Zizifus (unabi, Chinese date): cultivation and care, reproduction, varieties

Ziziphus has been cultivated for thousands of years, but in Our Country it is exotic simply because it cannot grow in open ground in most of the territory. With the advent of frost-resistant varieties, its geography has shifted somewhat to the north. Planting and caring for the Chinese date unabi has now become relevant not only for the Caucasus, but also for other southern regions.

What is jujube and where is it grown

Ziziphus Real (Ziziphus jujuba) has a lot of other names – unabi, Chinese date, jujuba, jujuba (not to be confused with jojoba), juju, hinap. When translating botanical literature from English, some will be surprised to find that the plant is often called marmalade.

Unabi is one of 53 species belonging to the genus Ziziphus (Ziziphus) from the Zosterovye or Krushinovye (Rhamnaceae) family. The plant has been in cultivation for over 4 years, so its exact origin is unknown. Most botanists agree that the primary focus of the distribution of jujube was between Lebanon, northern India, and southern and central China.

Being introduced to regions with hot dry summers and rather cool winters, the species has become naturalized. Now unabi is considered invasive and grows wild in western Madagascar, eastern Bulgaria, some Caribbean islands, India, China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. Jujube can be found in the Himalayas, Japan and the Caucasus. There, the plant prefers to be located on dry mountain slopes.

Ziziphus is a large deciduous shrub or small tree from 5 to 12 m high. The shape of the crown depends on the life form. In unabi trees, it is openwork, hemispherical, shrubs begin to branch from the base, they can be wide-spreading or pyramidal.

The jujube is interesting in that it is considered a branch-falling species. Skeletal shoots are permanent, covered with thick dark bark, at first smooth, with age covered with deep cracks. The annual branches on which the jujube blooms are burgundy and fall off at the end of the season. In the spring, new fruitful shoots grow. In species plants, annual branches are usually prickly, unabi varieties are usually deprived of this “excess”.

It is difficult to confuse the leaves of jujube with those belonging to another culture due to two clear longitudinal stripes located on the sides of the central vein, and very similar to it. Their length reaches 3-7 cm, width – 1-3 cm, ovate-lanceolate shape, with a tapering blunt tip and slightly serrated edges. The leaves of jujube have a dense, leathery texture, a shiny surface, and a rich green color. They are arranged alternately on short petioles.

The vegetation of isifus begins late, which is what made it possible to develop frost-resistant varieties – the plant simply does not fall under return frosts. And since the unabi shoots that bear fruit fall annually in the fall, and new ones appear in the spring, some inexperienced gardeners believe that they freeze over and do not survive the winter. Still, branch-falling plants are a curiosity not only in Our Country.

How unabi blooms

In order for the jujube to bloom, new branches must appear and grow. So there is no need to worry about the safety of the crop – return frosts cannot interfere with it. In addition, unabi fruit buds are formed in the spring of the current year, and not in the autumn of the previous one.

In southern countries, the flowering of jujube begins in April-May, for Our Country the dates are shifted towards summer. In most regions, bud opening should be expected by June.

The flowering of jujube can last up to three months. Small bisexual five-petal asterisks up to 5 mm in diameter grow singly or are collected in 3-5 pieces at the base of the leaves. They are greenish-yellow in color and have a pleasant aroma. The flowering unabi bush looks impressive – up to 300 buds can open on each at the same time.

Quite often you can find the statement that jujube cannot pollinate itself, you need to plant several varieties. This is not true. This opinion was formed because unabi often blooms, but does not set fruit.

The fact is that unabi pollen in rainy or just wet weather becomes heavy and cannot be carried by the wind. And the bees bypass the flowers of jujube because a rather high temperature is needed for the appearance of aroma and the release of nectar.

Unabi fruits usually ripen by October. They are fleshy drupes with two seeds and a sweet pulp that tastes like an apple when unripe, but when fully ripe becomes mealy like a date.

