Any Experience with Sea Buckthorn in zone 8+?

I'd love to be able to grow Sea Buckthorn (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54046/), both for the fruit and as a security barrier, but PlantFiles and some other sources say it stops at zone 7. I've had success growing a number of different plants out of their recommended zones, but, for every success, there have been at least as many failures.

Has anyone had success growing Sea Buckthorn in zone 8a or warmer?

My first one died but I am trying a second with a better drained soil location and keeping the roots cool with a lot of mulch.

It needs a male and female and may have a chill requirement we cant meet in the south.

I'm growing in zone 5 and have had some losses. The plants grow for several years, then mysteriously die overwintering here. Don't know what the issue is, but they are worthwhile fruit. I'm trying different locations and also have noticed that they show shock when not getting enough water before other plants.

Be sure to get the improved versions if fruit is important to you - it makes a great deal of difference. One Green World appears to be specializing in them and offers many varieties. A variety that suckers might be the best way to go, as even if you lose the main plant, you might get survivors from the roots or even propagate before losses.

Good luck!

I tried twice--plants from One Green World one year and Forest Farm another-none lasted a year. I live just south of Birmingham. Probably won't try again. The plants arrived healthy but they don't seem to like the heat and humidity. On the other hand 6 jujubes planted within 18 months are thriving. They have spines and maybe could be used as a hedge.

Were they named Jujube or just seedlings?

2 lang 2 Li (generic I guess) and 2 GA 866 (New cultivars?)

Cool.
I suspect they have LE Cooke tags on them regardless of where you bought them. Possible Dave Wilson tags.

Li: Good taste, good size fruit, fresh eating, good yields.

Lang: Good taste dried, average taste fresh, larger tree, good yields.

GA 866: Developed by US government in the 1920s-30s. Row GA, plant 866. Has been marked as GA for Georgia but that is a lie.
Good taste, upright growth, poor yields.

Remember, it is very important that they get as much sun as possible. Only pick in the early morning as the fruit dumps moisture as the day goes on. Watering a day or two before picking helps with juiciness.

My Seaberry just put on a flush of growth when it got warmer. I did not expect that.

Thanks--I have them in a sunny well-drained spot. They have lots of tiny blooms on them now but I don't know how many fruit I will have. I didn't know about picking in the morning.

There was a hanging fruit on one of them at the nursery (Lang or Li I don't recall) when I bought it--had become overripe but it was sweet and tasty, kind of like a date.

It may have been the humidity more than the heat that killed my Seaberry. The first year they got a grey discoloration on them before they died. I hope you have better luck.

You shouldnt be getting ripe fruit on the Jujube until August and September. Sometimes they will turn red early and drop or shrivel. That is normal. Production ramps up the 2nd and 3rd year. After that, you should get consistent crops.

The gray discoloration may have been some kind of mold or fungus. However, the leaves do have a silver overcast on them that is noticeable as well. If you try again, maybe you should be prepared to treat for mold/fungus. A general, copper-based fungicide or neem oil might give you a better chance, applied periodically as a precaution during humid times.

My plants show heat stress when temps get near the 90's (like yesterday) and I have to be careful then to make sure they have enough water during those times or they will start to lose leaves. The leaves turn yellow and fall off when not enough water during the heat.

Thanks--I don't know if I will try seaberry again because *every* summer is hot and humid here and I don't want plants that are really high maintenance--and those plants weren't cheap--

I am trying to convert lawn into a wooded area with permaculture in mind so that when I retire I won't have to mow and I will have a property that will provide for a degree of self-sufficiency. Plus, a variety of nutritious safe foods--witness what is happening in Germany now with the e.coli!

Jujubetexas, I am glad you are here on DG so that when problems arise with my jujubes I will have an expert to consult! I am new at this. I don't have any formal horticultural education (my degree is in zoology from Auburn ) though I did take some plant biology courses and ecology. What I do have now is a lot of enthusiasm to pursue planting trees and shrubs and caring for them. How I wish I had taken a couple of electives in horticulture when I had the opportunity!

ditto

Passiflora, I went to high school where you live! It's always nice to be reminded of happy days......

JujubeTX, I'd love to try jujubes, especially if they'll double as a security barrier. I've had $10,000 or more in plants stolen from other locations, and, with the option of a new, but unguarded, remote location for my plants, I want to know I'll have at least a decent deterrent in the works before proceeding.

Elaeagnus pungens will work, but options like seaberry and jujube are more tempting. It's more consistent with the overall project, which is a cooperative that already has a 40-year-old blueberry farm on it (abandoned, but being restored). There are also five acres that were once a muscadine vineyard, but, after 40 years, it was a forest. Many of the vines are still there. We've clearcut the trees from most of the former vineyard, but it will take a couple of years to get it going again, while the blueberries never stopped. It was tricky to get one of those contraptions that cut and lift full grown trees out of the blueberry field without crushing the bushes.

The historic plans included three 50'x50' tanks for water chestnuts. I think that's less viable now than under the Johnson administration..... One of them still holds water, and we're keeping it as a recreational pond, though I'm suggesting planting some attractive marginal plants like cattails, colored pussy willows and corkscrew willows that will produce cuttings for the florist market.

I may get the other two "tanks" for my plants. They're on a hillside, so one end has a 15' bank, and, at the other end, the bank is 5'. The bottom is pretty flat. Some rainwater collects at the bottom of the high bank, which would be fine for my elephant ears and such.

It's all wooded. We've removed half to 2/3 of the trees from the tanks (kept some for shade and part-shade plants). The security barrier could be either around the tanks or along the road. In both locations, they would grow among tall trees, but be open to sunlight whenever the sun is not directly overhead.

Does this sound feasible for jujubes? Are jujube's dense, tall and thorny enough to discourage the casual thief? (I realize nothing will stop a determined robber.)

I'm open to other suggestions as well.

SilkKnoll, How about growing some lotus as a food crop? I think your climate is right for that and you have the water-space for them. They are supposed to be delicious (the roots).

I'd never thought of it. The pond is full of some kind of lily. The pond itself wouldn't be my domain, but I'm interested, and I could bring it up. A fellow who heads one of the horticulture reference sites I use wrote to me, and he did his grad work on some aspect of water lilies in this area.... So I guess I have a good contact.

It would have to be an internet market. It's impossible to get the local population to consider a new foodstuff.

Thanks for the idea!

Jujube rootstock will sucker and become dense and can be tall. Each time it suckers, you can dig up the sucker and then plant it in a space lacking Jujube. They require lots of sun for fruiting. The named cultivars dont have as many thorns but I believe Sugar Cane Jujube does.

You can also try Trifoliate Orange. It is a citrus hardy below zero and has ALOT of nasty thorns. The fruit is inedible.