Jujube Vendor Comparison

Over the winter and spring, I updated the below thread with my Jujube orders. Now that they have been growing for a while, I’ll give an update and summary.

*- Cost includes shipping and assumes an order size of 4 trees. Figure is exact when I was able to calculate it based on the site’s formula and rounded to the nearest dollar when estimated.

Trees of Antiquity- Nice big trees, with 5/8" to 15/16" calipers.They also have a decent selection, with Shanxi Li (which I got 2 of) and a few others beyond the normal Li and Lang. These trees have really taken off and done well for me this year, probably the fastest growing of my new additions.

Sanhedrin- I only got one from them, but it was absolutely huge- 1.25" diameter rootstock and a scion of almost 1". I put it in one of the more challenging locations (lots of sun, but not so much water), so while it has grown, it hasn’t really taken off this year. I’ve mulched it and have started watering it more, so hopefully I can correct that. I wish I’d gotten a couple and mixed them in with the ToA trees for a better comparison.

Just Fruit and Exotics- They sell very nice potted trees (1/2"+ caliper) and are who I got my first So from in 2011. This time I got two more and a Tigertooth and planted in mid-October. The Tigertooth has grown well, almost as good as the ToA trees. The So both had a lot of die-back, one to the ground and the other to within a few inches of it. I emailed them to ask if they were grafted or propagated from cuttings, as I wasn’t able to locate a graft union. They responded that they propagate them from softwood cuttings in summer, so all the re-growth should be So and not a wild rootstock. This seems like a big benefit to me, and not just in die-back situations (which should be pretty rare, as my old So has never died back). I’ve got several suckers from it, one of which I’ve transplanted and grafted. I had plans to do the same with the others, but now I can just transplant them without grafting. @forestandfarm may be particularly interested in this.

Burnt Ridge- I got two trees from them, one a regular (Honey Jar) and one a “Large” (Coco). The regular was about 3/8" caliper and Large was 5/8", both 3.5-4’ tall. Not quite as nice as the ToA and DW trees, but much bigger than the next two on the list. They were also the cheapest on the list, which may start to become a consideration given how pricey jujube trees can be.

Rolling River- Rolling River only sends potted plants and while their berry bushes (currants, gooseberries, etc) are great, their trees are sometimes on the small side. This is true of the jujubes as well, as both were pretty small- maybe 1/4" caliper. One of the two I got from them didn’t make it through the winter (Ant Admire), despite having a nice root system when I planted it. Rather than make them re-ship another tree, I asked if they could send me some scionwood next spring and they agreed. As evidenced by Ant Admire and Norris #1 (the other tree), they are offering some unusual varieties. But, you need to watch their inventory (or email them), as quantities seem limited and aren’t there for long.

One Green World- These trees were also potted and were the smallest I received (3/16"). They were also among the most expensive, at least in part due to shipping costs. The main reason I can see going to them is to get one of the varieties that only they offer (Black Sea and Massandra).

Bottom line:
Trees of Antiquity and Sanhedrin for the largest trees at a premium price.
Just Fruit and Exotics- nice trees, sometimes on own roots at a very premium price (edited)
Burnt Ridge- the value play for pretty good trees
Rolling River- good value, lots of variety, small trees
One Green World- small tree, high price, exclusive varieties

Additions (Jan 2019):
GrowOrganic- Large trees in the 5/8-3/4" range. Price is less than JFaE and on par with ToA, but you can sometimes catch a sale which drops it $10. Similar to ToA, the choice in varieties is limited. Have ordered twice and impressed both times.

Bay Laurel- Similar to ToA and GO, but they root prune their trees more aggressively.

England’s- Probably the widest selection of varieties. Decent price, which varies by size. Size can range from small (like OGW) to large (ToA).

Chinese Red Date Orchard- Lot’s of exciting new varieties. Placed my first order for Spring 2019. A wide selection of interesting varieties, some of which are recent imports and only available here. Trees are about the same size as Burnt Ridge (most 3/8" to 1/2"), but the root systems are very full and have lots of fine hairs. Cost for many varieties is $30, a cost-effective price. For the newer exclusive varieties, the cost is $50, about the same as you would pay for a larger tree of a less exciting variety at some of the other top nurseries.

Isons- I haven’t ordered from them, but reports from others on the forums indicate that the trees are quite large. If you catch a sale, they can be $30 or even less, which is a great deal for a big tree. They only have Li and Lang, so the variety selection is quite limited.

For spring 2020, I only ordered from GrowOrganic and Chinese Red Date, both of which were repeat business.

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awesome summary! Englands btw has a list at least as long as Roger M’s(and their list complement what’s missing in Roger’s list), but england’s only sell budwood.

If remember it right, they sell budwood at ~5$ each, and at about 7" long. Bought several varieties from them and the overall quality was pretty good.

