Well, I've been waiting for years for this seedling jujube tree to actually produce fruit, to full maturity. We've had fruit on it several times over the years, but since it ripens in the winter, it always freezes. One year, we were probably about two weeks from ripeness, and a cold snap just made the green fruit bleed a sticky sap. Of course, I had to taste it back then, just to see if it was any good. It wasn't.

Fast forward several years, long after I'd given up on the tree and having kept it for nothing more than a novelty factor, and just today, I found two fruit that had fallen on the ground. At first, it didn't sink in. I thought it was a loquat sitting on the ground, as the loquats are ripening this month, all but the 'Christmas' variety that ripens in December at least. I picked it up, smelled it, and it was a very fruity aroma. Someone else that was with me took a bite first and immediately said, "it has an apple-like taste" - it finally sunk in; it was a jujube.

When I tried it, I was honestly surprised, it being a wild one. It was very sweet, like caramel, but I believe the fruit did start to ferment on the ground a little. I think it produced only about 3 fruits though. Here is the issue I have with this plant: it doesn't bloom at the same time as my grafted cultivars. I think I bought this seedling first and then bought a grafted cultivar to pollinate with it, and that never happens. The seedling jujube basically blooms in late fall or early winter, when the grafted ones bloom much sooner. So, what I think is happening is that the seedling is only semi self fertile.

So, why did the jujube take so long to actually produce fruit? I don't know the specific 'type' of jujube this was, but it didn't like our winters. For the first 3 years or so, it'd basically die back to the ground and then come up a little stronger each year. Eventually, the trunk would stay alive after winter but some of the limbs and all of the leaves would die. This year, it actually kept green leaves on it throughout the winter. So, it has built up a tolerance to the winters.

Just thought I'd share with you all. Surprises like these are always encouraging.