In the species plant of jujube, the fruits are small, up to 2 cm long, weighing up to 25 g, the varietal ones are much larger – 5 cm and 50 g, respectively. The shape of the fruit is round, oval, pear-shaped. The color gradually changes from pale yellow to red-brown. Unabi cultivars have color variations, the fruits may be speckled. The peel is shiny, without a wax coating.

Unabi enters fruiting very early. Most grafted varieties bloom the next year.

Ziziphus lives for about 100 years, half of which fully bears fruit. For about 25-30 more, half or more of the possible harvest can be removed from the tree, which is not so little.

Frost-resistant varieties of jujube

When it comes to the frost resistance of jujube, you need to understand that this concept is relative. The varieties will winter satisfactorily in the Crimea and the Caucasus, although they sometimes freeze there, but quickly recover. By the way, compared to the Caribbean islands, this is a significant progress.

So in the Moscow region or near Kyiv, before planting unabi, you should think carefully. And choose varieties that grow in a bush so that they can be covered.

Jujube is considered a zone 6 plant, but behaves differently in different regions. For example, in Azerbaijan, unabi withstands without damage a short-term drop in temperature to -25 ° C, in the steppe Crimea it freezes at -28 ° C, but in the same year it recovers and bears fruit. Annual jujube suffer the most – already in the second season after planting, they become much more stable.

It is not worth rushing to throw away even a plant that has frozen to the root collar – it may well recover. Of course, this has nothing to do with grafted varieties – a small-fruited species jujube will “beat off” from the root.

In any case, the unabi will freeze slightly. It is pruned in the spring, it quickly recovers and produces a crop in the same year.

Unabi varieties, described below, can be grown in the Krasnodar Territory, Rostov, Voronezh Regions and on the Black Sea coast without shelter.

Koktebel

The variety of jujube Koktebel was created by the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, adopted by the State Register in 2014. The authors are Sinko L. T. and Litvinova T. V. The variety was granted a protective patent No. 9974 dated 23.01.2019/31.12.2049/XNUMX, which expires on XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX.

This is a jujube of late ripening, universal use. Forms a medium-sized tree with a rounded crown and dark gray bark. Compactly arranged branches depart from the trunk at almost a right angle. The dark green leaves of jujube are large, smooth and shiny, ovoid in shape.

Large rounded fruits of the Koktebel unabi variety have an average weight of about 32,5 g. The bumpy peel is shiny, covered with dots, after full ripening it becomes light brown. Sweet and sour creamy, powdery pulp. Ziziphus Koktebel bears fruit annually, yielding from a centner up to 187 centners.

The variety tolerates high temperatures well. Transportability, resistance to drought and frost of jujube are average.

Plodivsky

The jujube variety Plodivsky was created at the Novokakhovskoye Experimental Farm (Ukraine), adopted by the State Register in 2014. It is recommended for cultivation in the North Caucasus region.

Zizifus Plodivsky forms a tree of medium height with a small number of thorns. Young skeletal branches are long, greyish-brown, fruiting shoots are creamy green and easy to distinguish.

The fruits are small, oval-shaped, with brown skin, greenish-white flesh, a small amount of juice. The yield of the variety from 1 ha is 95 centners, the ripening period is medium.

Resistance to drought and low temperatures unabi Plodivsky – high.

Sinit

Accepted by the State Register in 2014, the jujube variety Sinit was created by the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. It was issued a protective patent No. 9972 dated 23.01.2019/31.12.2049/XNUMX, which will expire on XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX.

The fresh fruits of this variety of jujube received a tasting score of 5 points and are intended for dessert. A medium-sized tree with dark gray bark and a rounded crown forms skeletal branches set aside at right angles to the trunk. Unabi leaves are oval, small, dark green.

The fruits are round-elongated, with a thin dark brown skin. Deprived of aroma, the pulp is dense and juicy, creamy, sweet and sour. Productivity – 165 kg / ha.

Without damage, the variety withstands frosts down to -12,4 ° C. Unabi Sinit tolerates heat well, drought – medium.

