Unlikely — Zone Mismatch
jujube (zones 6-10) does not overlap with Minnesota's zone range (3a-5a). Growing outdoors is unlikely without significant protection.
One zone short — what would close it
Jujube is hardy to zone 6, and the warmest ground in Minnesota is zone 5 — 1 zone short. Planted in open ground it will not survive a Minnesota winter. To grow it here, grow jujube in a hoop house or unheated greenhouse — its modeled 1.5-zone lift covers this gap.
A hoop house or unheated greenhouse is the lift this needs. How a greenhouse changes what you can grow →
Zone math from 6-10 (plant) against 3-5 (Minnesota). Lift modeled by crop_engine.GREENHOUSE_ZONE_MODIFIER_BY_SUBTYPE['hoop_house'] (+1.5 zones) via api/fast_sections.py Unlock Engine v2.
Jujube in Minnesota — the short answer
Jujube in Minnesota: hardy in zones 6–10, full sun, against a state median of ~174 frost-free days.
- Plant zones
- 6-10
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Minnesota zones
- 3a-5a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Frost window
- Apr 19 - Apr 30 – Oct 10 - Oct 17
- NOAA RCC ACIS 1991-2020, 28°F
- Shortest county season
- 137 days
- NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020, county 28°F killing freeze
- Days to maturity
- 1095 days
- Growable Ground Plant Database
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset.
Your yard isn't the whole zone.
Minnesota spans zones 3a-5a, but your yard sits in exactly one — and slope, tree cover, and cold-air pockets nudge it further. Enter your address and we'll score jujube against your parcel's actual hardiness, soil, and sun.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Minnesota is not one climate
Minnesota’s winter-low ladder runs across 87 counties, from zone 3.5 in Beltrami County to zone 5 in Watonwan County. That is 15°F between the two counties’ average coldest night — the difference between jujube overwintering in the ground and coming under cover.
The middle half of 87 counties runs 4–4.5 zones, with a median of 4.5 zones — a 1.5-zone span end to end.
Measured across 87 Minnesota counties. USDA PHZM 2023, per county. Quartiles are order statistics — every figure shown is a value a real county recorded, not an interpolation. Your own site sits somewhere inside this range; a parcel report resolves where.
Where Jujube Stands in Minnesota
Jujube is rated for zones 6–10 — a cold floor USDA puts at -10 to 0°F. No Minnesota county sits inside it, so in open ground this is a grown-under-cover plant here rather than a bed plant — which is a statement about Minnesota winters, not about jujube.
Below the zone 6 floor
87 counties
- Beltrami County · zone 3b
- Clearwater County · zone 3b
- Hubbard County · zone 3b
3 of 87 shown
Winter cold is the limit here — the same plant works in a container that comes under cover.
County hardiness zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023, per county. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so the floor above is the band the plant's rating denotes, not a single measured kill point. Slope, shelter and cold-air drainage routinely move a site half a zone either way from its county figure — which is the part only your address resolves.
Zone Comparison
Jujube Needs
- USDA Zones: 6-10
- Frost-Free Days: 365+
- Sun: Full Sun
- Mature size: 25 ft tall
- Picking window: ~30 days of harvest
- Drought tolerance: High
Minnesota Has
- USDA Zones: 3a-5a
- Last Hard Freeze (28°F): Apr 19 - Apr 30
- First Hard Freeze (28°F): Oct 10 - Oct 17
- Annual Rainfall: 19-34 inches
- Common Soils: Prairie loam, Clay, Sandy outwash
Plant Zone Range (zones 6-10)
Preferred Soil pH
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources — per-field provenance varies and is published with the dataset. State data: USDA ARS PHZM 2023, NOAA Climate Normals, NRCS SSURGO.
When to Plant Jujube in Minnesota
The frost window
Across Minnesota, the last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and Apr 30, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 17 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Counting from the latest last freeze to the earliest first freeze, that's a 163-day window you can count on — up to 181 days on a mild site in a kind year. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost, so tender transplants usually wait another 2-3 weeks.
Winter standing
Minnesota runs as cold as USDA zone 3, and no sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for jujube, so this page does not state whether it overwinters here — and gives no fall establishment date on the strength of a guess. Whether jujube is a permanent planting or a replant-every-spring crop for you turns on your own zone within Minnesota; check its hardiness range against that before treating it as long-lived ground.
Timing tuned to sub-state frost dates — Lake County, not the statewide average.
