Author Topic: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely  (Read 3019 times)

Sayan128

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jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« on: June 29, 2017, 12:55:26 PM »
I got a jujube tree (Li variety) from a nursery and planted into the ground in May. It's not very bushy yet and about 7 feet tall. I gave it a good prune and tried really hard to pick off most of the fruit in the beginning so I wouldn't stress out the tree in its first year but that thing just kept putting out more and more flowers and it became hard to keep up with it. My question is, it's got a mix of a bunch of bigger size fruit that's green and growing well but also a whole bunch of tiny fruits that dried out and became red. Is this perhaps a sign of underwatering the tree? Underfertilizing? The leaves all look beautiful and green...

sabrina

Tropheus76

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2017, 01:21:03 PM »
Actually mine did the same thing this year. I had a lot of fruits for once and they got to about pinky thickness but never changed to yellowish orange and then just shriveled into nothing.

fyliu

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2017, 01:57:33 PM »
I think underwatering or not enough roots to absorb the water you give it.
Don't worry about letting it set fruit. It won't die trying to fruit like other trees. It will abort all fruits in order to survive if you didn't water it.

My tree is 5 ft planted into the ground early this year from a 1 gallon airlayer. It's holding some fruits and aborting some. At least yours has more root to start with although planted later on.

Tropheus76

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2017, 03:26:03 PM »
Im wondering if it was too much watering in my case. We went from no rain and irrigation 3x a week to heavy rains every day for a week straight and then every other day. Before the rains mine had heavy fruit set., After, not so much.

Hana321

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2017, 07:21:16 PM »
I have a couple of jujube trees. The Li i had started to drop fruit, and the fruit was shriveling prematurely. Someone on here mentioned that because my tree was in a nursery plastic pot, and it was really hot out, the roots were likely being burned. I switched trees to a fabric pot. Moral of that story, the tree lost all its fruit, but it is doing much better overall now, and it has some fruit coming in new. Jujubes are sensitive to root rot, but i notice they are pretty thristy when they are fruiting.

Sayan128

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2017, 11:10:26 PM »
I have a couple of jujube trees. The Li i had started to drop fruit, and the fruit was shriveling prematurely. Someone on here mentioned that because my tree was in a nursery plastic pot, and it was really hot out, the roots were likely being burned. I switched trees to a fabric pot. Moral of that story, the tree lost all its fruit, but it is doing much better overall now, and it has some fruit coming in new. Jujubes are sensitive to root rot, but i notice they are pretty thristy when they are fruiting.

How do you notice them being thirsty? Sorry honest question. I can't tell yet whether I'm over or underwatering and we have totally clay soil so I'm always worried about watering them too much

Hana321

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2017, 12:00:22 AM »
Well they usually seem to need a lot more water when they are fruiting. They are drought tolerant, but if you want good fruit, you need to water more. Although clay soils probably retain more water, so that can be tricky. You could always try digging down a like 6 inches to a foot in the area around the tree to see how much moist soil is in that area. I see summer temps well over 100 degrees every day, so it is hard to overwater here. Unless it is a cactus

Sayan128

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2017, 12:01:51 PM »
I think underwatering or not enough roots to absorb the water you give it.
Don't worry about letting it set fruit. It won't die trying to fruit like other trees. It will abort all fruits in order to survive if you didn't water it.

My tree is 5 ft planted into the ground early this year from a 1 gallon airlayer. It's holding some fruits and aborting some. At least yours has more root to start with although planted later on.

okay thanks!. That gives me the green light to give it more water and wait for the rest of the fruit to ripen. Super excited :)
sabrina

greenman62

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2017, 02:24:55 PM »
its actually a pretty drought tollerant species.
a close relative lives in Africa and has been known to survive and fruit
with very little water.
That said, i have heard they like more water when fruiting.

i had a large one i lost 2 years ago
it was abotu 10ft, in the ground only 2 to 3 years, but very healthy looking.
it put out lots of nice fruit, then one day it turned up its toes.

the only thing i can think of, is either i had planted it too deep
(i had noticed ,mulch had crept up around the soil line a good inch)
or
the fact that it had rained for at least a week straight
and we had a little standing water for a few hours on and off.
and it was in a bit of a low spot.
or, a combination .

after i pulled it up (6 month later)
the roots did not appear rotted, so i have no idea what killed it.

lat month we had a tropical storm come through New Orleans
its been raining every day for a month
ive been watching my 5 Juju closely.
They actually have been putting out new growth.
fingers crossed.

i have heard they will abort fruit when they are young at times.

a couple of mine flowered profusely in spring, but ive only 3 fruits to show for it.
i am getting a few flowers with this new growth, so i am hoping i can get a few fruit.

they seem to like good drainage. the last one i planted, i had raised the area with a few bags of soil
its a good 3 inches above grade... i added some mulch around the base
it seems very happy now... i like the tree, i love the fruit.
good luck




michsu

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2017, 04:06:39 PM »
This is a Li variety.. 3rd year in ground.. many fruits even from 1st year.. yeah there are still plenty of fruit that shrink and die.. I guess that's how it is.. the tree will know how much to keep and produce..

I water 4x (15 min) each but that's because most of my trees are on a slope.. I use the seaweed fish kelp fertilizer like Neptune Harvest and GroMore (organics).

Lots of tasty fruits soon too!!

« Last Edit: June 30, 2017, 04:10:00 PM by michsu »

michsu

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2017, 04:09:15 PM »
l
« Last Edit: June 30, 2017, 04:11:51 PM by michsu »

Sayan128

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2017, 01:48:00 AM »
This is a Li variety.. 3rd year in ground.. many fruits even from 1st year.. yeah there are still plenty of fruit that shrink and die.. I guess that's how it is.. the tree will know how much to keep and produce..

I water 4x (15 min) each but that's because most of my trees are on a slope.. I use the seaweed fish kelp fertilizer like Neptune Harvest and GroMore (organics).

Lots of tasty fruits soon too!!


Michsu: holy cow that's a huge collection of fruit trees you have! I hope my jujube grows that well within a few years as well. It definitely has a lot of fruit already so I'm hoping! I saw your Jambu wax apple tree in your attachment. Is it producing well for you and what do you like to use to fertilize it? That's my ultimate goal for next season...to have a few growing. I planted a little one this year but it seemed pretty stressed out after putting it into the ground.
Sabrina

Delvi83

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Re: jujube fruit shriveling prematurely
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2017, 08:08:11 AM »
It's a Mediterranea tree, not tropical.....it thrives in dry...the Medit. Summer is very hot and dry...