Zuckerkovy

The variety of jujube, whose name is translated from Ukrainian as “candy”, was adopted by the State Register in 2014. Created by the employees of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden Sinko L. T., Chemarin N. G., Litvinova T. V. Protective patent No. 9973 has been issued and expires at the same time as in the varieties of jujube Koktebel and Sinit.

Unabi Zukerkovy has an early ripening period and a dessert taste, rated at 5 points. Forms a medium-sized tree with branches growing at right angles. Dark green, ovate-elongated leaves are small.

Oblong-round fruits of medium size, with a shiny dark brown skin and sweet and sour juicy flesh, without aroma. The yield of the variety is up to 165 centners per hectare.

Yalita

A new variety of unabi, the patent for which was issued earlier (No. 9909 dated 12.11.2018/2019/XNUMX) than it was accepted by the State Register in XNUMX. The authors were Sinko L. T. and Chemarin N. G.

The variety of jujube Yalita is very early, universal, the taste is rated at 4,9 points. A medium height tree forms a dense ascending crown with reddish-brown branches pointing upwards at an acute angle to the trunk. The ovate leaves are large, with a sharp apex and a round base.

The fruits are large, in the form of an elongated cylinder, with a brown smooth skin. The pulp is dense, sweet-sour, yellowish. Productivity – up to 107,6 centners per hectare.

How to grow unabi

In order for jujube to feel comfortable, it needs hot, dry weather in summer and cold, but without significant frosts in winter, ideally around 5 ° C. Zone 6 suits it best.

Jujube grows wild in the mountains on poor soils with any acidity, even strongly alkaline. But, obviously, prefers soils rich in organic matter. In a warm climate on the chernozems of the Lower Don, by the age of 5, jujube varietal plants reach 2,6 m, at 7 – 4 m. And in Tajikistan, where it is much warmer, by the age of 10 the same cultivar rarely exceeds 2 m.

What jujube needs is a sunny position – it grows poorly in partial shade, and if it dissolves the buds, they will all turn out to be empty flowers. Unabi endures heat excellently – even at a temperature of 40 ° C without watering, the leaves do not wither, and the fruits develop normally.

Branches of jujube can break from strong winds, so you need to place trees in a protected place.

How can you propagate unabi

Jujube is bred by cuttings, seeds, root offspring and grafting. The latter method is used to propagate unabi varieties and increase their frost resistance. As you know, small-fruited jujubes endure low temperatures better – they are used as a stock. Scion are more heat-loving large-fruited varieties.

It is easiest to propagate jujube by root offspring. Young plants are simply separated from the mother bush or tree, planted in a new place.

Is it possible to grow jujube from a bone

Bones obtained in your own garden from a single standing tree or jujube bush, most likely, will not germinate – cross-pollination is necessary. But such plants bear fruit without problems.

So, before proceeding with germination, you need to make sure that the unabi seeds germinate, because you will have to tinker with them. Most likely, not species or varietal plants, but “semi-culturing” plants will grow from the seeds.

Growing an unabi from a seed is actually not too difficult. All the failures that await gardeners along the way are related to the quality of planting material. jujube seeds will not germinate:

1. If taken from single growing specimens. This does not affect the fruiting of the unabi in any way, but in order to ensure the possibility of propagation by seeds, cross-pollination is necessary.
2. Even if several varieties of jujube grow nearby, it is not a fact that the seed will sprout. Some gardeners, who deliberately damage the hard shell to facilitate germination, complain that it is rarely possible to do this normally with unabi. Often the bone breaks and becomes unsuitable for germination. And they (gardeners) notice that inside is often … empty.
3. Seeds taken from plucked unripe fruits will not germinate.
4. After the unabi has been eaten, there may be unhardened, soft seeds inside, which is not uncommon. They are not suitable as planting material.
5. If the seeds become moldy (which happens often) during preparation for planting, they can be discarded.

What else can be said about unabi bones? Gardeners involved in the cultivation of jujube can tell by one species which plant they are taken from:

• in large-fruited varieties, unabi and stones are larger than in species, and in proportion to the size of the fetus;
• dessert jujube, although they have small seeds, are thin, long, and have a beautiful regular shape.

