A Detailed Guide to Jujube Cultivation Techniques and Management Methods
The jujube, also known as the red date, crisp jujube, and so on, has a cultivation history of more than eight thousand years in China. It is recorded in the Classic of Poetry that “in the eighth month the jujubes are beaten down”, which shows how long the jujube has had a history in our country. Here we will talk with you about the history of the jujube and its cultivation techniques.
I. The History of the Jujube
According to historical records, the jujube is a traditional famous and high-quality specialty tree species native to China. Archaeologists discovered jujube pit fossils at the Peiligang culture site in Xinzheng, which proves that the jujube has a history of more than 8000 years in China. As early as the Western Zhou period, people began to use red dates for fermentation to brew red date wine, as a superior tribute, used to entertain guests. The nutritional and health benefits of the jujube were discovered and used by people in ancient times. The Classic of Poetry already contains the record “in the eighth month the jujubes are beaten down.” The Book of Rites contains “jujubes, chestnuts, maltose and honey to sweeten them,” and they were also used in the preparation of dishes. The Strategies of the Warring States contains “in the north there are the benefits of jujubes and chestnuts…… enough to feed the people,” pointing out the important role of the jujube in northern China. The Han Feizi also records the use of jujubes and chestnuts to save the people during a famine in the State of Qin. Therefore, among the people, the jujube has always been regarded as one of the “iron-rod crops” and “woody grains.”
The jujube was also used as medicine very early. It was already included in the Shennong Bencao Jing, and has been recorded in medical texts of every dynasty, with understanding of its health-preserving and disease-treating effects continuously deepening. To this day the jujube is regarded as an important tonic. Li Shizhen said in the Compendium of Materia Medica: the jujube is sweet in flavor and warm in nature, can tonify the middle and augment qi, nourish the blood and promote fluid production, and is used to treat diseases such as “weakness of the spleen, poor appetite and loose stools, and deficiency of both qi and blood.” Regular consumption of jujubes can treat physical weakness, neurasthenia, disharmony of the spleen and stomach, indigestion, cough from strain, anemia and emaciation, and its function of nourishing the liver and preventing cancer is especially prominent. There is a saying that “eat three jujubes a day, and at a hundred you will not look old.”
II. Cultivation Techniques for the Jujube
1. Soil requirements. The jujube tree is highly adaptable, but under conditions of loose soil, deep layers, and sufficient fertilizer and water, it will grow and develop better.
2. Planting time. Planting can be done in either spring or autumn, but spring is preferable. Generally it is carried out within one week before the jujube tree sprouts.
3. Fertilizer and water management. Apply base fertilizer before the ground freezes in late autumn, and apply additional fertilizer before sprouting in spring. In places with irrigation conditions, irrigate in a timely manner before the flowering period, during the fruit-setting period, during the fruit-swelling period, and before the onset of winter. Loosen the soil and weed in a timely manner; spring plowing should be shallow, and autumn plowing should be deep.
4. Variety selection. For the selection of planting varieties, it should be decided according to the local natural environment, soil and water composition, and climate changes, choosing red date varieties suited to these natural conditions for planting. It is best to choose varieties with large fruit and high sugar content.
The above is some relevant knowledge about the jujube. Friends who like to eat jujubes can, if conditions permit, plant a jujube tree themselves; generally it will bear fruit in three to five years.