I want to get into the American Persimmon game. I chose one lone Meader even though popular opinion seems to suggest that Prok or Yates are better, because Raintree Nursery describes it as “The only available American variety that is reliably self-fertile.” There seems to be a lot of spilled ink on American Persimmon self-fertility. I can reliably say there are zero persimmons in the vicinity. Any tree I grow will be alone. Should I bank on a Meader or would I be fine with a Prok or Yates in terms of getting fruit? I don’t want to have to plant a polinator.
From what I’ve read on this forum, most American persimmon cultivars fruit reliably without a male tree nearby. My trees aren’t far enough along to verify this, but I’m confident with only having female trees (Prok and JT-02).
I should also not that this is not self-fertility, as the trees are not pollinated, but the fruits are produced through parthenocarpy A few cultivars (notably Szukis) will throw out the odd male flower and can truly self-pollinate.
“(Persimmons are normally dioecious; that is, trees produce either male or female flowers on separate trees. There is a 90-chromosome American persimmon that is native to the northern U.S. and a 60-chromosome type that is native to Kentucky and the southern U.S. Most of the named varieties are of the 90-chromosome type that set fruit parthenocarpically, without pollination. Thus pollination is not necessary for the 90-chromosome type and fruit are easier to process with few or no seeds.“)
Most of the ones commonly available are self fertile. That is one of the selling points. Nobody wants to have to buy and plant a male as well.
Just calling it self fertile as that is easier for most to grasp.
Good question ! ?
Many have suggested that the Ohio River is the dividing line, 90c North of The river… 60 C south of the river.
This may be more or less the case,
But the truth is nobody has detailed maps of the 60s and 90s.
And would depend on which way the raccoons swim.
Which way the turkeys and Crows fly. …deer etc… With full bellies . Lots of conflicting reports on what grows where
As for actual experience, I’m getting huge seedless crops from an all-female Prok. I’m also growing the hybrids Kassandra and JT-02 (no fruit yet) and planning to start other Americans – all without a male tree or even a male flower within many miles. So I’m putting my time and money where my mouth is.
FWIW, I’m also getting very decent seedless crops from the Asian Ichi Ki Kei Jiro.
Prok sounds like the tastiest, but Yates seems to be more hardy. Does it really matter? I’m Zone 5B. We got -30 here on occasion (rare, but it happens).
I have several persimmons I planted 25 years ago – got the seedlings from a retired botany prof who found them in southern Missouri and thought the fruit quality was good. From those seedlings I got two females and four males. And the fruit is heavily seeded. I also have an early golden which is also heavily seeded. If I would remove all the male trees will I still get fruit on the Missouri persimmons? If I remove the males except leave one which is about 300 feet away from the females, will that reduce the number of seeds?
In zone 5, you are pretty far north, but if you have a warm and long growing season you are probably ok. When I recently inquired of Cliff England of England’s Orchards about ripening possibilities of his earliest varieties he wrote back:
“ I will write the ripening month for our USDA ZONE 6a
100-46 - Lehman’s Delight Persimmon OCT
Early Golden OCT
H-63A LATE sept to OCT
JT-02 NOV to DEC
Prok Late AUG thru SEPT