There are different ways to grow and propagate Chinese dates or unabi from the stone. The attention of beginners (and not so) gardeners will be presented with a time-tested and probably the easiest. In addition, this is how you can get a strong, truly healthy jujube plant with a powerful root – frankly, transplant culture does not like it, even at a young age.

Preparation of containers and soil

No matter how much the residents of the Moscow region want to grow jujube, it remains a southern culture. And there, in winter, the soil does not freeze very much, and it is better to sow unabi directly into the ground, in a permanent place.

In the first year, jujube forms a long taproot, and the pot, firstly, limits its growth, and secondly, any transplant of the underground part causes injury.

How to plant an unabi from a seed

It does not make sense to plant dry bones of jujube, especially in a permanent place – most of them will not germinate. You need to be ready for this. They are first germinated.

From the moment of harvesting, jujube seeds are stored in a dry place. They need to be prepared for sowing in about a month:

1. First, the unabi bones are thoroughly washed from the remnants of the pulp and soaked in water at a temperature of 30 ° C for 60 minutes.
2. The seeds of jujube are wrapped with a wet piece of burlap, wrapped in a plastic bag and stored at a temperature of 20-25 ° C.
3. Be sure to remove the film daily, unfold the fabric. If necessary, the burlap is moistened, and the unabi bone is rinsed – it is difficult to completely remove the remnants of the pulp, it may begin to mold.
4. As soon as the root begins to hatch, the jujube can be planted in the ground. This happens in about a month.

Experienced gardeners may be indignant, and note that if unabi seeds are intentionally damaged, germination occurs much earlier. Yes, this is true. But it is with the bones of jujube that a certain skill is needed to carry out this operation. And the method described here, as promised, is the easiest.

Terms of planting

The ideal time for planting hatched jujube seeds into the ground in a permanent place is when the soil warms up to 10 ° C. To name the time at least approximately – to cause a flurry of discontent from gardeners who have ruined seedlings. It depends on the region, weather and many other factors.

How to grow unabi from a bone

Holes are dug on a shovel bayonet. The seeds of jujube are deepened by 5 cm. If there are a lot of seeds, 2-3 pieces can be placed in each hole for reliability. When planting single plants, the distance between the holes should be at least 2-3 m, if they want to grow a jujube hedge – from 50 to 100 cm. In this case, it all depends on how quickly they want to get the finished “wall”.

First, until the unabi sprout appears above the soil surface, the landing site should be marked so as not to trample. Then jujube needs regular watering, weeding and loosening. When the seedling grows a little, the soil under it will need to be mulched, and best of all with grass cut from the lawn.

The jujube will become a drought-resistant, non-capricious plant by the end of the season or next spring. For now, it needs to be taken care of.

Features of reproduction of unabi cuttings

Jujube can be propagated by green cuttings, this will preserve all varietal characteristics. But there are several subtleties that even experienced gardeners do not always know or think about:

1. In plants grown from rooted cuttings, not a taproot, but a fibrous root is formed.
2. You need to take care of such jujube more carefully. It will not be as resistant to external adverse factors as grown from seed or grafted.
3. Such an unabi will not live and bear fruit for 100 years.
4. Jujube grown from cuttings is less hardy.

Otherwise, nurseries would grow all planting material from cuttings rather than practice complex procedures such as grafting or budding.

Rules for propagating jujube by cuttings

Jujube is propagated by green cuttings in the first half of June. Healthy, strong branches from the growth of the current year are cut into a length of 12-15 cm. The lower section should be under the kidney, at a distance of 5 mm.

Unabi cuttings are soaked in a rooting stimulator for the period specified in the instructions. All leaves are removed, except for the top two – they are shortened by half.

The school is located in a place illuminated part of the day. Even better – under a tree with an openwork crown.

A loose, not too nutritious substrate is covered with a layer of sand 5-6 cm. The jujube cuttings are planted, watered, covered with plastic bottles with a cut bottom and an open neck.

Planting unabi must be kept constantly wet. When new shoots appear, the bottles are first removed for several hours during the day, then removed completely.

