Jujube Tree (Ziziphus jujuba) - Li (POTTED) - SMALL

Family: Rhamnaceae (includes buckthorns; Rhamnaceae is also known as the buckthorn family)
Genus: Ziziphus (includes Indian Ber)

Botanical/Binomial Name: Ziziphus jujuba Mill.
Common Names: Jujube, Chinese Jujube, Chinese Date, Red Date, Chinese Red Date
Cultivar: Li

Botanical Characteristics: Woody | Perennial | Deciduous | Frost hardy

Item Description:
PICK-UP ONLY

These trees are growing and available for pick-up only.
These small trees are late season grafts with trunks 300 – 400 mm high. They will still flower this year, and could well double or triple their height by year’s end.

All trees were grafted last summer 2022 and will flower this spring 2023.. Taller ones were grafted in early summer and smaller ones in late summer.

Each tree is in a second-hand pot 200 mm diameter, 200 mm high. The pots will have minor cosmetic marks and blemishes but are otherwise in very good condition.

It is recommended to leave these in the pots until next winter when they become dormant — these trees were potted up from a bare-rooted state and need time to settle in and grow more roots.

Take advantage of this — being in a pot makes them mobile and gives you time to determine the best final position for your tree!

If you are planting into the ground, prepare your hole now to be ready for winter. Dig a hole at least 300 mm diameter and 350 mm diameter deep. Mix the removed soil with plenty of organic matter (compost), refill the hole, and pile the excess soil in a mound on top. The mound will slowly sink with time as the organic matter breaks down and everything settles. Repeat every few months, and you will have an open, rich planting medium ready for your tree in winter 2024.

Your tree is ready to plant next winter 2024, when it has shed all its leaves and is well and truly dormant.

Leave the tree in the bag as a guide as to how deep to dig your hole or how deep to add a good quality potting mix to your permanent pot. Position the tree in place, still in the bag, then cut the plastic away gently down the sides and slide out from under the root ball. Back fill and water in deeply.

Description of Fruit:
Li is large, round, and sweet, up to 85g.
Early ripening, thus good for areas with short seasons.
Best eaten fresh, when around 50% brown.

Description of Tree:
(The following information is from The Biosphere Blog on our sister site The Jujube Tree Nursery. More information can be found here and here.)

The jujube tree is deciduous. It can grow to 10 m high by 6 m wide, but keeping pruned to a height of 3–5 m makes management and harvesting easier.
It is native to climates with a yearly temperature range from around -5°C to 50°C, but can survive winters that get down to -30°C.

While growth in areas with cool summers can be very slow, the tree thrives in hot, dry environments with long summers and warm nights. Heat is crucial for flower production and fruit development, and jujubes require a range of at least 20°C to 25°C during the flowering stage for fruit to set. Unlike most fruit trees, jujubes have a very long period of flowering, often over a few months. If temperatures are too cool for the first flush of flowers to set fruit, later flowers usually will as the weather warms.

While summers can’t be hot enough, the tree does need around 200-400 hours of exposure to temperatures below 7°C over winter during dormancy. This is called its chilling requirement, and ensures vernalisation (the induction of the flowering process) occurs in spring.

Jujube trees flower later than other fruit trees, from November on, and are thus unaffected by late frosts that can devastate other fruit crops.

They can grow in a range of soils from acid to alkaline, but prefer deep and well-drained soils.

The rootstock will sucker, but easily kept under control with secateurs or even a lawn mower.