OT: Anyone growing persimmons?

[Kelby]

Title says it. I know at least a few people here are, curious what everyone is growing and what they like. None of mine have fruited yet, but I have Tam Kam, Saijo, Izu, IKKJ, and a handful of virginiana seedlings I started. All but Tam Kam I grafted this spring and are doing pretty well, Tam Kam came from Edible Landscaping this year. I hope to see fruit next year, but it'll likely be 2 or 3 until I do. I'm interested in trying more varieties if anyone wants to trade scions this winter.

[Kelby]

Pictures

[Charlie]

Been a tough year for persimmons here with all the spring floods but I have Fuyu, Prok, Nakita's Gift and Hachiya surviving. Suruga never leafed out this year. No fruits on any this year, all blooms fell off. No grafting attempts were made. On the bright side I spotted a huge Asian type of persimmon tree behind an apartment in Fort Smith which has many large fruits. Will keep an eye on it to see what may come and try to find out if anybody is caring for it. It looks like it's not a grafted tree.

The native persimmons have also suffered. I have only seen one tree with any green fruits and not that many as usual.

[zone5figger]

I have a few seedlings growing around our place. I hope to graft them over next year to early, hardy varieties. I also sprouted some seeds this summer I got from upstate NY.

[Kelby]

Let me know if you want any Saijo scions, I won't have much but I could spare a piece or two. Supposed to zone 5 hardy.

[jkuo]

I just planted an IKKJ this year. I'm removing a large birch tree from my yard, which will open up a fair bit of sunny yard space. I was thinking about putting another one in.

[rusty hooks]

5 year old Hachiya.....holiday season around here is me doing persimmon pudding for our family, all the neighbors, the barber shop, the farm market....ad nauseum.....

our kitchen begins to resemble a sauna...right around Christmas

[quackmaster]

I have 2 fuyu persimmons, that might be the only fruit I like as much as figs! My trees are only 3 or 4 years old and they produce fruit.

[strudeldog]

Kelby, Think you know I grow several, when I tallied up the other day think I have 25 cultivars, most Kaki but think 3 American.Most individual trees but a few are just grafted branches, but probably over 40 trees total. Within the last few weeks my main Izu tree died and I have determined my Giombo from JF&E is a NOT Giombo, so anyone that ever got Giombo cuttings from me I think it might end up being one of the Jiro sports, not sure but 1st season it is fruiting. I might still have it as I have a small USDA Davis graft of what they list as Giomba. I question is maybe a typo. I have had mixed results but my older trees at my cabin some put in ground as early as spring 2009 Have but a few fruit this year think the bloom got a late frost, several of the trees I put here are fruiting for the 1st time I have lost several other trees including the one I am showing the PIC, it was mislabeled at JF&E and I bought as such because it was a monster sized PCNA, but It doesn't appear real cold hardy and I lost last winter, but I think I have have it back already. Some of my trees just lack vigor and don't grow, and some are doing well. I beginning think It has to do with some rootstocks just not establishing well.

[Kelby]

Phil, do you think it's a lotus vs virgniana thing or just general difficulty transplanting? I've been grafting/buying only on virginiana and babying transplants as they have that persnickity reputation, especially if barerooted.

[strudeldog]

I think there probably is a difference between lotus vs virginiana to some degree, but I was more speaking to individual virginiana rootstock that whatever reason just doesn't seem to support the plant well. They survive but don't seem to establish and thrive. I think it's the luck of the graft. My Izu was a good example potted plant from JF&E plant spring 2012, had never taken off. It did get setbacks with significant freeze a couple springs, but the graft from it is flourishing. The graft was made to a existing virginiana seedling along my pasture woodland edge. Others I have noticed the same. Almost all my trees are on virginiana. I did last year put in a couple left coast trees originating from LECooke nursery I imagine are on Lotus, but most everything else comes from nursery that I know use virginiana and certainly all my own grafts are.

[quackmaster]

I would like to try other persimmons, I've only tried fuyu, the small native persimmons, and the big round astringent kind but I don't remeber the name. Are persimmons easy to graft? I would like to add some to my two trees with out loosing the space of a whole tree.

[Kelby]

I found them easy to graft, but they must be done later than other fruits and need a little more aftercare (rubbing off rootstock shoots).

[COGardener]

Jesse, do you protect your trees over winter?

[zone5figger]

No, and there has been some die back above the snow line. They are all young, under 3 yrs, largest might be 3-4 ft tall.

[COGardener]

Sounds like you need more snow.... LOL

[COGardener]

There are no native Persimmons (that I'm aware of) in Colorado. Where I live we don't get a huge amount of snow, yet we do get very cold for long periods with drying high winds. I have thought about trying to grow them here yet I could not find any evidence that anyone here has been successful with them. The same goes with jujubes and pawpaws.

[Kelby]

Early ripening american persimmons could work...Early Golden maybe? Or container grow kaki types.

[COGardener]

I think I will hold off until the move, another 3 years won't hurt anything.