The jujube seedlings are moved to a permanent place next spring.

How to plant unabi in open ground

The most crucial moment in growing and caring for unabi is planting. If it is produced correctly, in a place suitable for the culture, there should be no problems.

When to Plant: Spring or Fall

Ziziphus is a southern culture, therefore, it should be planted only in the fall. An exception is container plants, which can be placed on the site in early spring. But not in summer! Zone 6 is not the Middle Strip! Even jujube moved to open ground from a container will suffer from heat for the first season, despite its resistance to high temperatures.

Read to the end what those who advise spring planting write! “So that the plant has time to take root before the onset of severe frosts.” Sorry. What kind of “hard frosts” can there be in the sixth zone?!

Yes, and in the fifth, you can land in September, and at the end of November, cover the unabi for the winter. And “hard frosts” there usually begin no earlier than December. If during this time the jujube does not have time to take root enough to overwinter, it is unlikely that it will take root at all and will bear fruit normally.

Site selection and preparation of soil

A place for planting jujube is chosen as sunny as possible, protected from the wind. Any soil is suitable, as long as it is loose and well-drained. Dense soils are brought in accordance with the requirements of jujube by adding peat or sand. On the locks, drainage must be made with a layer of at least 20 cm.

A pit for jujube is prepared in advance, preferably from spring, but no later than 2 weeks before planting. Its size depends on the age of the unabi, and should be 1,5-2 times the volume of the root. After the pit is dug and drainage is laid, it is 70% covered with substrate and filled with water.

How to plant unabi

For planting jujube, you should choose a cloudy cool day. It is produced in the following order:

1. In the center of the planting hole, a recess is made, corresponding in volume to the jujube root.
2. If the unabi is higher than 60-70 cm, a strong peg for the garter is driven in.
3. They install jujube in the recess, fall asleep the root, constantly squeezing the ground. This will not allow voids to form that prevent rooting.
4. The unabi is abundantly watered, the trunk circle is mulched.

Two points in planting jujube should be considered separately:

1. Usually, when planting crops, the position of the root neck is clearly specified. The distance at which it should rise above the surface of the earth, or, conversely, go deep, is indicated. For jujube, this is not critical. Even for plants grafted in the root neck area. Some practicing gardeners generally advise deepening the grafting site by about 15 cm, especially in cool areas. So, when the jujube freezes in the spring, not just shoots of the species rootstock will grow from the root. From the lower part of the varietal scion, a shoot of cultivated unabi will be beaten off.
2. Planting jujube with an open root. Some inexperienced gardeners may not be happy with the description of the process. Where is the mound around which the roots of the unabi straighten out when landing? How without it? The jujube has a well-developed tap root, under which you need to dig an additional recess. And do not think about how it can be straightened around the “knoll”. If a gardener was sold a jujube with a fibrous root, then he was deceived – the plant was not grafted, but grown from a cutting. It does not have resistance to adverse factors and the durability of a seed-grown or grafted unabi. It’s one thing when a gardener himself propagates jujube this way, another thing is a purchase at a nursery or garden center. These plants should not be for sale!

Caring for jujube after planting in the open field

Everything is very simple here. The jujube requires some kind of care for the first season after planting, then the task of the owners usually consists in timely harvesting.

Watering and fertilizing schedule

Unabi adapts well to soil moisture. In irrigated areas and where it often rains, the jujube root grows by 80 cm. In arid regions, in the absence of irrigation, it penetrates the ground by 2-2,5 m.

They specially moisten the soil immediately after planting the jujube, and, as a safety net, the next season. If it is a dry autumn, moisture charging is carried out in the fifth zone – this is how the unabi will winter better. All.

It is especially important to limit humidity during the formation and ripening of jujube fruits. It is noticed that in the rainy summer the ovaries crumble, and the harvest is poor.

Jujube is usually not fed. You can stimulate the plant a little with nitrogen fertilizer in the first spring.

On poor soils, in late autumn or spring, soil is mulched under jujube with humus. But on soils rich in organic matter and chernozems, fertilization can cause increased growth of shoots, leaves, even abundant flowering. The unabi crop will certainly suffer in this case.

