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["MARIE ASHTON" <bwoodtx@verizon.net>]

Korea has a real problem with Jujubes and a disease called witches broom. We do not have that problem here in the USA but it may be one reason that they were growing jujubes in pots. The variety they were growing may have been one of the dwarf cultivars such as our Honey Jar or SO.

As to pollination of jujubes, there has been some research which shows that although the blooms are open for several days they are only open to pollination for a few hours. There has been some research showing also that some cultivars are receptive in the mornings and some are receptive in the afternoons. There are also known varieties that are self-fertile such Leon Burk and Honey Jar. We do know that Sherwood will bear better if it goes through a very cold, dry winter so chill has a bearing on some varieties. So the answer, is that there are many factors in play with jujubes. The Chinese in various areas of China have adapted their variety of jujube to their specific area over several thousand years; making the answer to pollination and fruiting somewhat of a problem in the USA. They now have over 700 varieties in China, each suited for a specific area and purpose. We do not know what cultivars do best where in the various parts of our country, it is just now being worked out by people like NAFEX'ers.

There is something else I would like to make a note of, that is that the jujube fruit do really taste like a date when dried on the tree. But that only happens when they are grown in a dry area, if they are grown in a humid area or an area with heavy fall rains, they will rot before they dry.

There is one other thing and that is that the Chinese in some areas with some varieties "girdle" their trees for better production. So it may be possible that by cutting on or grafting on other varieties that a tree will produce better, this needs to be tested.

For those of you that want a little more information on varieties and history of jujubes you can go to my website www.oakcreekorchard.com  . I am not trying to sell anything just provide information.

Regards

Richard Ashton

Brownwood, Texas

7b/8a AHS 9

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Richard Moyer

To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 1:18 PM

Subject: [NAFEX] Jujube in a pot; shy jujube production

While living in Seoul, Korea a few years ago, walked to work past many apartments and small houses, a number of which had small jujube trees in pots.  Pots ranged from a few to over 20 gallons.  Folks there with small yards had kaki persimmons, goumi, apricots and other prunus planted in the ground, but virtually all the jujube plants I saw in various neighborhoods were in pots, often on porches or roofs.  We were not there in the fall, so did not see them in fruit, with the prevalence of jujube in certain Korean dishes, I assume these plants fruited.

 

Li, Lang and Sherwood are shy bearers in the upper south and mid-Atlantic states, as far as I've observed here and for several other growers.  Any of you out there getting hundreds of Li, Lang or Sherwood per tree, especially in mid-Atlantic, mid-west or northeast locations?  If we get 5-10, we feel blessed on these cultivars.  Surely they must bear better somewhere.

 

Far and away, our best jujube producers are from a TVA planting near Knoxville, TN, which bear thousands of fruit per older tree.  When transplanted to east TN, these trees bear hundreds of times more fruit than the Lang or Sherwood cultivars blooming beside them (so much fruit that I let the late ones rot).  But one large TVA-transplanted tree bears only 0-5 fruit/year from tens of thousands of blooms, again with several potential pollinators nearby.  Haven't tried putting this selection in a pot.

 

So agreed with Lee's post.  Jujube pollination is yet to be worked out.  My suspicion is that some cultivars are much better suited to certain growing conditions than others, and that potted culture may be able to push some of these shy bearers into production.

Richard Moyer

East TN, Zone 6

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