Phenological growth stages of Ziziphus jujuba according to the BBCH scale under arid desert oasis zone in south Xinjiang

Lan, Xin , Liu, Yulu , Yuan, Chen , Qin, Wei , Li, Wenwen

2025-12-01 GENETIC RESOURCES AND CROP EVOLUTION 2025   72(卷), 8(期), (10355-10374页)

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The jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is a small deciduous tree, an endemic fruit tree native to China and widely distributed in China, with high nutritional value and medicinal health effects. This study was carried out in the jujube cultivars resource nursery in Maigaiti County, Kashgar, Xinjiang, and the phenological stages of nine different cultivars of jujube were coded according to the Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie (BBCH) scale, which uses two-digit coding, and eight major growth stages and 39 sub-growth stages were set up in this study. This study utilized the BBCH scale to systematically document the phenological development of nine jujube cultivars under warm-temperate continental arid climatic conditions. All cultivars initiated budding in April, flowered in mid-May, and were harvested from mid- to late September. The harvesting sequence followed the order: JZ, LYX, ZXZ, PZ, HS2H, QH2H, HTZ, DZ, and BPXZ, with fresh jujube demonstrating significantly earlier maturiting compared to drying jujube. In order to better define and standardize the morphological characteristics of these jujube trees, we provide some photographic images of the primary and secondary developmental stages, which not only help to promote the implementation of jujube breeding and agronomic measures, but also help producers to understand the maturity period of jujube trees in greater depth, so as to achieve a more scientific and efficient management of agricultural production.