Jujube

Jujube: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Shrub or small tree 4–6 m tall and 3–4 m wide, with an open, somewhat irregular crown.

Leaves

Oval, 3–6 cm, glossy green, with three prominent lengthwise veins; yellow in autumn.

Flowers

Small, star-shaped, yellowish-green and lightly scented, in the leaf axils in June–July.

Fruit

Oval to round drupe 2–4 cm long, green at first, glossy reddish-brown when ripe, with a single hard stone.

Spines

Often two spines at each node: a long straight one and a short hooked one. Some varieties are almost spineless.

Twigs

Besides its permanent branches it has short fruiting twigs that drop in autumn together with the leaves.

Flowering: June–July · Harvest and fruit: October · Plants: April–May · Pruning: February–March

Why grow it?

• Unusual fruit you rarely find in shops: fresh like a crisp little apple, dried like a date.
• Tolerates heat, drought and poor soil once established.
• Its many small flowers in June–July are a good nectar source for bees.
• Few pests and diseases, and little pruning.
• Attractive for its glossy leaves, yellow autumn colour and twisting, zigzag branches.

Jujube: where does it grow best?

• Full sun and as warm as possible: against a south-facing wall or in the sunniest part of the garden. Without a warm summer the fruit ripens poorly.
• Sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky, but above all well drained.
• Dry to moderately moist; it dislikes wet soil.
• Allow 3–4 m of space. Many varieties fruit on their own, but two different varieties usually give a bigger crop.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

6 m tall, 4 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -25 °C)

Goes well with

• Fig: Another warmth-loving fruit tree for the sunniest spot.
• Persimmon: Another unusual autumn fruit for a warm garden.
• Lavender: Low, drought-loving underplanting that attracts bees.
• Rosemary: A Mediterranean herb for the same dry, warm corner.

Jujube: when and how to plant it?

Plant in April–May.

1. Plant in April–May, once the soil has warmed up: in cold soil it roots slowly.
2. Dig a generous hole; on heavy soil mix in coarse sand or gravel for good drainage.
3. Set the tree at the same depth as in the pot; on a grafted tree the graft union stays above the surface.
4. Put in a stake on the windward side and tie the trunk loosely.
5. Water in well, and regularly during dry spells in the first year.
6. Spread a thin mulch of gravel or wood chips around the base, not against the trunk.

Care

Watering

Regularly in dry weather in the first year. After that little is needed, although watering during long summer droughts gives larger fruit.

Feeding

A little compost or organic fruit fertiliser in April. Not too much, or you get lots of leaves and little fruit.

Patience

It leafs out late, often not until May: do not decide too soon that it is dead.

Suckers

Remove shoots around the trunk as soon as you see them.

Harvesting

Pick in October. Half-ripe, green with reddish-brown patches, they are crisp; fully reddish-brown, they are sweeter. Left for a few days, they wrinkle like a date.

In the kitchen

Fresh as a snack, dried in muesli or baking, or cooked in soups and stews, as in Chinese and Korean cooking.

Tip: Wait until late May before you judge it: the jujube leafs out so late that many people think it has died. Plant it against a sunny south-facing wall and the fruit will ripen much better.

Jujube: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February–March.

When: In February–March, before it leafs out. It needs little pruning.

How:

• Train a young tree with a trunk of 60–80 cm and three to five main branches.
• Later, remove only dead, diseased and crossing branches and keep the crown open to light and warmth.
• Remove suckers and shoots below the graft union as soon as they appear, in summer too.
• Do not prune too hard: the fruit grows on the short fruiting twigs carried by the older wood.

Caution: Wear sturdy gloves and long sleeves: the spines are sharp and catch on everything.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Suckers

In February–March, dig up a sucker with a piece of root and pot it up. On a grafted tree the suckers come from the rootstock and will not give the same variety.

Seed

Sow stones from ripe fruit outdoors in autumn, or keep them cool and moist for a few months first. They germinate slowly and unevenly, and seedlings give variable fruit.

Grafting

Varieties are grafted onto a seedling; this is best left to a nursery.

Jujube: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −25 °C.

• Hardy to about −25 °C: the wood survives a Belgian winter without protection.
• Mulch the base of young trees in their first year.
• In a large pot: stand it against a wall in winter and wrap the pot so the roots do not freeze.

Diseases and pests

• Little or no fruit: The summer was too cool or the spot too shady. Move it to the warmest place; a second variety nearby also helps.
• Suckers: Shoots around the trunk, sometimes some distance away. Cut or pull them off at once.
• Splitting fruit: After heavy rain while the fruit ripens. Harvest in time and water regularly in dry summer weather so the fruit grows evenly.
• Late leafing: Normal: it does not leaf out until May. Scratch the bark of a twig: green wood means it is alive.

Through the year

• February: Prune: remove dead and crossing branches. Dig up suckers.
• March: Finish pruning before it leafs out.
• April: Plant. Spread compost.
• May: Plant. The leaves come late: be patient.
• June: Flowering; bees on the flowers. Remove suckers.
• July: Flowering. Water during long dry spells.
• August: Fruit swells. Water in dry weather.
• September: Fruit starts to colour.
• October: Harvest, to eat fresh or to dry. Yellow autumn colour.
• November: Leaves and fruiting twigs drop. Clear up.

Edible and useful

Fruit (October)

Here, jujubes only ripen after a warm summer, in the sunniest spot against a south-facing wall; after a cool summer the fruits stay small and green, or drop. Pick them in October, wearing gloves against the thorns. Half-ripe, green with reddish-brown patches, they are crisp and fresh like a little apple; fully reddish-brown, they are sweeter. Leave them for a few days and they wrinkle and become sweet and chewy like a date. Eat them fresh, or dry them for tea, soup, rice or baking, as in Chinese and Korean cooking. Each fruit has one hard stone, which you do not eat.

Storing

Fresh jujubes keep for a week in a cool place and up to two weeks in a bag in the fridge. Dried (see the recipe), they keep for a year in a closed jar, somewhere cool and dry.

Caution: Spit out the hard, pointed stone, and only give young children pieces without the stone: they could choke on it. Wear gloves and long sleeves when picking, as the thorns are sharp. Here you only get ripe fruit after a warm summer.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Dried jujubes (Dried · ± 200 g · 15 min + 12–24 hrs drying)
• Jujube and ginger tea (daechu-cha) (Tea · 4 cups · 1 hr 15 min)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• In autumn the jujube sheds not only its leaves but also the short twigs that carried the fruit.
• In China and Korea dried jujubes are widely used in teas, soups and sweet dishes.
• The paired spines, one straight and one hooked, are modified stipules.