Jujubes are easy to grow, have few known pests, provide a tasty and nutritious fruit, and make a lovely shade trees. And yes, jujubes used to the basis for a candy.  The original candy was made from a paste of jujube fruits, but later the recipe changed.

Edible Landscaping

Edible landscaping, food forest, sustainable landscape, permaculture. Whatever you call it, jujube trees make a nice addition to the land. Jujube can be part of an edible landscaping – but they also make lovely street trees. Jujube can grow to a height of 25 feet or more if soil and climatic conditions permit. The leaves are a dark shiny green. Shiny because on natural waxes that help them resist drying out in the heat – helped by a layer of fuzz on the lower side.

The tree is deciduous (loses its leaves in winter) but it is pretty then too, with an upright trunk, short angled branches, and a dark rough bark.

Jujubes are one of the easiest to grow of the fruit crops. But you have to get the correct plants for where you live. Let’s look at your options.

How to harvest and use jujube fruit on Savor the Southwest.

Easy as “Falling off A Log”

Botany Nerd Shares

All jujubes used to be in the genus Ziziphus. There were 68 species in the Old World (Asia, Europe, Africa). There were 4 species in the New World (North and South America). Ziziphus jujuba was the most commonly planted one across the Old World from Sardenia to Shanghai, and it was brought to the New World by Jesuits, and later by Chinese immigrants.

All the species of jujube have edible fruit. Edible does not mean palatable. And it does not mean easily harvested either! All Ziziphus and their kin have thorns. And I do mean THORNS in some cases. One species is reputed to be the original biblical “crown of thorns.” I mention this to remind you to get the right species.

The four species New World jujube were moved to Pseudoziziphus and to Condaliopsis in 2024. So if you still have one of my old articles from 2009, or even any of my books from before 2024, you will see the old name for the wild species native to the Southwest is Ziziphus obtusifolia. Also called graythorn, this is one of my absolute favorite shrubs for attracting cardinals to the yard. That jujube cousin is now considered Condaliopsis obtusifolia.  Cardinals don’t care what it is called as long as it produces luscious berries to eat.  More about Bird Gardening.  

For the silky flycatcher that looks like a cardinal (but isn’t), here’s the berries phainopepla enjoy (and you can too).

Edible & Easy Jujube

The most commonly cultivated species of jujube around the world is Ziziphus jujuba. Also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube. This is closely related Indian jujube, Ziziphus mauritiana.

The Chinese jujube grows in a diverse range of climates from arid, to temperate, to tropical. Meanwhile the Indian jujube is best grown in warmer subtropical and tropical climates with high humidity (see that word “mauritiana” – like maritime – it refers to ocean). You can grow the Indian jujube if you live in coastal Southern California, otherwise you need to plant the Chinese jujube.

Jujube History

Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujube) was introduced into the US in roughly 1849 with the California gold rush. We think of the Gold Rush as an entirely American phenomenon, but China was having some issues back then and many young men left China to come to the “Land of the Golden Mountain.” They brought with them their foods, including the jujube. Some of the oldest known specimens of jujube in Tucson, Arizona were once down on Railroad Avenue, the area of town where the Chinese workers helping build the railroad, and where they had once lived. When I was last down there, the trees had been removed and replaced with paving and apartments.

About 150 years before the Chinese brought jujube to North America, there were some jujube introduced into South America by the Jesuits. The Jesuits were trying to make sure their missions and the people living there had food in all seasons. The Jesuits carried a number of plants around the globe, and were part of the great Columbian Exchange. (more later)

Jujube Fruit

Fruit needs to ripen on the tree – but it doesn’t need to change color to be edible. As it matures on the tree, it will gradually turn from a light green to a darker color (red, tan, brown, mahogany), and then become wrinkled.

A single seed is inside the fruit and the dark brown appearance and this seed gives rise to the common name, Chinese date. The texture and flavor more closely resemble that of an apple than a date.

Start Right

If you just take some seeds from a jujube and grow them into a tree – there is no knowing what you will get. Please listen to the sad voice of experience!

Do get a named variety of jujube from a reputable nursery. These are grafted and will have good fruit size and less of the spinyness that is inherent in all jujubes. You could graft your own if you wish – but that is a topic for another day. When I graft my “spiny bastids” I shall share a post.

Technically speaking, propagation of jujubes is by whip-graft of desired variety to root sprouts. I mention this because like citrus, anything that grows from below the graft union will not be as desirable as the grafted plant.

The other reason for a named variety, they have known fruit size (2 inches or more), plus known ripening times. As early as May, or as late as August, depending on variety.  Personally I am not a fan of picking fruit in August in Tucson.

Jujube Varieties

Most (but not all) jujube cultivars produce fruit without another jujube around. But – all will produce better with a second plant as a pollenizer. All jujube require a minimum of 100 chill hours. The most cold tolerant variety requires 200 chill hours. The most commonly known varieties are Li and Lang, with 100 chill hours.

Li is the larger, and (IMHO) better flavored. It ripens in July into August. Texture is crisp when harvested before it starts to wrinkle, and the skin will be a mahogany color. Li appears to withstand alkaline soils (like mine!) better than Lang. Li is also nearly thornless, but it needs a different jujube as pollinator for the best fruit set.

