Here are the 3 seedlings from the seeds from @BobVance. They are small (prob few inches tall) but healthy. Do I need to protect them this coming winter?
Thanks
Kate
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i see you are in CT.
weâve been growing seedlings for several years, and among our yearly lots about that age and size which weâve left outdoors( in relatively mild winters here in vegas) some of them will dieback, but will regenerate from their tiny rootstock next spring, while a few will succumb altogether.
not sure how many seedlings you have but if only have a small sample size, then probably good to protect them this winter, since they are absolutely disadvantaged in CT conditions. Their respective hardiness(which vary between seedlings) to frigid conditions probably wonât manifest yet at such a young age.
on the other hand, you have the option to give them the cold shoulder from the get-go, so that any seedling from that batch which regenerates unprotected after a CT winter-- it is evidently tough as nails!
if you should decide to protect them, i see the soil mix they are growing on seem to be friable, so just pull them gently off the ground when they go dormant at the onset of winter and plant in pots then place in garage. At least for this one winter.
keep us posted !
Unfortunately only 4 seedlings survived this far. From your suggestion, I will pot them up this year to give them a better chance.
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below is the self-rooted chico, now with a lignifying upright(diagonally oriented) from this yearâs new growth. This will hopefully serve as a reliable puppy-mill source of chico clones on their own roots. Also have a chico airlayer of same age that is doing well, but didnât launch an upright stem this year.
jujus that donât develop upright stems wonât have as vigorously-developed rootballs as specimens that launch uprights.
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Yazoo Li sure screams Yahoo! I mean look at the size of that thing. Can;t wait for our grafts to bear, hopefully next year 
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In my new-to-jujubes zeal, I ordered seeds from Trade Winds (Jujube ziziphus), which readily germinated into a dozen seedlings. Any ideas on how these might compare to Jujube spinosa (which I understand, is more commonly used for jujube rootstock)? Does âown rootsâ confer anything here beyond a good source for cuttings? Thanks.
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juju seedlings vary in vigor and precocity. From my experience, and regardless of vigor/precocity, the vast majority are resilient to low-water conditions and heat. A few will succumb to sub-freezing temps, especially as infants. If your seedlings are still alive on their second year/third year, then they are probably adapted to your area. As for differences in seedlings jujuba vs spinosa-types, i donât have enough data, apart from being unable to tell which from which, since jujubas may have extremely thorny seedlings, while spinosa-types may produce seedlings that are less thorny. I think the only reason why nurseries use spinosa types is that they are more seed than fruit(the fruits being so tiny), and produce several times more fruits(hence, seed) per unit length of stem.
btw, the reason why i refer to them as spinosa-types, is because i suspect that spinosa types are probably not pure spinosas, and likely to be mongrel offspring with named cultivars. I wish Univ of new mexico or uc davis have the funds to do genetic testing.
incidentally, at your convenience pls post photos of your seedlings, as some seed sellers import âjujube seedâ, but such seeds are often of the tropical asian or african jujube and not the temperate/chinese jujube.
if any of your seedlings produce good fruit, then they are automatically good sources for root cuttings or suckers of novel cultivars which you could whimsically name with propriety 
in areas where late frosts or deep-freezes occur often, self-rooted cultivars confers some insurance on self-preservation since they can regenerate from their roots, whereas a grafted specimen, if it dies back below the graft, then youâve lost the cultivar. Important to note that rootstock is more resilient to deep-freezes and late frosts, since roots are thermally protected by sugars and proteins that confer anti-freeze properties(roots being the main storage depots of such nutrients, especially during winter ),
lastly, that youâve grown them from seed is your first-hand proof of clonal juvenility(that is if clonal senescence is for real)
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This is my first year getting any harvest soo happy that I have this producing second year Honey Jar. Sets few fruits and hoping for more next year 
.
Quick question do I need to prune lower side shoots or its fine to let them grow ?
Tree is only four feet tall at this time.
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would rather you let them grow, unless they start sagging with fruit that ground critters start attacking them. HJ seems to have the saggiest stems, at least here in the desert.
juju laterals are semi-deciduous; stems that donât get enough sunlight generally regress on their own,
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below is vegas nasty on its second crop for 2021. Quite promising since it only started producing fruits this year as a 3 yr old seedling and already managing to multi-crop in the same season, and in a 3 gallon pot! And the fruits are better quality than the motherâs(burntridgeâs contorted).
we dubbed it ânastyâ due to the thorns and pronounced crooks, partly visible here
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I purchased Ziziphus jujuba seeds from Trade Winds to raise as rootstock before I learned that Z. spinosa was more commonly used. These germinated within a week and the seedlings are coming along nicely without any special care.
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the foliage seems to indicate they are the real deal, but they might be too young at this point.
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Spinosa designates the wild variety of jujuba. There is a Ziziphus mauritiana that is a tropical jujube that many times the seeds look like and are sold for Ziziphus jujuba seeds. Yours look like the jujuba which is what you want. All the varieties we grow in our non tropical areas are Z. jujuba, i.e. spinosa, Li, Honey Jar, etc. I think there are many other species of Ziziphus also. I have heard of a Z. lotus. (For all the jujube gurus here you can correct me if Iâm wrongâI might argue with you but you can give it a try!!! 
)
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juju lovers are a chill bunch. We all prefer to be students than gurus 
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Trade Winds sells nine (9!) different species of Ziziphus seeds. I canât speak to the authenticity or classification but I was happy with the germination rates for these, at least. I have a couple dozen seedlings that are off to the races. I think I will still plan on grafting when theyâre large enough but having a little genetic variation in rootstock seems like a good thing. I imagine this is inherent in the wild/spinosa even more so. Begs the question though, might there not be âwildâ Z. jujuba as well as spinosa?
Thank you all for the helpful info.
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I donât really think here in USA we have a real distinction when we say spinosa. Li jujubes are Li. Sugar Cane is sugar cane. A few cultivars seem to produce the same fruit under different names but spinosa seems to designate any of the trees that produce small sour fruit. In Australia they have a variety of âspinosaâ that is always used for commercial grafting. I think it has the name Jin Sin or something like that. But I think here spinosa is pretty generic. I grow cultivar seedlings and graft to them. So I think your seedlings will be good for grafting to and they may possibly provide some branches that will have a good fruit.
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sequel to the over-achieving self-rooted li which we cloned as a bare-bottomed 2" stem last year.
fruit-size is about 40% that of the largest li fruits growing on mature trees, but this evidently matured well in cooler weather and the eating quality is just as good as a prime li harvested in late sept to november. Jujus ripened in hot weather tend to be large, but considerably pithy and dry. This one is quite juicy and flavorful. The pit is just as well-formed(rock-hard) and seedless as typical of li pits.
sure is a keeper! And what we love to keep-- we also intend to broadcast away
this should be ready for root-poaching by 2023
self-rooted clones should be the main practice at some point here in usa(or worldwide). Sharing/selling thorny rootstock seedlings better be a thing-of-the-past
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Looks great. Thanks for sharing. Can you give a quick how-to of what you did with that 2" stem? Was it just a rooted cutting? Did you use any kind of hormone? What season? Success rate? So many questionsâŚ
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