The Biosphere Blog

Did you know there is only one substance that absolutely must be available to all living things on planet Earth? It isn’t oxygen — while that’s essential for animals and for non-photosynthetic processes within a plant, it’s a poisonous… more »

This earlier post described the four branch types peculiar to jujube trees: primary (extension) branches, secondary (non-extension) branches, fruiting mother branches, and fruiting branchlets. Also mentioned were the two bud types, main and secondary,… more »

Around 7pm the other evening I was perusing my trees, and — as I often do, gently pulled down a fruiting branchlet above to look more closely with my loupe at the flowers and developing fruits along it. To my absolute horror it came away in my hand! I… more »

Anthesis is the period or action of a flower opening, and this post will document two Ta-Jan flowers doing exactly that. Firstly, a refresher on the parts of a jujube flower to make this easier to follow along:     Stamens and anthers are mentioned a… more »

Update: 5th October 2023 Much thanks to entomologist Katherine Rawson for her help in identifying the ant species in this post to at least the genus level — very much appreciated! Pollinators are essential to many flowering plants’ reproduction. A… more »

Back here were lots of pretty pictures of jujube flowers, but not exactly much in the way of information as to what you were looking at. As with that week, this week is another time-poor one I’m afraid. But while this post will also be… more »

This week I thought I’d follow up on the last paragraph of this older post that had been getting some recent attention, as well as my comment under that post. Fig. 1 below is the very same Lang referred to. This photo was taken on 19th October… more »

Rather than a post last week, we had threee guest comments under this older post — direct links are here, here and here — and a big thank you to Adrian and Airlie for sharing their experiences! I stupidly didn’t actually post those links publicly… more »

This earlier post lists the most important nutrients plants require to grow, flower and fruit. But barring a full laboratory soil or leaf analysis, most people only become aware of any deficiencies when their trees show poor growth and development. By… more »

Have you ever repotted a plant and wondered why the bottom of the potting mix is so incredibly saturated compared to the rest, despite the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot? You may have thought this was a sign of over-watering, but what you… more »

This post complements last week’s post on a Photo Journal of a Young Jujube Tree Coming Out of Dormancy, by getting up closer on the buds themselves as they come into life. The photographs below show a cluster of terminal (tip, end) buds on a… more »

All tree orders for this winter 2019 had been received by Tuesday 20th August, six weeks ago today. While these were being sent out, I deliberately kept a few over in the exact same conditions as those that were being shipped, ie packed in wood shavings… more »

Many hobbyist/backyard fruit enthusiasts prefer to plant their jujube trees in large pots either because of their soil type, the tree’s suckering habit, or both. Keeping a tree in a pot also helps control its growth and manageability. And pots of… more »

As last week’s post stated, manufactured fertilisers are reliably the same with every batch, and the same measured applications can be relied on to deliver the same amounts of nutrients every time. Manures, in contrast, are a natural product and… more »

Last week’s discussion of three differing fertilisers briefly mentioned that manures and manure-based products should not be thought of as complete fertilisers able to supply all nutrients in adequate amounts — and commercial suppliers of these do… more »