How to grow Jujube in Australia

Where to plant

Jujubes like a hot, dry climate. They grow in a wide range of soils and pH as long as drainage is fair to good, and they survive soils where most other trees struggle, though very alkaline soils above pH 7.8 can cause minor element deficiencies. In trials they survived drought and excess moisture better than other fruit trees. The tree tolerates winters down to about minus 15°C and usually flowers late enough to escape spring frosts, but it needs a long, hot summer to ripen and sweeten its fruit.

Indian jujube, also called chinee apple (Ziziphus mauritiana), is a different, very thorny tropical species. It forms impenetrable thickets in the dry tropics and is a restricted invasive plant in Queensland, where you must not give away, sell or release it, and it is a declared weed in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Never plant it.

• Adelaide, Perth, inland New South Wales and Victoria, Canberra and Melbourne: plant from June to August. Hot, dry inland gardens suit jujubes best.
• Sydney, South East Queensland and the Northern Rivers: plant from June to August. Trees grow, but humid summers suit them less than dry inland areas; choose a sunny, airy spot with good drainage.
• Hobart: our calendar marks it as not reliable, as summers rarely bring enough heat to ripen and sweeten the fruit.
• North Queensland and Darwin: our calendar marks these as not reliable for Chinese jujube, which needs some winter chill and a dry summer.

Choosing a variety

Buy a grafted tree of a named variety, as seedlings and root suckers give small, inferior fruit and named varieties do not come true from seed. Li has large, well-flavoured fruit that is crisp when picked at the right time. Lang crops heavily with pear-shaped fruit that ripens earlier than Li. Chico is another variety sold in Australia.

How to plant

1. Plant bare-rooted or potted trees in winter while dormant.
2. Choose the sunniest, hottest spot with reasonable drainage.
3. Plant at the same depth the tree was growing, with the graft union above the soil.
4. Water in deeply and mulch, keeping the mulch clear of the trunk.
5. Water young trees through their first summer, then much less.

Watering and feeding

Established jujubes are very drought tolerant and need little watering, though a deep soak in long dry spells while fruit develops helps the crop. Young trees need regular water in their first summer.

Feed lightly in spring, just before growth starts, with a nitrogen fertiliser or compost. Young trees respond to two or three small feeds a month apart in spring.

Pruning and care through the year

• Cut off root suckers at or below the ground as soon as they appear. Mature trees sucker freely and can form a thicket, and any root damage encourages more.
• Avoid digging or cultivating around the roots, which triggers suckering.
• Prune in winter to shape the tree and keep it to a height you can pick. The branches are often thorny, so wear gloves.
• Net the tree as fruit ripens if birds are a problem.

Harvesting

Jujubes ripen from late summer into autumn. The fruit changes from light green to mahogany or red-brown as it matures. For fresh eating, pick it when it is mostly coloured but still crisp and smooth, before the skin wrinkles, when it has an apple-like crunch. Left on the tree, the fruit softens, wrinkles and dries into a sweet, date-like fruit.

Fresh, crisp jujubes keep for a week or two in the fridge. Fully coloured, wrinkled fruit can be dried further and stored for months.

Using it

Eat crisp jujubes fresh like a small apple, or dry them for snacks, soups, teas and desserts, as in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking. Each fruit has a single hard seed.