I’ve read online as little as 30 days are needed for cold stratification but I’ve also read as high as 120. Will they actually germinate well after only 30 days?
It is highly specific to the tree from which seed were collected and on the climate where it grew. I’ve had good germination of seed from local trees in southern Tennessee and northern Alabama after 60 days of cold stratification. I have read that seed collected from trees in northern tier states needs longer.
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I’ve been running this experiment this year. It’s my first year germinating persimmon, so wasn’t sure what to expect.
Fruit harvested mid October. Stored in fridge, unsure if that then counts towards stratification time.
Early November I processed and saved the seed. Stored in fridge, dry in a ziplock.
Mid November I took some out to leave on the counter in a ziplock with a damp paper towel. So I guess they had about a month of stratification.
Early Decmber nothing, so I added another ziplock with several more seed.
Christmas time…nothing. so I added a 3rd ziplock with fresh seed.
Now, this past week they’ve finally all started germinating. 11 so far out of perhaps 21. Some from each bag, but ~5 from the origional bag that only cold stratified for a month.
I found it interesting that they are all germinating now despite being on the counter for varying amounts of time. One confounding variable is I’ve been setting them on the counter above the dishwasher at night more regularly in January, which gets warm for a few hours to perhaps 85F instead of 70F. I suspect that these warmer temps are significantly aiding the germination, but dont have a control to compare to.
Good luck!
These were fruits grown in Michigan, fyi.
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I have found that persimmon seed germination is highly non uniform. I stratified for two months . A number of seeds germinated after 6/8 weeks. I tossed the rest out and reused the potting soil for other plants. I had persimmons sprouting for the next 7 months.
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In the fall of 2023, my wife and I were in Arrow Rock, Missouri and found persimmons laying on the Main street sidewalk. They had fallen from a huge persimmon tree close by. We tasted some and they we excellent, so we gathered a couple of hand-fulls.
We ate the persimmons, put seeds in a baggie with wet paper towel. Several months later, I planted the seeds in pots and put in my chicken wire inclosed nursery. March 30, 2024 I planted 11 nice persimmon trees in their permanent position and also 2 pawpaw trees which I had collected seed from the past fall.
6 months worked for me with 100% germination.
I went the natural route… mid October ate a persimmon, planted 3 seeds… left them in a large planter in the edge of my woods all winter.
April 25… they looked like this.
One of those is now a 12 ft Kasandra… the other Nakitas Gift. I only used 2 of those for grafting rootstock.
TNHunter
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