Here is a picture of a jujube a co-worker brought in for me today. Most likely a jujube rootstock variety of some unknown variety. From his description it sounds like what he has growing on his rootstock is tigertooth. He claims he got it from an old Chinese lady 10 years ago. He has given several suckers to co-workers and most of them rave about how good they are. I say Tigertooth because of the long two-three in thorns and shaped like a palm date when ready to harvest. His tree he says is 30-35 feet tall. This little guy already has more thorns than my much larger honey jar.
Iâll plant this about 20 feet from my honey jar in late September/Early October.
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The leaves and the reddish branches look very similar to my Tigertooth.
Tony
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âgrowing on its own rootsâ is a phrase juju-growers love to hear, especially in this hot and zero humidity desert where airlayering is a bit tedious to do.
i, too, just got acquainted with someone in our locale who unknowingly has an unnamed tree with good-sized and good quality fruits(elongated type) that can be eaten green, and supposedly growing on its own roots, since she says the suckers have the same exact fruits as the main tree. Going to dig up some of the suckers from her house and hoping it is true!
all of a sudden the list of no-name jujus is expanding, and loving it!
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Yes! Really neat deal. I look forward to seeing how this story develops.
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keep us posted! And below are a couple fruits from the âmystery jujubeâ in vegas that is supposedly growing on its own roots. Fruit quality is that of sherwood, which is pretty good.
Crisp, and quite sweet even at this greenish stage. The only thing which makes it different is that the tree is reportedly thorny, whereas sherwood only has small thorns, or practically non-existent.
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Co-worker brought in some fruit from the mystery jujube tree. The parent of the sucker shown above. Kind of hard to describe taste. Closest think I could compare is to that of an apple. Not super sweet, but crisp and tasty. In shape it certainly doesnât look like tiger tooth so we can probably rule out that one. It kind of looks like your mystery jujube @jujubemulberry. I was thinking this looked a lot like Sherwood, but it has a lot of sharp thorns on it. About 1/2 inch long. Whatâs yâalls thoughts?
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whoah! that is soooo intriguing @zazlev --it does look like it! Certainly not the wild-type spinosaâs. Howâs the flavor, sweetness, and texture? And with texture, is it quite dense biting into? Sherwoods are some of the denser jujus.
you know, the lady who moved in to that house(with the mystery vegas jujube) says the previous owner of the house being chinese, so could have been some networking going on(and crowd-sourcing) with jujus-on-their-own-roots.
as for sherwood, only caveat is that i looked up your location, and seems like sherwood is ânot supposedâ to be productive in your region. That your colleague managed to give you more than a handful says a lot about his treeâs production. Possible though that his/her sherwood tree is really old and mature so more productive than the typical bareroot. I have heard of sherwood on their own roots quite often. It is supposedly a seedling âdiscoveredâ in louisiana, so likely that those who liked the fruits propagated them from suckers.
1/2" long thorns may be normal for sherwood as small specimens. They tend to do away with growing thorns as they get taller.
hopefully your mystery juju sucker bears fruits soon. Will likewise post updates on the suckers will be obtaining from the mystery tree next spring.
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Very intriguing @jujubemulberry!
Great feedback on the Sherwood. I didnât know any of that. I think your suggestion of it being traded from one person to another is quite possible. Especially among the Chinese network of friends. The flavor is most like an apple to me with some sweet finish taste. Definitely nothing sour is drawn out of biting into it. Itâs fairly dense/hard. Again much like an apple to me. Texture is a bit rough on inside and smooth on outside. My colleagues tree he says is about 10 years old and 35 feet high!! Itâs extremely loaded with fruit. Everyone in the office today received more than a handful if they so desired. He gave me an additional bag to bring home for the rest of the family to try. 
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it does sound like sherwood-- taking into consideration provenance and your accounts and posted picture. Btw, 35 feet tall is quite impressive for a juju. The super- old juju at Fort Worth botanical park(unknown variety) is currently the unofficial âchampâ at ~45 feet.
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I noticed the taste improved its sweetness and overall flavoring after setting in the refrigerator for the last 48 hours. I would think this would be commonplace for all jujubes? [quote=âjujubemulberry, post:9, topic:12339â]
it does sound like sherwood-
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We may never know for certain but I would certainly agree with you. All signs point to Sherwood. However, a lot of persons growing Sherwood on this site seem to have fruit set issues. My colleague here says they started fruiting 2nd year and have piled on since. Someone posted on this site that its been 8 years and no Sherwood fruitset for them (@Bhawkins I think). Maybe this one is a Sherwood hybrid type or a Chinese variety widely unknown about in the US. Nonetheless, its a fun and interesting topic.
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exactly! Even here, sherwood is not as fruitful as others.
youâre right, refrigeration does improve the flavor of jujus, much like certain apples and pears get better when cellared
however, when fruits mature in the heat of summer here, the flavor does not improve much(although still better than no improvement). We actually did studies on this, last year and this year, and it seems to be that the higher amounts of âheat unitsâ the fruits are subjected to, the less likely the fruits improve being âcellaredâ
The cultivar li for example(when grown here), it bears superb fruits later in the year(late sept to november) compared to those which matured in july or early august. Almost like night and day in difference.
Ripe jujus that are refrigerated and allowed to dry in the fridge also taste better than when dried on the tree.[quote=âzazlev, post:10, topic:12339â]
this one is a Sherwood hybrid type or a Chinese variety widely unknown about in the US. Nonetheless, its a fun and interesting topic.
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undoubtedly!
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Transplanted largest mystery jujube sucker out at property yesterday. Planted about 20 feet from HJ. Managed to save two more small suckers and potted them up. Will keep a close eye on these for a season or two. Not sure I want to graft on these ones. May have something good growing on âitâs own rootsâ. #hopemysterygood
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I canât see the color of the cups⌠
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RED!!! 
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Why did you put koolaid is beer cups???
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Busted, my bad. How confusing this must be to others! 
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It all works out in the end⌠
I reckon @thecityman, Kevin this is about the size of the one I gave you! Itâs tripled in size and is my fastest growing jujube! Almost guaranteed I will get fruit from it this year.
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