Growing jujube trees in Canada and other cold climates

I have read everything I can find and watched all YouTube has to offer on the Jujube tree. I have read that it is quite cold hardy, and that it also likes hot summers when the fruit is ripening. I live near Oliver B.C. in the Okanagan however I'm probably a couple hundred feet above the town where we see slightly earlier frosts and a bit shorter daylight hours given the mountain behind our property.
Our area is ideal for grapes, and our specific little nook is supposed to be good for ice wine. My concern is that we may get cold too early in the fall for the fruit to ripen. Though from what I've read the fruit can ripen quite early in hot climates, so I'm thinking we may get away with growing them in our locale. I would absolutely love to hear about other people's experiences growing this beautiful tree in a similar climate to mine. I would say our max temp in summer is a bit under 40 degrees Celsius as an absolute extreme, more commonly in the low to high 30s in peak summer and down to -20 celsius or possibly colder as an extreme low in winter with average winter temps being more in the -5 to -15 celsius range.
On the property we have cherries, grapes, apples, pears and prune plums which grow and ripen quite nicely, however the cherry blossoms are killed off by late frosts some years.
Any information greatly appreciated!

A number of years ago, I made enquiries about growing jujube in Queenstown 45S 168E and I was given the following advice from someone who had grown them in Europe.

Cold is not a issue with Ziziphus jujuba. My one had tolerated -18°C for some days in a row in a quit young state without any damage!
The issue with Ziziphus jujuba is that you need a lot of heat degrees to get ripe fruits.
There is unfortunately no exact heat degrees specification in the scientific literature.
My guess is that they need at last 2000°C in the growing season to get fruits ripe.
That means for Central Otago (approx. average 1100°C) that you need a extra high quality sun trap or better a green house to grow them. My friends in the EU grow them in green houses to get the needed head degrees.

Thank you that is helpful, heat will not be an issue here in Summer.

I just ordered one for my property. I have similar concerns about getting enough summer heat for it to thrive. But another issue is jujubes prefer to have well drained soil. Because of this I'm being very careful about where I put mine since my soils are generally not well drained--lots of heavy silt and clay. But I do have an area that will get lots of sun and is decently drained. Just something to be careful about when picking the location for yours.

Also, keep in mind that there is a big difference between conditions being ideal for maximum fruit production and conditions being good enough to get fruit for home use. I don't expect to get a "full" harvest from mine but I don't need that to make it worth it for home use.

And there are tons of different varieties of jujubes. The one I picked out is called winter delight. Supposed to be very hardy but what really appealed to me is that it's supposed to be an early ripening variety. I figured that would make it more likely to produce fruit on my property. It might be take longer than it would in ideal conditions but hopefully it will still have plenty of time to ripen. It could be a good variety for you too.

Good luck with your jujube!

Hi Santana,

I'm located in Penticton, and I have a friend who has 2 Jujube trees in her yard. I haven't seen them personally but she has brought me a few fruits and she says they do very well and don't need much maintenance. I've thought about ordering a couple trees from TreeEater Nursery on Denman Island, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet because my land is getting pretty full, and those trees are on the pricey side.

Cheers,
Rick

any good seed sources?

Where are y’all sourcing your jujubes?
I’m interested but having some difficulty locating them for sale.
Thank you.

As far as seed sources go I haven't found anything from north America yet, just some weird Etsy packs that look sketchy and have bad reviews. However you can only really use seed for root stock as they do not grow true to variety from seed.
As far as plants go I've found some in Canada at triple their usual price here https://www.greenbarnnursery.ca/products/ponderosa
I can find links as I forget the other nurseries but there were others in Canada who were just backordered at $50 per tree.

Thanks Santana.  I'll keep looking also.  If I find some and bite the bullet and buy them, I'll post here.

Whiffletree Farm and Nursery has Jujubes for a lot less than Green Barn. I plan to order one. They only have 'Li' available this year however. https://whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca/

Incredible Seeds has Jujube Seeds for $6.99. https://www.incredibleseeds.ca/products/jujube-seeds-chinese-date?variant=29362739937357

Sorry, I just saw now that Incredible Seeds' jujubes are backordered now.

Interesting post, thanks for sharing experiences, everyone!

I'm looking at growing Jujubes in Latvia, Northeast Europe, but I think it might be just too cold, with not enough summer heat.

We are at USDA Zone 5B here (lows to -15°F or -26°C) & a nursery from Poland where winters are warmer states the bush may need covering in cold winters. See: https://kielkowski-szkolka.pl/produkt/glozyna-pospolita-tzw--daktyle-chinskie----ziziphus-jujuba--204

On the other hand, I saw a nursery in Canada saying that Jujubes are hardy to -25°C and can be grown in a pot and brought into a garage in colder climates. See: https://www.greenbarnnursery.ca/products/ponderosa

Of course summer ripening is another issue - here we only have 3-4 frost-free months, frosts can easily return by the end of September some years.

I would love to hear more from your experiences guys, as this post is already a couple of years old - did they grow for you?

Thanks to all for sharing precious knowledge & experience, it really helps!

Charlie

Hello all,
I am looking for jujube fresh leaves anywhere in Canada. Does anyone know where I could find it?
Thanks all