[WillsC]

Have two, a Fuyu and a Hana Fuyu they are both ripening now. They are good but the trees sure grow slow.

[Gr8Figs]

I had a Fuyu from a nursery in Florida,but it died where it was grafted to the rootstock in its second year.I have a number of wild trees and two large male persimmon trees about 40' tall with a lot trees sprouting from there roots.

I have been wondering if there is any difference in fruit production and growth when grafting to male vs female rootstock?

[Kelby]

There shouldn't be any difference unless one was weaker or stronger beforehand.

[growcrazie]

I have a Jiro that died almost to the ground last winter, it has grown about 3' this summer. I got fruit from it last year. I also have early golden and yates that I planted in the spring. I have many seedlings that I started from seed. I tried to graft some but had only one take and that one broke off from the weight of the new growth

[WillsC]

Had the first fruit from the FUYU today, I like them best when they have the crunch of an apple.

[Dave]

Here's a picture of mine I planted it last year and it hasn't grown an inch How many years does it normally take before you start getting fruit?

Do they like a specific fertilizer?

[Kelby]

Mine aren't fruiting yet, but I've heard 2-4 years. You should remove the suckers at the base, too.

[Rewton]

I have a Saijo, Wase Fuyu and Makewa Jiro. The WF and MJ have not fruited yet but I would think next year is the year as they have put on quite a bit of growth this year. The Saijo is also a fast grower for me and is a year older than the other two. it produced about a half dozen fruits last year and should produce more this year but not as many as I had hoped, given its size. All three trees were from EL in Virginia.

[Dave]

Kelby I do cut off the suckers but they grow faster than I can cut them Could you wrap the trunk with something to keep them from growing?

[Kelby]

Is it lotus rootstock? My very limited experience shows that to sucker a lot.

[strudeldog]

Kelby, Virginiana suckers like crazy on some trees. I think in general Lotus suckers less, but overall Virginiana is a more adaptable stock for soils , and I always thought Virginiana was the better rootstock for me, as that's the one most right coast nurseries use, but maybe it's just more avilable and I am wondering after some things I read awhile back. Here is one link

http://www.lecooke.com/cms/le-cooke-blog/Kaki-vs-Lotus-Rootstock-for-Fuyu-Persimmon.html

[Kelby]

Thanks Phil! My virginiana rootstocks haven't suckered yet but some we have at work on lotus sucker lots. Probably with age they'll sucker. I've primarily been using virginiana as it reputedly hardier.

[WillsC]

With them you can get decent growth or fruit but you can't get both. Last year I hit them hard with fertilizer and they grew 18" or so and bushed out but the N made them drop all the fruit which is par for the course with persimmons. This year I did not fertilize and one set 20 and the other 10 but they aborted half of them when the fruit was half grown.

Will take a picture of them tomorrow and post it, they are in there 3rd summer.

[Kelby]

I've read young trees (under 5) will drop lots of fruit too.

[Charitup]

I have 1 ea. of 15 to 20 different varieties. Don't know the exact number as I don't have my book with me right now and even then I know I have lost a few this year. Probably because of neglect as I have not been able to look after stuff the way I normally have. We have had a very dry summer this yr. too. Also have about a 100 seedlings that I tried my hand at grafting for the first time this spring on about 20 of them. Maybe 10 of them took and are looking good so far. Thanks to Strudeldog for furnishing most of the scion wood used in my grafting.

[Kelby]

If I can send you any scions to replace what you lost let me know;

[Charitup]

Thanks Kelby, maybe next spring we will see.

[Kelby]

Just got a nice Nikita's Gift today from Bass at Trees of Joy...need more yard space!

[Gardencrochet]

My Fuyu is loaded with fruit. I would recommend this variety for anyone looking for a very productive tree. The fruit is very sweet and yummy. It is is a non-astringent variety. The astringent varieties produce a bad reaction in your mouth if eaten unripe.

[strudeldog]

Picked these a couple days ago. Tanennashi Probably my lowest rated Kaki on fruit taste I grow. I think I know why at one time it was planted extensively as it is very productive, large and seems to ripen over a extended time. My young tree has couple branches so loaded I had to prop the limbs up with forked branches to keep from breaking the limbs. It's not a cultivar I recommend high, but it does dehydrate nice. I am keeping the tree for that reason. Dehydrated astringent persimmon are divine. Don't wait until they go soft and lose astringency as you can't really slice them. They lose their astringency when dehydrated. There is probably 50 more on the small tree The will likely all get dehydrated. There are much better ones fresh.

I also dehydrated some Asian pears that I picked early and bland as I feared they branches would break. I think Asians are best ripened on the tree unlike most European pears, they were improving in taste but I had more than I can eat and better ones ripening

[Kelby]

So I follow you correctly, you are slicing them when firm and then drying? They then lose the astringency during the drying process?

I've read about the Japanese method of drying persimmons by hanging whole, skinned fruit under eaves, hope to try that someday.