Loosening, mulching

The soil under the jujube must be loosened only in the first year after planting. Then the need for this disappears.

Mulching should be freshly planted and obtained from unabi cuttings. For those grown from seeds and grafted, well-rooted jujube, this procedure is unnecessary – it retains moisture that is unnecessary for the culture under the bush.

How to properly cut jujube

In the first year after planting, jujube grows slowly – all forces are spent on restoring and building up the root system. Formation begins for the third season. Unabi, planted in the fall, will have completed a full growing cycle on the site by this time and will overwinter twice.

If the jujube grows like a bush, the branches are thinned out to lighten the crown. When the culture enters full fruiting, and this will happen quickly, the skeletal shoots are shortened to enhance lateral branching. It is on the growth of the current year that the crop is formed. For convenience, you can trim the height of the jujube.

It is important here not to be greedy, and to limit the number of skeletal branches – the bush should be well illuminated. If the unabi leaves a lot of shoots, the harvest will be less, since the fruits will ripen only on the periphery, the sun simply will not break through into the bush, and the ovaries will fall off. 

The jujube tree is usually formed on a low trunk, with 4-5 skeletal branches arranged in a bowl. To do this, the main conductor is cut at a height of 15-20 cm. When the side shoots go, the strongest ones are left. The following year, they are also shortened, leaving about 20 cm.

It is the open cupped crown of jujube that will help grow a quality crop in the fifth frost resistance zone, which is not very suitable for the crop. In the future, you will have to maintain shape annually, as well as carry out sanitary pruning. At the same time, all broken, dry, and thickening crown shoots are cut off from the unabi.

Diseases and pests

Ziziphus as a whole culture is healthy, rarely gets sick and is affected by pests. The unabium fly, which annoys the plant in the tropics, sometimes appears on the Black Sea coast. In cooler regions, codling moth can cause problems, but this does not happen often.

Preparing jujube for winter

In the first year after planting, unabi are spudded in late autumn, and the crown is wrapped with white agrofibre, fixed with twine. Subsequent winters in zone 6, jujube will survive without any shelter.

Things are worse with the fifth zone – the unabi will definitely freeze there, the question is to what extent. Slightly affected branches can be pruned in the spring, often this does not even affect fruiting. It happens that the jujube freezes to the ground level, and then fights off the root.

You can cover it completely only while the plant is small. To do this, the trunk circle is covered with a thick layer of humus, and the jujube crown is tied with white non-woven material.

But unabi grows very fast, and soon wrapping the crown will become problematic. So you have to put up with the constant freezing of shoots, or even abandon the cultivation of jujube.

Harvesting

Many varieties of jujube bloom the next spring after planting. Species plants grown from seed bring the first harvest in the 3rd-4th season. One adult bush or tree produces about 30 kg of fruit, and record holders – up to 80 kg per year.

Since the flowering of jujube is extended for several months, the crop ripens unevenly. In the fifth zone, late varieties may not reach full ripeness until frost.

Unripe unabi, which tastes like an apple, is consumed fresh and processed. Harvested by hand when the surface of the skin becomes brown by a third.

Fully ripened jujube becomes soft, mealy inside, like a date, very sweet. It can dry up right on the branches and hang on the tree until the very frost – this is how the fruits pick up sweetness. In hot dry summers, unabi ripens faster.

The collection of ripened jujube can be carried out at a time. To do this, use special combs with teeth spaced 1 cm apart. The fruits are “scraped” on a film, and then manually freed from leaves and twigs.

If prolonged rains began in the fall, jujube must be harvested completely, regardless of the degree of ripeness, so as not to lose the crop. The fruits will reach indoors, lined in one layer.

The unripe jujube is not dried, and the bones collected from it have poor germination.

Conclusion

Planting and caring for Chinese date unabi is simple, but it can only be grown in warm regions. There are no varieties that bear fruit without problems in the Middle lane yet – jujube can winter for several seasons, produce a crop, and freeze partially or completely at the first real frost.