I thought I’d start a new thread for 2025. I saved a couple of pounds of persimmon seeds this fall. Perhaps it is a fool’s errand but I will try one more time planting them in place where they will not get any support. There are several big wild trees so the conditions can support them. The soil is heavy clay. First several inches are beginning to be fertile but deeper is a pretty low nutrient clay. I got pretty decent germination this last summer but the extreme drought killed them all (I can’t haul water in, in sufficient quantities to save them if that happens). My question is would I improve my chances of getting seedlings if I augured holes and added milorganite and azomite to the holes? Both are non burning . The idea is break the clay to facilitate the tap roots. Or is this a futile exercise? The seedlings I grew in 14" tree pots were underwhelming. The ones in simple 5 gallon buckets were better.
A lot of the persimmon seedlings have been severely damaged by what I believe to be anthracnose. Would spraying the entire plots with daconil early spring (?) possibly help get it under control. For zone 6b would this be about beginning April?
I never knew persimmons could get anthracnose. Does it stunt or kill them?
Hi everyone!
First of all, thank you for all the replies,
I’m planting the most resilient and care-free orchard as I can in East Texas zone 8b.
Am I safe to grow the following trees, even in extreme winters (polar blasts, etc)?
Saijo
Fuyugaki (Fuyu)
Jiro
Maekawa Jiro
I checked local weather stations and in the last 25 years the coldest was -0.7F for a night.
Out of these varieties, which one is the most cold hardy? What would you add?
Thank you again,
Pedro
I would just direct-seed those persimmon seed where you want them to grow, mark the spot with a surveyor’s flag or stake - so that you can avoid them with mower/weedeater. They’re tough… really sort of a ‘pioneer’ species. I, too have had poor performance of container-grown persimmon seedlings.
I have a couple of now-30 yr-old persimmons planted in a spot where topsoil was less than 6" deep over a slab of sandstone bedrock. I used a spud bar to bust a hole into the cracked/weathered sandstone about 8-12 inches deep… as far as I needed to go to get their root systems in the ground, backfilled the holes with plain old topsoil, sans the rocks.
They’ve supported grafts for over 25 years, bearing well. I presume their roots have spread far and wide in that thin layer of soil over that slab of bedrock, and probably run well out into my neighbor’s back yard.
Thanks! They definitely have long surface roots. Based on Trevor’s posts I cut down big male trees and they sent up root sprouts 20 yards away. (Unfortunately I didn’t get cages on most of them in time and the deer destroyed them) hopefully they will set up a new set of shoots this year. I will have a hundred cages ready before spring green up. The root sprout in the picture is from those trees ( I’m 5’11")
If you anticipate a drought, get some cow manure and drill holes at least 3 feet deep by a couple of inches diameter. Fill the hole with manure and plant a couple of seed in the top. When the tree grows, it will follow the manure down to where water is available. I don’t know if milorganite would have the same effect. I know it works with cow and horse manure.
That is extremely impressive
Nah… they’re almost as much a woody weed as a mulberry. But they sure do produce a tasty fruit!
Does that work for all fruit tree seeds?
I think that this is more important for trees that have long tap roots like persimmons
Does anyone know who sells American persimmon fruit? All I can find locally is Fuyu and Hachiya and I really, really would like to try American persimmons.
Where are you located? If you’re in their native range you might could find a local farmer that would let you pick or go to a park. Here (southern Virginia) I don’t know anyone who grows them intentionally, but they are an edge and fence row tree on almost every farm. I’d assume the American fruit wouldn’t ship well at all. The native ones in my area aren’t ripe until mushy. I usually only eat the ones that fall off the tree when touched. If you have to pull, they’re astringent. I’ve seen @TNHunter talk about picking under ripe and finishing on the counter. If I remember though he picked them semi soft to do that. Not sure if you can ripen after picking firm enough to ship.
Most of the wonderfully tasty, low disease, easy to grow fruits that aren’t in the grocery store don’t ship well or have some other commercial drawback.
I live in zone 9A and want to grow more asian persimmon. Right now I’ve had 1 tanenashi for almost 3 years grafted onto American rootstock.
Chaptgpt says that asian persimmons can handle more acidic soil than American, is this true? If yes, would it be worth it for me to get a hold of asian rootstock or grow whole trees from rooted asian cuttings?
It makes sunken lesions on the stems.
Unless you’re growing on mine tailings, I can’t imagine D.virginiana not being able to handle whatever sort of ‘acid soil’ you might have… they grow heartily on some of the poorest, most acid soils around here.
Concur with Lucky, persimmon has an amazing ability to thrive in poor soil and low water availability. It needs a little encouragement to get established, but once it gets going, it doesn’t stop.
Thanks. I do have several native persimmons growing in openings on my property and they do fruit. My soil ph is 4.7 without amendments. Since I live in south Georgia I’m guessing these are 60 chromosome.
Is there any data on graft compatability between asian persimmons and 90 vs 60 chromosome rootstock?
Asian persimmons are perfectly compatible with southern Virginiana. They are also compatible with northern Virginiana but occasionally I’ve seen delayed incompatibility with some varieties.
Does anyone grow Tanenashi?
Stark has it for $41 at the moment. I read somewhere it is a hybrid, and that there are reports of it taking -40F fully dormant. Does anyone know?