I have some persimmon seedlings (bought for root stock) that I stuck in a nursery bed this spring because I didn’t have time to plant them out. I want to get them planted today. What’s the closest spacing that I could get away with?
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Depends on what is eventually grafted to it if you’re using them as rootstock. Not too far from me there is a small orchard I can show you with a 8 ft male american persimmon standing next to a 14 ft american persimmon next both in the shadow of 35 ft american persimmon. None of them pruned, just left to grow out.
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I would think that would depend on you and what you want from the planting. How limited is the space, is it for commercial fruit production, are you a hobbyist maximizing varieties on a house lot? I fall in the last category and have stuck three per hole which helps keep them smaller.
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Sorry for the lack of details. I want to find smaller growing varieties to graft to them. The space is very limited, it’s about 150 * 150 ft.
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Most of my grafted ones are not that big yet, but I do have tons of wilds. Many of them in full sun look more like big bushes. All of my trees are about 10 feet apart and I let them just fill the empty spaces keeping them pruned from going into each other. You can plant as tight as you want, you just will not get as much fruit.
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I think ~10 ft is “close “depending on soil fertility varieties,
Expected productive life , pruning etc.
I think 20 ft is good for the “long term” on more vigorous varieties , good soil …
I have some 15 yr old Ruby that will soon out grow a 20ft spacing ,
And a 20 yr old meader that has stayed in a 12ft circle .
So 10 - 20 ft. More or less
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I was thinking 10 ft minimum… but I think I’m going to go with 15 or 20 feet.
Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it! 
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I have a new planting with trees 10 ft apart in rows~ 24 ft apart.
Every other tree is a questionably hardy variety.
The others reliably hardy .
So if , (when ! …) I get that polar vortex test winter that kills the less hardy ones .the survivors will be spaced about right.
If not I may have to make some hard choices ?
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That’s exactly what I have. My thought was to remove the less desirable ones later though.
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Bumping this up to see if anyone has any further thoughts or would like to share their spacing for persimmons. I have a few hybrids to plant (JT-02, Rosseyanka, for example) and a couple American cultivars, and am really debating location and spacing. I was initially under the impression hybrids do not get as large, but I’ve read a few counterpoints, so that’s something I’m taking into consideration. Reports about mature size also welcome.
Edited to add: of course it will vary depending on environment, but I’m still looking for anecdata. 
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I have a couple wild dv set apart for grafting next spring that are 15ft 4 inches apart (image above) Then another off at an angle from them almost 30 ft away.
My spacing is determined by where they grew on their own… since i did not plant them. Mine just grow here. My spacing is going to be on more of the natural side.
I do know one thing my sisters wild trees (Rich Tooie) dont really have ideal spacing… both are double trunk trees and probably 15-20 ft apart.
And they produce fruit like this every year so far.
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Just like Kaki or Virginiana, I think you’ll find variation in size by variety. Rosseyanka is a pretty strong grower compared to JT-02 which isn’t as big. I believe Rossy will take longer to fruit, which probably corresponds to the greater vigor.
If you have the space, I would put them 20 feet apart if you plan to be there for a long time, but you could go to 15 feet apart and probably not have to do much pruning to keep them apart, at least for a while. It also depends if you are going to try to control their height. If you are toping them and keeping them shorter they’ll spread out morel.
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Thank you! Are you planning to graft hybrids? I had leaned towards 15 feet.
Your sister’s trees look very nice - and quite tall!
Thank you. I technically have the space, but we have a lot of random mature trees I try to work around for now, so I was leaning towards 15 feet for hybrids and 20 for the virginiana. My inclination was to put the latter in places where they can run more “wild” in the back part of our property, with the hybrids a little closer and will do more pruning. Other than potted kaki, I have little experience with persimmons. I have never seen a wild tree in person.
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@Buckeye … I started one asian this spring… bought it from Starks… IKKJiro… and successfully grafted to those wild dv… Americans… prok, ws810, rich tooie
Hybrids… jt02, kassandra, nikitas gift, zima khurma, coroa de ria.
I went on a persimmon grafting spree this spring.
Hope to add next spring h118, h63a, journey.
Think that will do it.
My sisters trees are wild dv… nice mature trees getting good sun and make loads of nice fruit. 35-40 ft tall.
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That is quite a selection! Hopefully you will be swimming in fruit in a few years. I am adding quite a few hybrids/americans this year as well. Kassandra I am really interested in and could not find anything grafted, but did order some scionwood, so I’m going to try my hand at that. In my area persimmons (and quince) are like the white whales of the fruit world…nearly impossible to find, and never very good quality.
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Hi everyone!
Last fall I bought Prok x Szukis seeds from Cliff England. Most of the seedlings are 1’-2’ tall now, growing in pots until I transplant them early next year. I’m planning to space them 20’ apart, but I am not very familiar with Prok or Szukis trees, much less PxS hybrids. How far apart would you space them, if you were growing them with minimal pruning?
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Cliff was kind enough to email me. His persimmons are laid out in rows, 15’ between trees and 20’ between rows.
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