#SolarpunkSunday #ClimateChangeGardening #gardening #jardin #garten #fossilfuels #climatechange #Polycrisis

[jblue@mastodon.world]

3/
Jujubes flower in late spring through early summer, beating out unexpected frosts. Some cultivars will intermittently flower through the summer after the main flowering season, producing a long harvest.

They originate from northern China where average rainfall is around 20” (500mm). They grow in soils that are well-draining with lots of sand. They can tolerate occasional flooding but water-logged soils will cause the fruit to split open from water pressure.

[jblue@mastodon.world]

4/

Fresh fruit tastes like a very sweet apple. Jujubes have more sugar than regular apples. Dried fruit tastes like dried apple with a hint of molasses. Different cultivars have varying levels of sugar and juiciness. Climate can also affect fruit texture/juiciness. Arid climates produce less juicy fruit but some cultivars are just for drying and they are naturally less juicy.

Jujubes are classed based on whether they are for fresh-eating, can be multipurpose or for drying.

[jblue@mastodon.world]

5/ Jujubes produce more if they can cross-pollinate with a different cultivar but most cultivars are self-fruitful.

The flowers are not dioecious, some cultivars just don’t produce pollen. In North America, there is only one that needs a pollinator bc it doesn’t produce pollen and that is ZaoCuiWang (早脆王) early crisp king.

Jujubes grown commercially also produce more when they are intercropped with other crops. Don’t know why that is, that’s just what’s reported. (See Nature link, end of 🧵)

[jblue@mastodon.world]

6/ I intercrop my jujubes with bush beans to fix nitrogen and small summer flowering plants like dandelions. The jujube flowers are small so having other flowers close by helps the pollinators to find them.

In North America, there are no serious pests or diseases of jujubes. The trees must be protected from rabbits and deer as the animals will eat the leaves, branches basically the entire plant, thorns and all.

Animals will also eat the fruit.

[brahmabelarusian@regenerate.social]

@jblue what's their minimum height & width for fruiting?

[jblue@mastodon.world]

7/ 2027 will be an intensely difficult year with soaring food costs. Call around to nurseries if they have fruit trees that will bear this year or next. Most online vendors sell newly grafted trees that will take at least 2-3 years to bear.

Technically all jujubes can be dried. For best drying results, leave the fruit on the tree until it’s complexly red and starts showing soft spots. Then remove fruit, pit the seed and dry in a dehydrator. Fruits will naturally dry on a counter within

[jblue@mastodon.world]

8/ a month but drying with heat in a dehydrator (or very low heated oven <77C) preserves vitamins and minerals. Also if you have pest problems indoors, you probably don’t want to dry them de-pitted indoors at room temperature.

If you don’t have access to a dehydrator or completely lose power, don’t depit the seed and just dry at room temperature.

Afterwards store in a cool dry place in a sealed glass jar.

[jblue@mastodon.world]

9/ Links for further info:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41438-020-00346-5

Past, Present, and Future of Jujubes—Chinese Dates in the United States

hort

ASHS (journals.ashs.org)

Jujube Home | New Mexico State University | BE BOLD. Shape the Future.

(jujube.nmsu.edu)

How to Use Jujube Fruit - Savor the Southwest

Jujube, also called Chinese date, is a fruit tree that grows well in the Southwest.  Dr. Jacqueline Soule on how to harvest and use jujube.

Savor the Southwest (savorthesouthwest.net)

[jblue@mastodon.world]

@BrahmaBelarusian it really depends on the cultivar. Some (generally smaller fruited cultivars) are really precocious. After grafting, most trees will flower the next year (and continually after that) but they won’t set fruit. Look for grafted plants that have branching, ie secondary shoots. Most online vendors sell newly grafted plants that either don’t have secondary shoots yet or they’ve been cut off to keep the plant alive for bareroot shipping.

[jblue@mastodon.world]

In store nurseries will have more mature and larger plants that will fruit this year, definitely next.