Frost window: NOAA Climate Normals 1991-2020. Plant timing fields: Growable Ground Plant Database — frost-free days from FAO ECOCROP, days to harvest from university Extension production guides, and growing-degree-day and chill-hour minimums that are compilation estimates rather than published figures. Your site's own frost dates can run earlier or later than the state range — a parcel report pins them down.
Growing Season Fit
The zone check says jujube does not survive a Minnesota winter in the ground. The season figures below measure a different question — whether it could finish a season here at all — and they only bear on Minnesota under protection.
Frost-free days
Jujube wants 365+ frost-free days; a typical Minnesota site sees ~174 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020) — 191 days short of what it needs. A typical Minnesota season does not carry this crop to harvest outdoors, and a gap that size is not one an earlier sowing date or a faster cultivar closes; growing it here means growing it under cover.
Growing degree days
Jujube needs ~2500 GDD (base 50°F) to ripen. The state median runs ~1920 GDD (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), so Minnesota's typical season runs short on heat — pick a south-facing site and consider season extension.
Chill hours
Jujube requires ~100 chill hours (32-45°F dormancy window). Minnesota typically banks ~2500 chill hours per winter (from PRISM 1991-2020 climate normals), which keeps this plant on track.
GDD and chill-hour figures are computed from PRISM 1991-2020 monthly climate normals; frost-free days from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020. Each is the state median across its counties (P25/P75 span the within-state spread). Hardiness-zone range is USDA PHZM 2023.
Soil + Drainage Fit
Jujube tolerates a wide pH range (pH 5-9) — 4 units, acid ground through alkaline — so soil acidity is rarely what limits it in Minnesota. A soil test is still worth having, but for what else it tells you about this site, not to clear this plant. It will grow across that whole span, but it does best between pH 5.5 and 8 — worth knowing before you decide whether a Minnesota soil test result is a problem or just a number. Drainage matters: this plant wants well (dry spells). If your Minnesota site is heavier clay or sits in a low spot, raised beds or amendment with compost solve it.
Your land, not the state average
SSURGO maps about 34.6% of Minnesota as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and the class flips parcel to parcel. Jujube tolerates drought well, so wet feet — not dry spells — is its real risk here — your soil map unit, not the state average, is the real answer.
Check your parcel → Source: USDA NRCS SSURGO.
Plant pH requirements: FAO ECOCROP and USDA PLANTS, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Drainage: FAO ECOCROP, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation. Minnesota soil profile from USDA NRCS SSURGO. Site-specific verification: a 30-minute soil test from your local Extension lab.
Before you plant jujube for food
Anything you grow to eat takes up what is in the ground it grows in, so what is on record near you is worth knowing before jujube goes in. What follows is Minnesota’s documented federal record at state scale — a screening signal, not a soil test, and not a statement about any one lot.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Minnesota — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Minnesota — 59,092 documented sites across 8 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 172 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
Minnesota carries one of the heavier federal records we track — and that's not a verdict on your yard. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis: nothing here says any particular parcel is affected. It does earn one concrete step — before food beds go in the ground, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with, and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Sources Checked
across Minnesota
Severity Distribution
across Minnesota
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Minnesota, two things run higher than the national average across Minnesota — CAFO (1,010 sites) and Brownfields (29,697 sites). It's not cause for alarm — it's worth knowing, and there's a sensible way to grow around it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Brownfields: Brownfield sites are former commercial or industrial properties where legacy soil contamination (heavy metals, PAHs, petroleum compounds) may persist.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Check EPA brownfield remediation status — many sites have completed cleanup with institutional controls.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What Else to Consider for Jujube in Minnesota
Zone compatibility tells you about winter cold survival — but Minnesota growers also need to think about:
Extreme cold (zone 3a: -40F) limits many species
Short growing season (100-140 frost-free days)
Heavy clay soils in the Red River Valley
Growing jujube here specifically
Jujube roots run medium and prefer pH 5.0–9.0, but drainage comes first here: SSURGO maps about 34.6% of Minnesota as poorly or somewhat-poorly drained, and wet ground rots its crown before pH ever matters.
Plant jujube on a raised, gravel-amended berm so water drains fast and the crown stays dry. How to handle it →
What to actually do about these — and the constraints that apply to every Minnesota grower, not just jujube — is covered on the Minnesota growing guide.
Timing shifts within Minnesota
Minnesota isn't one climate. In Lake County, the last hard freeze (28°F) holds until about May 14 — roughly 23 days later than the recorded state median — so plant jujube to your county's window, not the statewide date.
