try not to give up on them. You already have a couple years invested on their maturation, and you;re not really hindered by lack of space. They just happen to be a bunch of teenagers refusing to grow up, but ultimately will, whether they like it or not.
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referring to my pessimistic post, this is now the mango dong zao from jfae that i initially thought died in transit. Leafing out within ~1 month after dropping all the crispy foliage it arrived with.
now we just need hard evidence that any or all of the 5 supposedly self-rooted specimens(contorted, ga866, shanxi li, hj, and winter d) we bought from jfae are in fact growing on their own roots.
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I actually was thinking about this tree and wondering. Glad it came back!!
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picturesque!
That is not bad percentage. All people have to do is to grow seedlings from seed, and after few years (or earlier,like yours) will see are they good or not. If not grafting them is next step. Who have a land for planting,time and good will with little stubbornness 
, will have nice plants in just a couple of years 
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@k8tpayaso has plenty land, and can safely say has ample stubborn persistence. The loser typing this only has stubborn persistence 
kidding aside, the trouble with growing from seed is that, even if you have lots of land, you MUST grow them in pots if you want to document lineage(at least 50% of it, since the seed source is known), because growing hundreds of seeds directly on labeled seed-beds on the ground would make you lose track so easily especially if the ground they are growing on may be âcontaminatedâ with roots from mature juju trees or seedlings nearby. The labeled plots might not necessarily be true-to-source for what might be growing on them. We had to dig up vegas booty and spicy from their beds to isolate them by planting on wide-mouthed basins to encourage suckering, but only after meticulously combing foreign roots that may have been entangled with their rootballs. But despite due diligence, there is this likelihood they might actually be suckers from previous seedlings we used as rootstock growing nearby. And to complicate things, it is possible, even though not probable, they may have been suckers from grafted trees we bought from loweâs, burntridge, etc.
so even though we âdiscoveredâ them and named them as âvegas-grownâ, we canât really lay claim as they will forever be under some degree of reasonable doubt.
hopefully one of those potted sihong, hj, and contorted seedlings bear good fruits soon
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I have some land and few pieces we dont use for years. Iâm telling to my father not to plant corn and wheat anymore,its not profitable. Or its minor profit. And then I could plant whatever I want 
jujubes,pecans,hickories,pawpaw,persimmons and even pistachios. Among other fruits. So maybe I will have something from it. At least I will have a lots of fruits and nuts for me and family 
When I said to grow seedlings I thought to grow them in containers and then planted on some property. Of course they will be labeled in containers, and when planting make some record which plant is specific seedling. Lets say planted in rows. In a few years when they give fruit good ones leave the way they are, bad ones graft to some known variety and all is superb 
Then if some seedling sucker will know what is it. Here jujubes are unknown. When someone come to me and ask what is this awkward plant I said jujube. Then I have to explain to them a few minutes what is it. Not to mention for pawpaw and pecans 
It would be much easier if I had the fruit. Hopefully this year I will have some amount. For now its ok.
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This is the reason why I am only trial 20 Honey Jar seedlings only to narrow down that error.
Tony
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I do not feed any seedling jujubes for at least 3-4 years and I do not feed any potted jujubes unless they show a distinct need for it.
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Serbian jujubes â it sure sounds novel and exotic! Makes me so happy i got to be a part of the endeavor, even though slightly 
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I repotted a seedling that was in a small pot. The pot was about 8 inches deep put when I extended the wrapped roots they where about 24 inches long. With such long root growth I wonder how well a jujube would do potted long term.
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These are a year old and 5-6 inches tall. Maybe some are a bit bigger but they have not grown any since initial leaves this spring.
I have had them in a potting mix that has no added nutrients and itâs probably got a pH of 4-5. Iâve had them grow better without feeding but these look pretty rough. And very yellow because I think the potting mix was staying too wet and weâve had lots of rain this year. Maybe they will show some improvement.
Your trees always look wonderful as does Rafâs. Even mine planted out look deficient in something. But then here in east Texas I donât think we have the soil minerals that is in the soil a hundred miles west of here. Okay. Iâm whining like a baby⌠
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jujus can be fruitful potted, say ~3 gallon size or larger for more than 5 years. Will post a photo next week. The tree will get root-bound, but this donât seem to be a problem. As long as it is getting full sun it will be productive. Heavy production would require amendments/fertilizers if kept potted for many years
the only problem would be if it gets too tall for size of pot. This can be solved simply by removing subsequent upright growth, and just let the fruiting laterals do their thing. Removing upright growth extends the viable lifespan of laterals, which will ultimately be forced to grow uprights which one could continue removing, or pruning severely.
you are not alone @k8tpayaso, as i actually have several runty seedlings here.
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I wouldât recommend potted jujube in a long term. They are thirsty plants and once they fill up the pot they stop growing and you may observe burning of growing tips unless they root through the drainage holes into the soil.
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that is generally the problem with potted jujus, especially here with alkali tap water, requiring sulfur amendments. Will also need periodic soil amendments with azomite, and also n-p-k if potted too long.
Just a few of mine that are sitting aroundâŚ
On the left a 2 1/2 year old sugar cane seedling. A few blooms this year with no fruit set. On the right one of my first juju graftsâŚa Li in 2018
My Contorted seedlings from 2017
And this is what happens when one is planted out in the orchard. Same age but not in a pot.
Honey Jar seedlings from 2018. I fed them a light dose of miracle grow two weeks ago and they have gotten greener. The few in the back are from 2017. (Those way in the back are persimmonâŚ
)
AndâŚthe seedling that started my urge to plant these seeds. This is an unknown seedling 2 1/2 years old. It fruited a few fruits last year that were a little smaller than HJ with a similar taste. It has a couple of fruits this year but is blooming now with a few fruitlets showing. It has doubled in size this year.
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It is disappointing to hear that growing potted jujubes long term in pots is not a way to go 
How many years one can keep it in a pot? Look like it needs acidic soil?
if your soil is not too rich and serious about keeping the seedlings potted to assure identity, and if any of the potted eedlings have bloomed but not produced fruit, you may take some seasoned budwood this winter then graft to established trees next spring. That may help speed up the process of fruit production. You just have to label the potted seedling and the budwood diligently, so can identify the source of the budwood should it produce good fruit after being grafted.
If you are having zero success airlayering jujubes in your locale(like the loser typing this), you could simply poach some root cuttings from the potted seedling/s(that you have positively identified to have good fruit) to produce clones on their own roots.
it is still feasible, at least from my experience, as long as you amend the soil well. Very productive jujus will quickly use up macro and micro elements. If strictly into organic fruit growing you will need a relatively big pot(>5 gallon size), and simply amend with manure, which will decompose. If the pot is tiny, you will have to use fertilizers in pellet form, or just do foliar fertilization.
btw, jujus are actually ok in acid to alkali soil. Actually the most tolerant of high pHâs among common fruit trees, it is just that when potted with little organic matter(source of acids) and irrigated with lake mead water(our water here which is rich in tums), the soil gets encrusted into a rock-hard brick as the deposition of carbonates gets to be a cumulative process due to evaporation with no outside source of acidifier. Water evaporates, and calcium carbonate gets left behind.
you could keep them productive for more than 6 years, at least from my experience. Will post a photo of a specimen when i go to a friendâs house next week. I gave him this li juju that has been potted for more than 4 years, and it is still behaving like a wanna-be tree with plenty upright growth on its 7th yr. It is well-fertilized with miracle gro mix though, hence my take on the subject
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incidentally @k8tpayaso, are those contorted seedlings from contorted fruits i sent you? seems like you have the same percentage of contorted seedlings as i have that donât present with contorted stems.
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