North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[bassem@gardener.com]

I visited the middle east and found that Jujube is grown wild in parts of 
syria... Jujube is named in arabic "Anaab" which comes from the word "Anab" 
means a small grape. The reason why is it's much smaller than the chinese 
cultivars.. but very sweet, and the seed is very small... possibly the size 
of an olive.... 
I researched it and found that jujube is native to syria... and the romans 
carried the seeds to other parts of asia and europe. The middleeastern 
climate is dry long summers. The less the rain the more sugar content in that 
fruit.. 
I would love to collect some scionwood from these wild ones in the middle 
east.

Bass Samaan
zone6 pa, 18018

-----Original Message-----
From: MARIE ASHTON <bwoodtx@verizon.net>
Sent: January 9, 2006 8:26:01 PM GMT
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Jujube in a pot; shy jujube production

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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