My Thoughts On Florida Jujube, So Far

12 years ago

First of all, the thing grows like a weed!

Secondly, it's covered with flowers that smell like the sock hamper in an NBA locker room. These are the foulest-smelling flowers I've ever had the misfortune to encounter!

Regardless of what I think of the flowers, the wasps absolutely LOVE them! (By the way, I've never seen a honeybee come anywhere NEAR this tree!)

I never tire of standing next to the tree observing the myriad of wasp species that come to feed on these jujube flowers. I have a copy of the "National Wildlife Federation's Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America", but even though I'm standing by the tree with the book in my hand, I STILL can't identify most of the wasps I see visiting this jujube tree when it's in full flower!

One thing I learned quickly is that when most of us think about "wasps", we're thinking about FEMALES. Most of us have never seen a male wasp.

I've been fortunate to see male wasps "courting" females around my jujube tree. The males are tiny little creatures that don't bear ANY resemblance to the females. It's one of those miracles of nature that the females recognize them for what they are, and refrain from eating them!

Last December, my jujube produced exactly TWO fruit, about the size of a large grape. While they were still green, I went away on a three-week deer hunt. When I got back, my little green jujube fruit were gone. They weren't lying on the ground under the tree. I don't know what happened to them.

Now, I can see a few more forming. We'll see how this turns out. By the way, do you folks know any varmints who raid jujube trees?

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Comments (7)

yellowthumb
12 years ago
Is that a Chinese Jujube or Indian Jujube? The Chinese Jujube flowers are pleasantly fragrant, as long as I know. There is an expensive honey produced from these Jujube flowers.
Plus the Chinese Jujube leaves are leathery dark green, while Indian Jujube is hairy green.
ch3rri
12 years ago
Some of my Indian Jujube fruits are being damaged by stink bugs. I had to catch them with my hands and kill them...or throw them on the ground and step on them. I hate stink bugs....they tried to eat my sapodialla, mango, sugar apple, now indian jujube...they even eat my figs.

I now need to research on how to kill stink bugs!!!

Well, back to the Indian jujube. The fruit itself when mature is smooth on the outside. The inside is not dry like the Chinese Jujube. I find the IJ taste better...but only if it's sweet like the CJ. Sometime the IJ doesn't have that sweet taste...so the only way to know if I have the sweet variety or not is to wait until the fruits mature.
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houstontexas123
12 years ago
i plant a few giant sunflowers around my garden, and the stink bugs usually gravitate towards them, then i spray the sunflowers with insecticide.

my parents have red dates and they do grown like weeds. i've never smelled the flowers before, the trees are very tall. but i've never noticed any foul smells around the date trees.
brute
Original Author
12 years ago
To tell you the truth, I don't know if I've got the Indian or Chinese variety. Are there any other types besides those two? My leaves are smooth, dark green on top and a light grayish color on the bottom.
yellowthumb
12 years ago
The best way to tell an Indian Jujube is by looking at the spikes. One is upward the other is downward. Very unique.
tropicdude
12 years ago
I have no idea what kind mine is, I got it from a Taiwan agri station here, they were grafted, but do not know the variety.

As scent goes, the flowers stay on for a very long time, with little to no scent, what little scent they have, doesnt smell that great, but then for a few days, the flowers give off their perfume and the bees go crazy, but before that only ants and an occasional wasp hit the flowers.

only got like 3 fruit last year, about the size of a date, light green colored, and tasted like an apple, slightly sweet.

A treat here in the Caribbean where "Apples" are considered an exotic fruit.
HU-6043896
2 years ago
Thank you this was informative. I was recently given some to try and I couldnt believe how foul the scent was but I wanted to be polite and tried it. It tasted like a pear to me but not exactly. I will not try again because of the foul scent.