Thanks Bob! ToA and Sanhedrin used to both be selling Dave Wilson jujubes and that could explain their similarity. I had Just Fruits and Rolling River trees this year and they correlate with your descriptions.

The prices are high overall, I’m glad I am not planning on adding any more jujube stocks soon :slight_smile:

Outstanding! I’ll look into that. I wonder how JF&E are rooting the softwood cuttings. I haven’t been able to do it but only tried once.

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not sure about softwood cuttings(which sounds intriguing by the way), but i used iba and naa rooting hormones with vitamin b on dormant lignified cuttings last spring. Tried it on li and hj but results are disappointing, and the lone plant which actually formed roots got runty and died.
also came across this israeli science journal showing tissue-cultured jujubes, and using leaves to obtain new plants instead of stems. They obviously have more than just the ‘over-the-counter’ iba/naa/thiamine rooting hormone available at star nursery…

Roger Meyer passed away last November and Shirley has sold the business. :cry:

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I’ve seen some articles on using agrobacterium rhizogenes tr105 along with IBA that suggested good results on softwood Jujube cuttings but I have no idea where to get agrobacterium rhizogenes tr105.

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yeah, i have heard the sad news too. But have not heard about Shirley already finalizing the sale. Curious who bought it, i hope he/she resumes the business.

exciting news if it is made available to the regular joe.
also hope the same for benzyl adenine, 6-benzylaminopurine, zeatin riboside, thidiazuron, etc
not sure if i spelled those right, haha

Thank you, Bob for the summary. Thank you also for letting me know about Trees of Antiquity. I am happy with what I got from ToA and BR.

Variants of A. rhizogenes were first patented in 1981 by Montana State University. Persons interested in obtaining it could follow up with the licensed producers listed in the patent under Legal Events.

Hi Jack,

The Tigertooth jujube that you traded with me two years ago on its own root. I decided to move it to a more sunny spot this early Spring. I left the hole open after removed the tree because I was planning to put a persimmon tree in that same spot. I totally forget about it and now I got 4 little Tigertooth jujube trees came up from the left over root system. I was very happy to see them. I hope it is true that the So Jujube own its own root and that will help you to clone a bunch of them by root cuttiings for your deer managment project.

Tony

Great to hear the Tigertooth gave birth for you! I tried grafting other varieties to the sister trees of the one I sent you. Some took some did not, but I just planted them in the field last fall. They have both taken. I also got one more tree this year from a root cutting and several more from sprouts. If you get a chance some time, post a pick of the little tigertooth

I’m not sure if I want to pay $45 plus shipping for a parent tree, but I’m hoping someone can figure out how they are starting them from softwood cuttings during the summer. I may give it another go this year.

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Actually, it is more like $51, and that is if you get 4. If you get one, the shipping will be more on a per-tree basis.

I asked that question yesterday and am hoping they respond.

If we don’t find a good way to do it, maybe I can dig up one of my So suckers when they go dormant. There aren’t a ton of them, but I think I have 3 growing at the moment. When I water the tomatoes, I give the suckers some as well to size them up.

With my tigertooth, I was able to dig up some sprouts last December. Some were pretty small. I put them in the root pruning containers. Some were growing together and I tried to separate them providing some root for each. I kept them in a cold room over the winter and warmed them up and put them under lights this spring. I’d say about 75% of them leafed out. Most of those that leafed out did so quickly. A few did not start leafing out until late June. I’ve learned to be pretty patient with Jujube because of how slow they root, but I’ll probably give up on the rest soon.

Great report, thank you very much.

JFaE replied back that they don’t do anything special- “take the cuttings in summer, put them under mist and hope for the best”.

They also noted “They are very difficult to root, with very low survival. But they are less apt to have root suckers.” I guess “less apt” still has some, as my So has had at least 4 since last year. But, it’s a great feature if the suckers are a desirable variety.

I transplanted one last winter and looks to be doing fine, though I don’t think the grafts I put on it took (I grafted high, so there is plenty left).

A sucker I just noticed a week or two ago coming through my lawn:

A couple suckers growing among the tomatoes:

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They are similar, though the Sanhedrin one was bigger. The ToA ones were of a great size though and have put on a lot of growth. More than 2’ in one case. ToA has more varieties than Sanhedrin (Shanxi Li, Sherwood, and GA866) and the ToA trees didn’t have any DWN tags. So, maybe they are grown by the same outfit, but it may just be that the CA area is a great place to grow jujubes.

My yard is getting pretty full and I can fill in spaces with the suckers. But if I get any more rental properties with good light exposure, I’ll probably add more trees from ToA. Though I suppose I may add a few varieties from JFaE on their own roots (Honey Jar, Sugar Cane, Mango Dong, and Shihong would all be good to have that way).

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That makes sense. My tigertooth still get root sprouts, but not as many or as thick as wild rootstock plus, the trees they produce have the characteristics of the parent tree.

Jack,

Here are the baby Tigertooth Jujube trees that sprouted from the left over root system.

Tony

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