Overview

Discover the captivating beauty and delicious fruits of the contorted jujube tree. This exceptional live plant, approximately 2 feet tall and shipped in a 1-gallon pot, is renowned for its strikingly twisted and contorted branching, offering a unique ornamental appeal to any landscape. Often referred to as the ‘So’ jujube, this grafted variety is a fantastic addition for both its aesthetic qualities and its ability to produce sweet, edible fruits. The contorted jujube tree is a hardy, deciduous tree that thrives in warm climates, making it an excellent choice for gardeners seeking a low-maintenance yet highly rewarding fruit tree. Its distinctive growth habit ensures it stands out, even when not in fruit, providing year-round interest.

Known for its robust nature, the contorted jujube tree is a live plant that promises an abundant harvest of round, reddish-brown fruits. These delicious fruits can be enjoyed fresh, offering a firm and crunchy texture, or they can be room-dried to achieve a chewy, date-like sweetness. This adaptability in consumption makes the jujube a versatile fruit, perfect for snacking, baking, or preserving. Grafted for optimal performance, this tree ensures faster fruiting and improved fruit quality, allowing you to enjoy its bounty sooner. Embrace the opportunity to cultivate this fascinating and productive tree in your own garden.

Key Benefits

Investing in a contorted jujube tree brings a multitude of advantages to your garden and your plate. This unique tree offers both visual interest and culinary delight, making it a truly dual-purpose plant.

• Unique Ornamental Appeal: The most striking feature of this contorted jujube tree is its dramatically twisted and zigzagging branches, providing an architectural element that is beautiful in all seasons, especially in winter when its unique form is fully visible.
• Delicious Edible Fruits: Enjoy a bounty of round, reddish-brown fruits that are similar in taste and texture to the ‘Li’ variety. They can be savored fresh for a crisp bite or dried for a sweet, chewy treat, offering versatile culinary uses.
• Early Fall Harvest: Experience the satisfaction of an early fall harvest, providing fresh fruit when many other garden crops are winding down. This extends your fresh fruit season significantly.
• Drought Tolerant and Hardy: Once established, this drought tolerant fruit tree requires minimal watering, making it an excellent choice for xeriscaping or gardens in drier climates. It is also remarkably hardy and adaptable.
• Virtually Pest and Disease Free: This grafted jujube plant is known for its strong resistance to most common pests and diseases, significantly reducing the need for chemical treatments and making it an easy-care option for organic gardeners.
• Easy to Grow: Ideal for both novice and experienced gardeners, the contorted jujube tree is considered very easy to cultivate, thriving with minimal intervention once its basic needs are met.
• Low Chilling Requirement: Suitable for a wide range of climates, including those with mild winters, due to its very low chilling requirement, ensuring fruit set in various regions.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

Caring for your contorted jujube tree is relatively straightforward, thanks to its resilient nature. This hardy live plant thrives with proper siting and minimal ongoing attention. For optimal growth and fruit production, select a location that receives full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. While the tree is drought-tolerant once established, consistent watering during its first year and during dry spells will encourage robust growth and a healthier harvest. Ensure the soil drains well, as jujubes do not tolerate soggy conditions. A slightly alkaline to neutral soil pH is preferred, but they are adaptable to a range of soil types.

The contorted jujube tree requires a long, hot summer to properly ripen its fruits, making it an excellent choice for warmer regions. It is hardy in USDA zones 6-9, though some varieties can extend to zone 5. Fertilize in early spring with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer to support growth and fruit development. Pruning is generally minimal, focusing on removing dead or crossing branches and shaping the tree to maintain its attractive contorted form. While partly self-fruitful, pollination can be enhanced by planting another jujube variety like Lang nearby. This grafted jujube plant is generally resistant to pests and diseases, requiring little intervention, which contributes to its reputation as an easy-to-grow drought tolerant fruit tree.

Size & Details

This offering is for one contorted jujube tree, a live plant that stands approximately 2 feet tall from the soil line. It is a grafted specimen, ensuring desirable characteristics and faster fruiting. The tree is shipped in a 1-gallon nursery pot, providing a well-established root system ready for planting. Jujube trees are known for their moderate growth rate, typically reaching a mature height of 15-30 feet, though they can be kept smaller with pruning. The unique contorted branching becomes more pronounced with age, adding to its distinctive character. Expect an early fall harvest of round, edible fruits. This jujube fruit tree is a long-lived specimen, providing years of beauty and delicious produce.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big will this contorted jujube tree get? A: This particular contorted jujube tree is currently about 2 feet tall. At maturity, these trees typically reach heights of 15-30 feet, though their size can be managed with pruning.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: The contorted jujube tree is an outdoor plant that requires full sun and thrives in a warm climate with long, hot summers to produce fruit effectively.
• Q: How much sunlight does the contorted jujube tree need? A: For optimal fruit production and healthy growth, your contorted jujube tree needs at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day, ideally in a full sun exposure.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, the contorted jujube tree is considered a very easy-to-care-for plant. It’s hardy, drought-tolerant once established, and generally resistant to pests and diseases.
• Q: What condition will the grafted jujube plant arrive in? A: Your grafted jujube plant will arrive as a live, healthy tree, approximately 2 feet tall, planted in a 1-gallon nursery pot with its root system intact and ready for planting.
• Q: When is the best time to plant a contorted jujube tree? A: The best time to plant your contorted jujube tree is in the spring after the last danger of frost has passed, allowing it ample time to establish before the heat of summer.
• Q: What USDA hardiness zones is this jujube fruit tree suitable for? A: This jujube fruit tree is generally suitable for USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9, and in some cases, it can tolerate Zone 5 with proper winter protection.
• Q: Can I grow this jujube fruit tree in a large container? A: While jujubes prefer to be in the ground, you can grow a jujube fruit tree in a very large container (25+ gallons) for a few years, but eventually, it will perform best when planted directly in the garden.
• Q: What kind of soil does this drought tolerant fruit tree prefer? A: This drought tolerant fruit tree prefers well-draining soil and can tolerate a range of soil types, from sandy to loamy, though it does best in slightly alkaline to neutral pH soils.
• Q: Is the contorted jujube tree self-pollinating? A: The contorted jujube tree is partly self-fruitful, meaning it can produce some fruit on its own. However, planting another jujube variety, such as ‘Lang’, can significantly improve pollination and fruit yield.