Based on my experience, I find that strange, too. Peak native persimmon season here where I am is more or less late August through September. All the fruit I’ve gotten from my two young Prok trees basically falls in that window. Early Golden and Meader seem to be about the same. Ruby is later, extending into October, but that season ended a couple weeks or more ago when its last fruit ripened. I still haven’t gotten the first fruit from my little Rosseyanka yet. And I visited Edible Landscaping twice, once in November and once in December (of a different year), and Rosseyanka seemed not quite ripe yet in November but was great and plentiful in December. I got my first ripe Nikita’s gift fruit two or three week ago, but at least 90% of my Nikita’s gift persimmons still aren’t ripe yet. All my persimmons seem to be a week or two ahead of last year’s schedule, I think because we were unusually dry from July-early October.
I get fully seeded fruit from Prok and other 90 chromosome varieties where I am in the western Piedmont of North Carolina (west of Winston-Salem). My best guess at explaining it is that the 90 chromosome line dips all the way down into my part of North Carolina but then crosses north of where Dave is in West Virginia, such that he’s still in 60 chromosome territory even though he’s probably over 150 miles further north than I am. Other evidence I have for that seemingly screwy theory is that I’ve started getting fruit from “seedless” varieties like Myers seedless and Ennis seedless that I believe Lucky said were fully seeded where he is on the TN/KY line (presumably because they’re 60 chromosome varieties that are only seedless in 90 chromosome territory) and so far they do appear to be seedless here.
Do you think it’s possible any of the difference could be attributed to juvenile traits in the seedling rootstock?
For here the line between 60/90 chromosome ,I have heard is the Ohio River. That line may be obscure toward the east. .?
This is all really speculation on my part.
Harbin here is the weight of one of the Tam Kam. It is bigger than most of non astringent Kaki.
Tony
@tonyOmahaz5 What is the longest amount of time you’ve grown a non-hardy persimmon in a container? If for a significant amount of time, what size container would you keep a tree root-pruned at for a tree reaching 10-years of age or more. It may be that before 10-years a new graft should be started, again.
I presume root bags are your go to? Or are they too wet to bring somewhere where anyone wouldn’t want to have water leaking onto floors? Tarps can be a big help of course but may not always be tolerated. I’ve checked into saucers for 15-gallon grow bags & they are very-very-expensive. Far too much than I am willing to spend.
I’d like to hear your plan for your potted trees… whether jujubes or persimmons, or something else… maybe fig.
Thanks,
Dax
All my four Tam Kam are in the 15 gallons light weight pots that I bark grafted five years ago with the USDA scions. They fruited in fourth years. I used the Miracle gro moister control potting mix and added fresh grass clippings on the base of the trees in the Spring to keep the moisture in so they don’t dry out too fast. I have not uppot them yet because I don’t want them to grow to big for Winter storage. I am sure their roots probably bounded but they are doing well for now. I just have wait and see if they can live up to 10 years in those 15 gallons pots. I watered them daily at around 6 pm. They are all on my cement patio with all the potted figs.
Tony
Thank you, Tony.
Dax
Hi Dax. I’ve kept a few grafted persimmons in one gallon root riot containers for three years now – not really on purpose, just too much stuff going on. They’ve done fine and even produced fruit this year. @tonyOmahaz5’s technique is probably the way to go for more fruit production, but I think persimmons can take some neglect and still be okay for a while.
Thanks, Guys.
@Barkslip @tonyOmahaz5 I’m not sure how well this would translate to kaki persimmons, but I use a simplified version of bonsai techniques to keep my potted citrus trees at the desired size. During every growth flush, I’ll cut back vigorous shoots to half length or less and remove undesired branches. Every few years, I pull the plants out of the pots and loosen the soil to a core rootball. From here, I prune back any long, circling, oversize, or otherwise unhealthy roots. Then, they go back in the same pot with fresh soil gently packed around the rootball. This root pruning isn’t a bad idea when up-potting, either. I also like to add a fair amount (25% or more) perlite or turface to the mix for drainage and to promote root branching. These techniques can be used to maintain a tree at any size from a few inches tall to as large as you can manage. I know they use another persimmon species for bonsai, and get it to fruit, so it could work. Full disclosure: my citrus haven’t actually fruited yet, but I grew them from seed and this is the first year they’re getting really good light, so I’m hopeful…
Edit: D. rhombifolia is the common one for bonsai, but a quick internet search turned up a few good examples of D. kaki and D. virginiana bonsai with fruit.
I really liked the texture and juiciness of Izu that I tried in Japan. I’ve got one inground. We’ll see how well it does this winter.
Here is a single Tam Kam fruit from my tree planted last year. It experienced winter damage at -3 degrees but still managed a fruit. It shot up 4 feet of new growth.
My Eureka on year 4. Temp to go to 30 tonight. The fruit are still very hard…hoping the weather will speed up the ripening!!!
How much damage did it suffer? I mean how many feet up did it sprout in the spring. I’m glad you got a fruit in the second year.
Nice harvest. What will you do with it? Do they keep well in the freezer?
It will be gone in a few weeks
It lost a lot of new growth from last year, which wasn’t much (bareroot whip). It came back with a vengeance and grew maybe 4 feet. It’s maybe 7-8 feet tall now. I hope this winter isn’t so cold or perhaps it handles the cold better with age.
Are you going to give it some protection?
I grafted Nikita’s Gift this spring and it grew well. I’m going to wrap it up somehow to get it through the first winter.