- Our New Adventure

[tonyOmahaz5]

Last year I cracked the shells and placed the seeds in a sandwich ziplock bag and placed in the refrigerator and planted in the miracle Gro moisture control potting mix in late March. They sprouted 2 weeks later. I also cleaned the seeds well with a green scrubbing pad with dish washing soap and let them dry for a few days and stored the same way in the refrigerator and planted the whole seeds without cracking the shell and they also sprouted well. Both ways will work fine.

Tony

[mamuang]

Thank you, Tony.
My track record on cracking jujube seeds was about zero. @jujubemulberryhas been very kind but I could not crack the seeds he sent without damage them. I will try again. Thanks for your advice.

[mrsg47]

Thank you Tony, I am discovering the Jujubee phenom! I just don’t like sweet, really sweet fruit without juicy ness!

[tonyOmahaz5]

Btw, I only planted the Honey Jar seeds because all of them were viable.

[mamuang]

I can’t wait to try HJ this year. My SC was very nice, sweet, crunchy with jujube aroma, very addicting.

[mamuang]

HJ and SC are not dry. They are not juicy like apples but not dry.

[jujubemulberry]

they are quite tricky and frustrating to crack. I get about 10-20% damage, even with utmost care and technique.
jujus may be grown from pits, but will take longer. The pits will warp and split when subjected to alternating moisture and partial dryness.

[mamuang]

Raf,
My fine motor skills are not very fine. With jujube seeds, my cracking turned into crushing too many times. I will save HJ seeds to try.

Do Sugar Cane and Shanxi Li seeds viable?

[jujubemulberry]

sugarcane produces viable seeds.

hj, sc, sihong, ant admire, contorted are some of the cultivars that have high rates of seed viability. We have the round shanxi li, and the pits are typically empty, and if seeded, the seeds are unusually large and leathery duds.
oh, and the wild-type rootstock of your bare-roots generally have viable seeds.

[Harbin]

You can use small vice. Put the nut between the jaws crosswise and while holding the nut slowly tighten up. When it cracks you’ll end up with a clean undamaged seed (or two).

[k8tpayaso]

My seed cracking tools…

Katy

[danzeb]

You can use small vice.

Yes that’s the way to do it. Any size vice works. Just apply pressure slowly until hull cracks. Close to 100% with any seed I’ve tried including jujube.

[mamuang]

Sugar Cane, picked this morning. Crunchy and sweet but less sweet than the ones picked a week earlier. We have had recent rain, some was heavy 2”+. Several SC cracked as you can see in the pic.

I enjoy them. All may be gone by the time this post was uploaded.

Shanxi Li is turning color. Honey Jar showed no color. It was quite late this year. I recalled the last HJ tree had fruit that turned brown about the same time as SC. This is a new tree from another nursery.

[tonyOmahaz5]

Have you noticed a hint of astringent in the Sugarcane fruits skin? I just noticed it this year. None in the Honey Jar fruits skin.

Tony

[jujubemulberry]

Sugar cane, lang(and other pear-shaped jujus), and to some degree hj, have a tendency to split with an increase in groundwater. A prime r4t3 is relatively large and excellent, but sadly will crack at the slightest of mojave monsoons.

[mamuang]

So far, not yet, Tony. Have not detect astringent.

@jujubemulberry, good to know.

Also, just saw two HJ turning color. So, it’s SC a week ahead of Shanxi Li and HJ a couple of days after Shanxi Li.

Now I need early ripening ( Early or mid Aug) or late (ripen in Oct in my zone 6a)varieties that taste good. Anyone has recommendations, please?

[tonyOmahaz5]

Shanxi Li is still green.

After the rain, Sugarcane are large and very crunchy.

Tony

[mamuang]

Here’s the order of ripening in my yard.
Sugar Cane starting around Sept 15
Shanxi Li around Sept 22
Honey Jar around Sept 28

Here are the pics just taken
Sugar Cane

Shanxi Li

Honey Jar, the first few that turned brown

[k8tpayaso]

Your trees look lovely!!

Katy

[mamuang]

Thank you, Kathy. They get a better treament this year ( water and fertilizer).

Would you recommend any early ripening varieties?