Jujube needs about 365 days of frost-free season to complete its cycle. No Minnesota county gives it that outdoors: even Ramsey County, the state’s longest season at 199 frost-free days, falls 166 days short — so it needs transplants, a short-season variety, or covered growing.
Across Minnesota’s 87 counties the frost-free season runs from 137 days in Lake County to 199 days in Ramsey County — a spread of 62 days, which is why a single statewide planting date misleads. The median Minnesota county sees 174 frost-free days, which is 191 days short of what jujube needs — so on a typical Minnesota parcel this is a transplant-or-protect crop, not a direct-sow one.
County last-freeze dates and frost-free day counts: NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991-2020), county 28°F freeze (earlier than the folk 32°F "last frost"). Jujube's 365-day requirement: USDA PLANTS / Growable Ground plant database (minimum frost-free days). A parcel report resolves your address's own frost dates.
Pollinator + Wildlife Value
Jujube draws honeybees and native bees (moderate value, Growable Ground Plant Database). Planting it near vegetable beds can lift fruit set on neighboring crops. Outdoors, jujube can only work that bloom inside Minnesota's frost window — roughly 174 days, opening after the last 28°F freeze (Apr 19 - Apr 30) and closing at the first (Oct 10 - Oct 17), per NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020.
Minnesota Cooperative Extension
For Minnesota-specific cultivar recommendations, planting calendars, and pest pressure for jujube, the canonical source is University of Minnesota Extension. Their fact sheets carry the local trial data we can't generalize across 50 states.
Is Jujube native to Minnesota?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Jujube as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Minnesota's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Minnesota natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
Looking for plants that belong here? The Minnesota growing guide lists USDA-documented natives for the state.
Native-range data: USDA PLANTS Database state-distribution records, accessed 2026-07-01.
Common Questions About Growing Jujube in Minnesota
When can I plant Jujube in Minnesota?
Minnesota's last spring hard freeze (28°F) clears between Apr 19 and Apr 30, and the first fall hard freeze lands between Oct 10 and Oct 17 (NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). No sourced winter-hardiness floor is on record for Jujube, so this page does not state whether it overwinters in Minnesota and publishes no fall establishment date for it — check its hardiness range against your own zone before treating it as a permanent planting.
What hardiness zone is Jujube grown in across Minnesota?
Minnesota spans USDA hardiness zones 3a-5a (USDA ARS PHZM 2023). Jujube carries a range of zones 6-10, so the overlap zones are where outdoor growing is most reliable.
How many frost-free days does a typical Minnesota site have?
A typical Minnesota site sees ~174 frost-free days per year (derived from NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS, 1991-2020). Jujube needs 365+ frost-free days, so check whether your local microclimate runs above or below the state average before settling on a planting date. In cooler counties like Lake, the freeze-free season runs shorter than the state average, so verify your own county's window.
Is Jujube native to Minnesota?
No — the USDA PLANTS Database lists Jujube as introduced rather than native in the Lower 48, so it is not part of Minnesota's native flora. It grows here as a garden plant; pairing it with a few Minnesota natives keeps local pollinators fed too.
How should I amend the soil for Jujube in Minnesota?
Jujube tolerates pH 5-9 and well (dry spells) drainage (FAO ECOCROP). That is a 4-unit span, acid ground through alkaline, so pH is rarely what limits this plant on a Minnesota site — amend for drainage and organic matter first.
Will Jujube actually grow on my specific land in Minnesota?
State-level zone + climate data is a sketch. A Growable Ground parcel report scores jujube against your address's exact soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost-date data drawn from USDA SSURGO, NOAA, and PRISM — not state averages.
Check your specific parcel in Minnesota
State-level data is a sketch. Your Growable Ground report scores jujube against your parcel's exact soil, sun, drainage, and frost data — not zone averages.
Three things about your lot that Minnesota jujube averages can't show:
We read public map data around Minnesota — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Minnesota jujube average
Explore More
Growing guides for jujube
Explore Minnesota county by county
Minnesota carries 87 counties with their own USDA zone — a sample of the growing pages for jujube there:
Where else jujube grows
Jujube's zone band crosses state lines — these are the states closest to Minnesota in winter climate where it also has a page, plus the far ends of its range. Each one re-answers the question with that state's own record.
More to grow in Minnesota
Minnesota has a growing page for 747 plants — a rotating sample of the rest of the shelf.
Analysis by the Growable Ground research team, grounded in USDA PLANTS, USDA NRCS SSURGO, NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020), and named Cooperative Extension sources. How we know →
Cite this dataset
Kirchick, M. (2026). Growable Ground Plant Database [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21435643
Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21435643
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