I have two trees and several varieties. I have a tree of So contorted and a tree of sugarcane. The sugarcane is viciously thorny so I'm grafting a couple thornless varieties over time. Granted they don't taste the best fresh, like a sweet but tasteless apple, but the tree is trouble free, bugfree, birdfree, sprayfree, just stand back. The preserved fruit is pretty good, reminds me of dates although I only have a few handfuls of fruit so far. My trees are about 8 feet tall. Super easy to propagate, they come up everywhere by suckers and graft easily.

Mrtexas
I have been thinking about growing them. How long does it take to produce fruit?
I have heard that you can boil the fruit to extract the juice and then let the pulp dry to eat like dates. I have not eaten any so I can not confirm if they can be processed in this way.
Last year I searched for a couple to plant ,but mail order was my only option. Can they be found in the Houston area?
Karl

our Lowes had them this spring, two varieties (dont remember names), large trees, 5' in 5-gal pot. I think they were $25?

-Ethan

They bloom very young. 6 inch root suckers will bloom. You need two varieties for pollination. I've tasted the jujube dates and they are good. They sell them at Houston area master gardener sales in the spring. I have a couple available here in Beaumont, TX.

I also appreciate the easy carefree nature of jujube trees. Early this spring I grafted a few more varieties so now I have Chico, Shui Men, Shanx Li, Sugar Cane, Honey Jar and Li. The nice thing about grafting these trees is that they usually fruit right away (or at least try to) from the grafts you add on. I got a great fruit set on all varieties this year so it looks like I'll be doing some taste testing in the next few weeks.

I've had almost 100% success whip grafting jujube in the spring before hot weather.

I've had 100% takes with simple wedge grafts . I usually time placing these grafts just as new growth appears on the destination branch. With jujubes (and many other plants for that matter) as soon as I see about 2-3 centimeters of new growth its normally a good time to do this type of graft.

Thanks, I now have much more confidence. I am a fairly accomplished grafter. I wonder if my friends had used bark grafts. I was thinking that bark seems think on jujube and it might be difficult to lift intact.

Thanks again!

this spring i grafted about 8 jujube trees with cleft graft and had 100% success. but it has to be pencil thick for more sucess chance. i have seen a tree with bark graft and it's about 5 years old. they are very easy to graft but it has to be done in spring
and good luck

I have a Tigertooth which started to produce after 2 or 3 years of being planted. This is the only jujube around so it must not need another variety for pollination.

This spring I pick up some graftwood of Chico,So,Sugarcane, and Sihig
to graft on the many suckers coming up in my yard. But my son mowed over them before I could graft. So I cleft grafted them to the Tigertooth for now and will move them over to the many suckers in the spring.

All the grafts but the sugarcane took, and it was on outside edge of the tree. Seems like my bird friends might have liked the new perch I made for them.

Selkirk

I'm curious about the different jujube types. I got a Li and a GA-866 on sale, 15gal for $10 each for some nice-sized trees. I'm wondering if I'd like any of the other cultivars. Anyone have their favorites? Tigertooth, sugar cane, and honey jar are all varieties I've heard recommended.