V Lucky
Porterville X 2
La Fleur
Nanjing
Big Melon
Baby Red
Ant Admire (just starting)
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love it!
Iām doing a couple jujube grafts here soon. Which would I have better odds grafting to. Tree branch, root sucker, or all the same?
grafting to any upright stem that gets the most sunlight is optimal. It usually does not matter much if it will be an interstem, or if it is the sucker of rootstock, as long as it is onto an upright stem and getting plenty sun exposure.
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Youāre on a roll!
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What is the black tape you use on your grafts?
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Itās like Temflex, a rubber electrical tape. It stretches and sticks to itself. Itās good and waterproof and supports well. It usually degrades and splits but Iāve cut a few lately to facilitate it falling off. I have had buds from the rootstock push through it.
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Thanks!
What I really like about it is that it should warm up the graft union which should help with grafting chestnuts a little earlier.
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It should do that. Sometimes I think it gets too hot in our sun.
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Itās very easy to work with. It doesnāt stick much until it is stretched. I usually cut a length of 1-2 inches depending on what Iām wrapping and then cut that in half lengthwise or sometimes in thirds if I have a small caliper graph, remove the protective film, stretch it and then wrap. Stretch the last little tab and press it into the wrapped area and it sticks. Much better seal than just plastic electrical tape. I usually put it on over parafilm but some use it first and then cover with parafilm.
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i also put parafilm on first before any other material as parafilm seems to be the least stiff of the various grafting wraps, especially when using on tiny/soft stemsā¦
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And if you use real Temflex the peel off film can be hard to get off. If so just give it a stretch first and the film will break and be easy to remove.
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It likes to grow straight up with lots of thorns and lots of fruit. Three years in my fruit is getting larger to almost honey jar size.
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botanists say flowers equates to plant sex. Any plant will not grow much if given the chance to attain blooming status and fruiting, so will have to impose prolonged celibacy on this self-rooted li with diligent neutering. Snipping the flower buds is tedious but should be worth it if can bulk it up a year faster to be an organ donor . The larger the specimen is above-ground, the larger the rootball will be for future root cuttings.
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yay! am excited!
btw, glad to hear that is the trend which is typical of jujus and other species. I did have seedlings which produced big fruits on first crop but considerably smaller on subsequent crops. Not sure if it is just the weather, stress, or if it is actually something that would demand fruit-thinning. Fruit quality can sometimes also be better on first crop than subsequent crops, which i find weird, which may require a couple more years of assessing.
I have had people tell me the taste of it is bland but it was people that didnāt like anything but HJ so I donāt know if it was the sweetness factor. I quite like the fruit even as small as they are. Will be glad to get another opinion.
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taste really is an individual thing and quite subjective. Much like color-blindness or inability to smell asparagus pee 
while i do love HJ and can eat bowlfuls of it, there are other cultivars that i like even more. As with other fruits, the homegrower will have to identify which variety/varieties to plant, or which varieties to plant the most.
most seedling jujus also produce relatively bland fruit on their first crops. It can also occur with recent grafts(even though the budwood is old). May take some time for seedlings or grafts to produce optimal fruits. And sometimes, as per my āsoftā observationsā certain flavors donāt manifest until the specimen tree/seedling has matured, and possible that some of these flavors may not be of the palatable kind.
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I have some seedling jujube that Iām grafting to in a week or so.
How much growth is average for the first year?
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That is highly variable due to a lot of different situations. Iāve had some grow 3-4 feet and Iāve had some just put out fruiting stems the first year and essentially not grow at all. It depends on your rootstock/interstem, the quality of the graft union, the scion characteristics, the amount of sun available and the weather/temperature. I like to see at least a couple of feet growth but Iām happy to get less if itās a cultivar I really want to get a start of. Many that donāt grow much first year will grow the second year.
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