Sugar Cane Jujube Pollination

Hi all,

I purchased a sugar cane jujube at a local nursery at the beginning of the year. When i planted it, it had flowers however, none of them set fruit. During the year, the tree experienced growth very low on the trunk which i just let grow.. I cannot tell whether the growth is from the rootstock as it's very close to where the graft is and the foliage on the new branching appears to be the same as the primary tree. Also, I only found one tag on the tree - there's not a separate tag for the rootstock. I'm really trying to gauge the chances for pollination next year and whether another tree is required to get fruit.. the tag says "partly self fruitful"... Also, i'm in zone 8a - North Texas.

Questions:
1) Is the new vigorous branching coming from the rootstock?
1a) if it is from the rootstock, would allowing it to grow increase likelihood of pollination?
2) Does anyone know the type of rootstock the tree is likely to have?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, they require cross pollinization.   So you should get another variety if you want to get fruit.  If you look at online nurseries that offer the sugar cane jujube sometimes they will give advice at which variety they find best for cross pollinating with it.

I didn't see your pictures because I have slow internet that is being throttled down.  But, if the branch is growing at/below the graft union....snip it off.  It'll suck energy away from the grafted top, ?and try to gain dominance?. And the rootstock is likely some variety that doesn't produce fruits worth eating....but I wouldn't really know.

LOL...now the pictures load.  In the third and fourth picture down, the close ups without the tag...it's looking like the graft is at that small branch, third up from the bottom.  I would trim off all three of those lower branches.

Thanks Josh, I appreciate your response.  Regarding more info on the rootstock, I've reached out to Dave Wilson nursery as well, so I'll post here if I find the rootstock profile..

At the time when I bought this plant I remember the pot it was in had been labeled 'Li' which I thought was a self pollinating variety.. it wasn't until I've done much more research on fruit trees that I gave the label a good look to find it was actually sugar cane. I have a pretty small yard and I'm not sure I'll have the space to keep 2 of these trees which is unfortunate.  

I'm curious if anyone has planted two jujubes in the same hole. Also, I see how Tom Spellman on Dave Wilson nursery is constantly pruning the stone fruits for size control.. wondering if Jujube will also respond positively to consistent pruning and size control..

I chose the wrong wording....they don't "require" cross pollinization, but your chances of getting fruit go up with multiple varieties.

If your yard has only the space for this one tree, then perhaps you could graft another variety or two onto this one to increase your odds of consistently getting fruits.?

After finding more info on the rootstock of this tree, i figured i'd update the thread just incase anyone else was seeking similar info..

"DWN jujube rootstock is from seed of a rootstock variety developed years ago by a breeder/researcher in Florida. No idea what sort of pollenizer it might be for the Sugar Cane."

If you don't have room for another tree, you might consider grafting another variety onto your tree. That way you'll have a tree with two types of jujubes, but only one trunk.

Thanks Kyle. Josh proposed this as well. My only concern is finding cuttings from a variety which will cross pollinate with sugarcane. My understanding is that there can be significant differences regarding the timing of when jujube flowers depending on variety.  Does anyone know cross pollinators for sugarcane?

Dave

Doh! Totally missed Josh's comment. Finding info on cross-pollination for jujube is turning out to be interesting. It seems the most common theory is that ants (!) cross-pollinate them. The best answer I was able to find was from http://www.burntridgenursery.com/SUGAR-CANE-JUJUBE-Zizyphus-jujuba/productinfo/NSJUSUG/

Sugar Can Jujube will need to cross pollinate with another jujube like So or Li.

Seems like a Li would be a good companion graft, and as a bonus it seems to be self-fertile too!

I'm new to jujube, but I have ten different ones growing. I think there is a wide variety of rootstock. There may be some from seed but I have a variety that suckers readily (tigertooth) that I am planning on grafting from. I am pretty encouraged by the growth of the plants. The nurseries listed here seem to be great sources!