Persimmon tree drop all the flowers. Need advice

[Ruben]

Three years ago I planted a Fuyu type persimmon, the following spring i grafted chocolate and coffee cake scions. This year there was lots of flowers on the tree and just a few days ago all the flowers dropped.

I know is a young tree to start fruiting but I was really looking for to taste my firsts persimmons. no happening this year so hoping to get some comments on what went wrong and what to do for next year so I can get to taste some fruits.

[JamesWNY]

Persimmons tend to drop fruit at young ages. My persimmons dropped all flower/fruits the first year when it flowered.

[Ruben]

How many years went by til you started getting fruits?

[k8tpayaso]

Mine fruited first time on year three but structurally I think it was more mature than yours. I think persimmons get their roots under them and their branches strong enough before they bear. They year before mine fruited it bloomed and dropped everything. Kind of a test run I think. The next year it matured lots of fruit but it did drop a lot of blooms and fruit that year too. Patience is hard but it’s gonna fruit on its time frame. Don’t fertilize and don’t over water it or it will drop fruit. By over water I mean don’t water it unless it really needs it. They surprise you with their strength. Here’s a photo of mine on year three.

[mamuang]

@Ruben,
Have you read this.

Nikita's Gift Persimmon Fruit Drop?

Fruit drop continues… I’m thinking of grafting a male branch to the tree, in hopes that some pollination would improve yield in the future. I had about 70 NG fruits last year from the two 6 ft x 6 ft trees and had a good amount of fruit drop… This year, I’ll be lucky to get 20!

I think Nikita’s Gift is notorious for fruit drops. Hope your Fuyu is not that bad.

[Ruben]

Thank you @k8tpayaso , @mamuang and @JamesWNY for the wise comments and information you all have giving me, I think I did give it a little bit of fertilizer now that you mentioned.

[Ruben]

Just had the time to read it, thank you!

[Ruben]

Patience is hard but it’s gonna fruit on its time frame.

I guess more gray hair would grow because of this!

Your tree looks gorgeous Katy and with lots of fruits! Enjoy one for me!

[k8tpayaso]

What’s bad is when you already have lots of gray hair and you really hope that tree fruits while you still have teeth!!!

[Ruben]

[Auburn]

I guess you have to have had the experience with fruit drop to understand. A few years back I bought a larger Fuyu persimmon tree in a large container. I prepared the biggest planting hole I think that I have ever dug. A few weeks after planting it leafed out and all the flowers followed. I though the extra cost for a mature tree was worth it. A few days later the flowers dropped except one. The tree still looked healthy minus fruit. As the tree went into dormancy I thought I would be rolling in persimmons the following year. The following spring no leaves showed up and eventually I cut the top back until I found live wood (about 16" from the soil). Fast forward three years later and I have a small tree that appears to be on the mend. Glad it survived but what a trip getting here.

[SteveMD]

In the Fall 2016 I planted a Giombo, Wase Fuyu, and Maekawa Jiro. All three have grown very well and are good sized trees. I have done moderate pruning every late winter to shape them. They still have not fruited and won’t this year. I wonder how much the lack of fruiting has to do with the pruning I have been doing. There haven’t been very flowers. Maybe next year I will keep pruning to a minimum and see what happens. I have read about people getting fruit within the first year or two after planting and that is hard to believe based on my experimence. I’ll to add photos later.

[Ruben]

Wow and here I’m complaining about dropping flowers, your experience with your tree was really bad! Sorry to heard about it. All you have going through, I hope yours comes around and gives you fruits for years to come.

[Ruben]

That’s too many years waiting for fruit. Could that has to do with the variety of persimmons? USDA Location? Soil conditions?
Maybe that has to play part on getting trees to fruit sooner. ???

[mamuang]

@Ruben and @SteveMD,
Hope you both have better luck than me. I planted my Nikita’s Gift since 2014. It flowered since 2017, never held on to its fruit.

This year it is loaded with flowers again. We’ll see.

[PharmerDrewee]

Steve, persimmons form flowers from buds at the tips of the stems from last year’s growth. Taking off too many tips can reduce flowering.

@mamuang You have a lot more patience than I. Hope the stars align for you this year!

[Ruben]

Oh wow @mamuang that’s too many years !
After hearing all the stories the idea of purchasing persimmon fruits from the store it’s getting better and better! But at some point I would love to taste some from my own tree.
I hope your tree fruits for you this year plenty of them!!!

[mamuang]

@PharmerDrewee,
Not patient but other trees have occupied my time. If it were ny one of a few trees, I would be bend iut of sgape by now.

I grafted Tam Kam on NG 3 years ago. It is flowering now. I’ll see if it will keep its fruit.

@tonyOmahaz5, how do you like the taste of Tam Kam? It is self fruitful, I hope.

[tonyOmahaz5]

Yes, Tam Kam is Parthenocarpic. A very good non astringent Kaki.

[SteveMD]

Here are photos of my non-fruiting asian persimmons. Giombo is in the first photos and the 2nd photo shows Makaewa Jiro (left, foreground) and Wase Fuyu (right, background). The Giombo is around 10-12 feet tall already.