I’ve got two Li jujube trees growing but I’d like to add another type. I live in Pensacola Florida, which is north west Florida where it’s hot and humid and it does get cold in winter. It’s been recommended to add SO or Sugarcane but i know nothing about them and even less regarding how they will grow in my area.
We’re satisfied with Li jujbe as we got fruit our first year. Id like to get something that’s sweet, juicy, and productive.
Any input regarding the two name varieties would be greatly appreciated or recommendations.
I rate both A-. So is a little more productive for me here in Dallas, but every 3-4 years I have to wait until they’re completely brown before they turn sweet. Sugarcane is always sweet, but every 3-4 years I get a light crop. You can’t go wrong with either. In Dallas I’d probably choose Sugarcane.
Why not go with Honey Jar? It is juicer than most. Productive and real sweet. Sugarcane is good but I don’t care for the bitter taste in the skin. I think @jujubemulberry also noticed it too.
I like Honeyjar, Shihong, Li, Autumn Beauty. Black Sea and Coco tasted good too but I’ve only had a few, this was their first year for me. All my jujubees fruit starting second leaf, except for ga866 and Sherwood, both of those are 5-7 years. But in CA ga866 and Sherwood are said to fruit much sooner.
So is completely forgettable here. I won’t even eat them. Sugarcane is much better than So in this climate. But there are better jujubes than Sugarcane.
just concluded that there’s at least two contorteds being sold by nurseries in usa. And between this vegas-texas axis(@k8tpayaso and myself), we will-- sooner or later-- be dispersing several more contorted ‘sub-cultivars’ to the general public. Not sure if that is good or bad, haha. Am still sifting through the contorted seedlings been growing the past few years, and waiting for a relatively more desirable sub-cultivar.
anyway, of the two contorted’s currently in circulation, the big-fruited one is jfae’s and the small fruited one is that of burntridge nursery. The bigger one is better, not just in size, but also flavor.
moreover, both contorted’s in circulation produce viable seeds
I like So (Contorted) but if I had to choose for a very good cultivar strictly on taste it wouldn’t be in the running. I love it for its interesting contortions and that it’s fruits are “good” is a plus but if I could only have two for best taste I would choose something else. Honey Jar is one of my favs. They are small but numerous enough to eat like popcorn. Autumn Beauty is fantastic. SiHong is too but you might need to ask @Livinginawe about it’s productivity in northern Florida. And then I like Sugarcane too but it falls below the others I’ve mentioned.
Fruit quality:
1.) Honey Jar and Sugar Cane- top tier, crisp and juicy (as juicy as Juju get…)
2.) So (from JFaE)- a notch below HJ and SC, but still very good, with some crisp juice
3.) Bok Jo and Shanxi Li- Decent to eat, plenty of sugar, but not crisp/juicy (edit: some of the later season Bok Jo were better, moving up into category #3)
4.) True drying jujubes (I think Huping and maybe one other which I can’t recall)- moist sawdust and not good to eat fresh.
I think Massandra was in the area of #1 or #2, but I only got 1 fruit, so I’m not sure.
Precociousness/Productiveness:
1.) Bok Jo- very productive from the year after it was grafted (which is saying something for my climate)
2.) So- quite productive most years, after year #3
3.) Honey Jar (just below So for now, but could catch up as mine gets older)
4.) Sugar Cane
5.) Shanxi Li
6.) Li, Chico, Sherwood, GA866, Tigertooth (though I’ve heard it performs well in Florida)- no fruit yet after 4 years for at least 1 tree
I haven’t gotten any fruit from Black Sea after 4 years yet either, but it was a very small tree from OGW, so I’m hesitant to hold that against it. It’s grown enough now that it should start fruiting soon (I hope).
Honey Jar or So.
Since you are in Florida, maybe you could pickup a So (on it’s own roots) from JFaE. It looks like it would be about a 3 hour drive for you.
In 2016, my oldest So (the one which has been so productive and I sent you the scionwood) suckered. I transplanted the sucker to a rental that fall or the next spring. Fast forward 3 years (to a few days ago), and I noticed half a dozen fruit on it. This was about the same age the original tree started producing. The rootstock has the same zig-zag structure, but the fruit is much smaller. So, either the fruit size is smaller this year for some reason, or it is possible that the So I got from JFaE in 2011 was grafted to a So seedling. I’ll let you know how the fruit is.
one of the root cuttings from the supposedly own-rooted contorted i bought from jfae 3-4 months ago grew a few short stems which were not exhibiting the contorted habit, but probably due to its early development. Will wait until it gets bigger… should find out next year on subsequent growth.
the contorted i just bought from jfae produced small oblong-ish fruits on its first crop, which i initially thought was the same as burntridge’s. But fast forward to today on its second crop, and after months of intense desert sunlight, it apparently recovered from my root-segment poaching, as the fruits are much bigger and roundish, almost identical in shape and size to fruits of the contorted budwood your sent me ~3 years ago. Will post pics as soon as able.
So quite possible the sucker you have is temporarily bearing duds
Bob, thank you for breaking that down. Thus far it’s looking like SO JFE wil be the tree for me to add. Id love to get the Honey Jar but looks like it will be a few years to fruit. Time isn’t on my side. Thanks to all who contributed information to help me
