We have quite a few people in MA from the Cape to the Berkshire. Welcome.
Do you have jujube rootstocks?
Thank you! Yeah I’ve noticed a few that are from MA, good to know that I’m not the only one around here(although I don’t really see them around me) with the idea of growing a fruit orchard.
As for rootstock, I started some from seed so nothing to work with in that sense. Was hoping to graft onto my Black Sea tree.
Mike
How old is your Black Sea? It is a very good variety, imo.
I think @Colleen7, @Courtney and @HollyGates are the closest to you.
Just a couple of years. I just want to add a couple of varieties onto it. Everything I’ve read so far is that SC & HJ is the way to go. Then I stumbled onto this thread and see that some people rate others higher than those 2. So now I’m debating which 2 varieties I should graft on again. Since you are so close to me, what would you say are your best? Appreciate the help.
SC and HJ 
I pm you with a couple specific questions. When you see a small green dot on your avatar, that’s private message. Click on it and you can respond via pm.
Tony,
You were right, I changed out the dripper for one that gave more water and in a wider 360 degree pattern. They were awesome this year. Thanks for the suggestion
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You were spot on, increased the water and they turned out very good. Thanks
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@castanea — just read your comments on Shanxi Li above and I have one of those… here in Southern TN z7a. I started Shanxi Li and GA866 spring 2020. No fruit yet, but they are both loaded with blooms now and hoping to get some this year.
I see many people here recommending Honey Jar, Sugar Cane.
What I am having trouble finding is a Jujube Fruit ripening chart… something that shows which varieties ripen early, mid, late.
Every description I have read of Honey Jar says it is early ripening (Raintree says ripens September).
They say the same thing for Sugar Cane.
Raintree says Shanxi Li ripens in September too…
They do not have GA866
OGW says that both Shanxi Li and GA866 ripens in October.
I may be starting over again in the next year or two at a new location and would like to know if there are two really good Jujube varieties that ripen at different times, one earlier, one later. To extend the fresh eating timeframe.
If Honey Jar and Sugar cane both ripen at the same time… (early) think I would just try the Honey Jar.
It would be ideal to have one that ripens in September and another in October… something like that.
Do you have Honey Jar or Sugar Cane or GA 866 and do they ripen at the same time as your Shanxi Li ?
If anyone else knows of a good combo of Jujube varieties to extend fresh eating period… would appreciate the info.
Thanks
TNHunter
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Below is a chart I kept of ripening times in California zone 9 for one year. The dates will be different for you, but the order of ripening may be somewhat similar:
8-9 Black Sea
8-11 Sugar Cane
8-13 Autumn Beauty
8-15 Massandra
8-18 Coco
8-21 Lang
8-22 Shui Men
8-23 SiHong
8-23 Honey Jar
8-23 Ant Admire
8-23 Orange Beauty
8-28 Jin
8-29 Porterville
9-1 Li
9-4 Park
9-6 Sherwood
9-16 Kumme
I had more after that but got tired of writing them down.
GA 866 was in the mid-late category and so not on this list. GA 866 does not ripen well unless you have long hot summers. I would not recommend it to anyone outside the southwest or the deep south.
Honey Jar and Sugar Cane generally produce good quality fruit but I can think of 20-30 that are better. Here are 10 that beat those two easily:
Autumn Beauty
Orange Beauty
Porterville
Maya
Dae Sol Jo
Sweet Tart
Shandong Pear
Fucuimi
Black Sea
Chico
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That pretty much corresponds to my list (incomplete) last year. Last year was a very late year and I have had Honey Jar ripe in mid July here in 7b/8a line. My Shanxi Li was very late but it was the first year to fruit so it may be different. Massandra is early also but I didn’t have any last year. Massandra is very good and is a heavy bearer for me.
Sugar Cane - 8/1
Honey Jar - 8/5
Autumn Beauty - 8/10
Black Sea - 8/14
SiHong - 8/16
Alcalde 8/17
Li - 9/1
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@castanea and @k8tpayaso …
Thanks for the ripening details… appreciate it.
I went back and reread this post and some others here… still not sure about which varieties might do well here, taste good here… seems to be lots of differing opinions probably based on location/climate differences.
One group mentioned above caught my attention… the varieties with some acidity.
I definately prefer sweet/tart over sweet only.
I had a white mulberry that was sweet only… yuck… I lopped it off and grafted over it.
Now I can see that having one jujube that is sweet only… might be ok with me… if you can dehydrate and pulverize them to make your own sweetner… do any of you actually do that ? it works well ?
Coconut palm sugar and Maple syrup are really the only sweetners I use… currently.
How would dehydrated/pulverized jujube be in something like a cup of coffee ? or some berry chia jam ?
And on those varieties with some acidity… Chico, Sweet Tart, Porterville… I may have to have some of those to be happy with fresh eating jujube.
