They will drop. You will get none this year
Year 3 they won’t drop
I got excited year 1 as well
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@manfromyard – I think this is too formulaic. One experience does not define a pattern.
In my own case, I got fruit the year after grafting scions onto a large tree. Those grafts were one hybrid (JT-02) and three Americans (H63A, Barbra’s Blush, Dollywood) all on DV. I did not get fruit on the Asian variety Miss Kim. I got fruit on the Asian variety Saijo the 2nd year after grafting to a small DV seedling but other similar grafts did not give fruit in the 2nd year.
So I think the odds of fruit depend mainly on the age and vigor of the rootstock.
Assuming the your tree is established, you can leave some fruit this year. The grafts should grow well with the fruit. Just be careful to support the branches because the weight of the fruit could break them otherwise.
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I know there are some claims of earlier @jrd51 etc.
However, I grafted 50 trees. All types. Big caliper. Little caliper. 5 types of grafts. Got excited first year and second year. All dropped. Just like cliff england predicted. See below
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Could this be water stress? JT-02 in between Nikita #4 and Dar Sofiyivky, both of which are unaffected. We have had a good amount of rain and they are in a wetter area. I see no signs of pests other than a couple ants - no aphids, though. I’m hoping it will perk back up as it dries out, but curious for any other suggestions/ things to look out for.
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Many persimmons grow like this - the tips of branches droop. Doesn’t look like a problem to me. The new leaves on mine are all looking a little curled and deformed due to psyllids. If you unroll the curled edges of the leaves, you’ll see the immature psyllids feeding. It generally isn’t a big problem, though, and the affected trees still bear a good crop.
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@ncdabbler Thanks! I’m still new to persimmons and after losing all of my JT-02 grafts in 22-23 winter I’m trying to baby these (but not too much, if growing anything else applies).
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Based on what I see, I agree – new growth is just floppy. For example, it’s been raining almost constantly here; the back yard is a lake. Still the persimmon shoots are flopping. Growing, preparing to blossom, but still flopping.
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They aren’t flopping. That’s how they grow rain or shine, hot or cold, wet or dry. They, the branch tips, straighten out as they mature and harden up.
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Tropism at its finest.
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Just leaving some photos for review of the bare root DV persimmon I had ordered from Canopy Farm Management. Quite impressed with the size of root system, but not looking forward to digging the holes today. They were $8 each, their 24-36" option.
Yard stick for reference.
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Flower buds on Mikatani Gosho. Just grafted last year and cut down by rabbits late last season.
All my varieties (around 20) are absolutely loaded this year with flowers. Unusual as they typically take off multiple years from fruit production.
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FWIW. I started a large number of persimmon seeds in a 4’x4’x8’ growing tent that i slapped together with 2x4’s and some mylar kept at 80F with several grow lights. They really looked horrible. I tried captan and fish emulsion for fertilizer. The leaves were rough and ugly. I just moved them outside a few days ago and they started putting on new healthy growth.
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The season here in coastal RI is way behind the seasons further south and west. But I’m finally getting some noteworthy action. In the race to flower, JT-02 is in the lead among in-ground trees, including 4 Americans, 3 Asians, and one other hybrid. I don’t see any flowers on the Americans as yet, but the other Asians (Saijo, Sheng, Miss Kim) and Hybrid (Kassandra) have tiny developing flower buds.
This is a JT-02 branch grafted a few years ago to an established DV tree. it fruited heavily last year. A young stand-alone JT-02 tree has flower buds that are slightly smaller.
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My JT-02 appears to have dropped most of its flower buds. Looks like this won’t be the year for that one after all. Prok and Chinebuli are still looking promising, but I know I can’t count on anything until I start to see orange in the fall.
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How old is it? Also, you’re way farther north than me. How is it you have flower buds already?
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It was grafted in 2020 and probably about 4’ tall with nice branching. My Prok is about the same height, but I’d guesstimate it has less biomass.
I live in an urban heat island, and away from the moderating coastal influence. Helps a lot with getting a head start! My flower buds aren’t quite as far along as yours, though.
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I grafted JT-02 in 2021.
My stand-alone seedling DV tree is about the same size as yours. If it holds fruit this year, it’ll be its first. Any guesses why your flower buds dropped?
Also in 2021 I grafted JT-02 to an established DV tree. It gave me a few fruit in 2022, then a ton (~75 on two branches) in 2023. I’d be surprised if there isn’t a big crop again this year.
The only difference between the two JT-02’s here is the size of the rootstock.
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IKKJ on its second leaf. One flower bud on the lower left of it. Maybe more, but I haven’t noticed them.
Early Fuyu either second or third leaf. It was shaded out a bit last year. 12 or 13 flowers on it. Would like it to get a bit more size this year.
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I think it’s just not ready yet. My Chuchupaka did the same thing last spring. It was about 16" tall, put out some flower buds, then said “nope”. I’ll probably know after the next few (very warm) days whether it does that this year. Prok did that when I first grafted it. Back to JT-02, I’m still not 100% sure they all dropped. There weren’t many flower buds to begin with, but I’m pretty sure there were more four days ago. I only got a cursory look this afternoon, so I may have missed some that are doing just fine.
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