Lang grows large pear shaped fruit that matures earlier than Li (May into June). This is the best variety for drying. The fruit is red skinned at maturity. Because red is associated with good fortune in Chinese culture, Lang is often dried and served at wedding or New Year’s celebrations. Lang produces a more spreading tree than other jujube trees.

There are many other varieties.

‘Sherwood’ can self-pollinate and is more heat tolerant, thus better for the hotter desert areas (Phoenix, Las Vegas).

‘GA-866’ has larger fruit and is considered more cold tolerant – thus good for the cooler locations (Flagstaff, Santa Fe).

‘So’  With a bit of hunting you can find the best one for container growing – the ‘So’ variety. So has a dwarf form, good for containers but also small spaces.

‘Sugar Cane’ is spiny but sweetest of all varieties. But it needs to cross-pollinate with ‘So,’ ‘Li,’ or ‘Lang.’

Jujube Flowers

Flowers white, creamy, or a greenish-yellow and are fragrant! They are also small, about a quarter inch across.

Pollinators?

Good question. Some say wind, some say ants, some say small bees. The native graythorn (formerly Ziziphus obtusifolia) has a small native cellophane bee as the pollinator. These bees live in the soil. Putting gravel mulch in yards and everywhere else in the Southwest just means death for these small hard working natives.

How to Grow Jujube

Soil

Soils for jujubes can have pH of 6.3 to 8.4. That’s a wide range! This is one reason I highly recommend jujubes – they will survive on soils where most other trees would perish.

Jujubes are not fussy about pH but they do require moderate to good drainage.

Temperature

Overall climate for Chinese jujubes should be hot and dry. A wet monsoon season won’t bother them if soils are well drained. Jujubes have survived both drought and excess moisture better than any other fruit plant in trials at College Station, Texas.

Jujube tolerate from 120F down to -20F. Winter injury does not seem to be a problem with jujubes in where they have been studied – in New Mexico and Texas. One reason I really recommend them is that they usually bloom late enough to escape spring frosts, unlike apples, plums, or peaches.

As mentioned earlier, jujube require a minimum of 100 chill hours. The most cold tolerant variety requires 200 chill hours.

Sunlight

Full sun to part shade. Like many trees, they are not overly happy growing in shade under other trees. The tallest jujube I have seen were battling with a giant Aleppo pine to reach the sunlight. The pine was winning and the jujube fruit was waaaay out of reach.

Water

This is a low water plant – but remember that trees will need more water than wildflowers. Mine get watered like the citrus orchard. Once a week in summer, enough so that the water sinks in roughly three feet. Then the soil needs to dry somewhat, allowing for oxygen to get into the soil and the roots to breathe.

Fertilizer

Fertilizer requirements have not been studied, but jujubes appear to do well with little or no fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer at two-month intervals during the growing season will speed growth. Do not fertilize newly planted trees until they have had several months to get established.

Pruning

Unpruned trees produce as well as trees that have been pruned. If you chose to prune, do so in winter when plants are dormant.

Pests & Disease

Pests are rarely a problem in jujubes. There is a caterpillar, but it has not been seen in the western US. Texas root rot (cotton root rot) can be a major limiting factor on those sites where it is present. If you lose plants due to this disease, do not plant or replant jujube in the area.

Other Problems

Root sprouting is a very real problem under mature trees. Gradually these sprouts can form a thicket if you don’t keep cutting them back. As soon as sprouts form, they should be cut off at or under the ground. Ironically, any root injury will encourage root sprouting, so avoid digging around you jujubes if you can. Plants grown from these sprouts will not produce the same fruits as the mother plant – but you could use the sprouts as root stock for grafting.

Jujube Harvest & Storage

Jujube fruit ripens at different times, depending on cultivar. I like the early fruited varieties myself. The crop ripens non-simultaneously, and fruit can be picked for three to six weeks from a single tree. If picked green, Chinese jujubes will not ripen.

The freshly harvested fruits as well as the candied dried fruits are eaten as a snack, and the fruits can also be made into jelly or even wine.

Ripe jujubes can be stored at room temperature for about a week. Dried fruit stores indefinitely. In some cultures, jujube fruit are de-seeded and preserved in hard liquor (vodka or rum) then eaten on special occasions.

A few NEW copies left!

The last few copies of this out-of-print award winning book (Arizona Library Award, 2011) are now for sale. Father Kino’s Herbs: Growing and Using Them Today    One review says:

“Award-winning writer Dr. Jacqueline A. Soule has pulled together a fascinating book on the life of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and some of the plants that he brought to Southern Arizona and northwestern Sonora, and area called the Pimeria Alta.”

This link is to my book sales site. The profits from the sale go to the local Horticulture Therapy non-profit Tierra del Sol Institute.  I do  hope you will help support this great Southwest non-profit.

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Disclaimer

The author of this website has researched the edibility of the materials I discuss, however, humans vary in their ability to tolerate different foods, drinks, and herbs. Individuals consuming flowers, plants, animals or derivatives mentioned in this blog do so entirely at their own risk. The authors on this site cannot be held responsible for any adverse reaction. In case of doubt please consult your medical practitioner.