Anyone in zone 7 … hot humid south east growing those with a good report ?
Several above mention flavor … good flavor and jucieness with Honey Jar… but is that more of a honey flavor… but not really any tartness ?
Thanks all
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Most of what I’ve seen when they are dehydrated is chewy—more like dates than anything you could “pulverize”. Last year I used my steam juicer to get juice that I made jelly with. You possibly could reduce that to a syrup for sweetener.
Honey Jar is good and most everyone that I give it to likes it a lot. Its claim to fame is that it is sweet, crisp and juicy. I like them but there’s a bunch of them that I like and the more diverse I get with the ones I grow the more I find ones that I really like. Everyone has his own preference. What I would do if you’re only wanting two trees is choose a couple and then graft other cultivars if you want to keep trying others.
If I had to choose only two (and I don’t want to have to do that) SiHong would definitely be one of them and the other is tough……. Black Sea maybe, or Chico. Or maybe Massandra. Or Orange Beauty. Or maybe one that I grafted this year that I haven’t tasted. Oh man……that would be a tough choice. SiHong is very good fresh. Its denser than most which maybe means that it isn’t as “juicy or crisp” but then it’s not dry or like “styrofoam” either. It’s not syrupy sweet but yet it is sweet. I don’t think I would say it had any tart quality but it has some complexity to it—not just sweet. But a really good thing about SiHong in my climate (hot and humid) is that it dries and stores well while some of the others get soft and tend to spoil. SiHong in my fridge will store for weeks….maybe longer but haven’t lasted that long before all were eaten. So that’s my reason for that cultivar to be chosen. I just cannot limit myself to one other variety!!! 
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I really enjoy sweet jujubes but they don’t make as big an impression on my brain as the ones with acidity. The tart ones will start my mouth watering just thinking about them. I am always looking for more of them.
Orange Beauty also has a hint of tartness.
I used to have another seedling that had a very nice level of acidity but I lost it when I moved.
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In Omaha z5 Honey Jar ruled. Fruit is early, sweet, crunchy and juicy. Somehow Surgacane got a bit of bitterness in the skin. I expanded my collection for trial are Hetian Jade, Alcalde#1, Russian 2, Bok Jo. Chico, Orange Beauty, So, Black Sea, and Sandia. Hopefully some of these will fruit this summer for a taste test.
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How about that Lapins? Has it fruited? Do you like it? Where are you located please?
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@Spin … that lapins is a bueatiful healthy tree… planted it spring 2018… the last 3 years a few blooms… but no fruit yet.
A freeloader… so far other than the nice looking tree and a few bueatiful blossoms.
I keep hoping !!
I knew that it was said that sweet cherries do not do well in southern TN… but tried it anyway… so far no luck with fruit.
It is planted in my landscaping space on the south end of our front porch.
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Thanks to all for the jujube recommendations… sounds like I may have to try 3 or 4 at my new place…
Honey Jar
Chico
Orange Bueaty
SiHong
Hopefully those don’t all ripen the same week.
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I’m not sure about your zone but you say you have hot weather so if your season is long enough maybe you will experience this too. Many times my jujubes will put in another flush of blooms and essentially have two “crops” of fruit. Often their harvest is spread out so that everything does not ripen at once.
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@k8tpayaso - I found the chart below online… it is for Nashville which is 70 miles or so North of me.
I expect it is a bit warmer and longer season in my location. Those are averages…
May and October I would call Warm… June July August and Sept are usually what I would call Hot.
It can cool off some last half of September… and it sure is nice when it does because it has been hot for a while.
I have seen temps above 100 in June, July and August — but that is somewhat rare in June… but pretty common in July August.
Our last spring frost Normally mid April.
Our first hard (Raspberry and Fig stopping) Frost usually comes mid Nov.
2 warm months + 4 hot months seems like a pretty long season to me. 6 months of good growing temps.
Question… my two Jujubes (Shanxi Li and GA 866) have been blooming for a few weeks now… and again it seems like it is mostly just ants that are visiting the blossoms. Is that the normal pollinator for Jujube ? I don’t really see any bees, or wasp or fly type insects checking out the blooms.
I checked them both just now… several ants visiting blossoms… a variety of ants large and small… lots of blossoms but no fruit set yet that I can find.
Shanxi li on right Ga866 on left.
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That’s all I saw when my jujubes were young. As my orchard grew and the trees got bigger I saw more and more. You’ll be able to smell the blossoms well as the trees get bigger and have more blooms. Then you’ll notice flies of all kinds, wasps of all kinds, butterflies, beetles, lady bugs, and small bees (like mason bees). I don’t see bumblebees or honey bees as a rule. But at first all you see are ants.
Looks like your growing season isn’t much shorter than mine but as hot as you think it is mine is hotter….usually. Your jujus should like it. Your trees look good.
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