Does anyone have experience growing 90 chromosome persimmons outside their natural range? Are there varieties to avoid in this situation? Varieties that retain productivity and flavor without pollination? I live in western NC, which shouldn’t have any 90 chromosome males, but id like to be sure before going persimmon crazy. I already have a number of kakis and hybrids along with Barbras blush, h-63a, prok, early jewell, and meader in their first leaf.
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In my limited experience growing persimmons in an area with no male flowers at all, I don’t see any need for pollination. I’ve gotten crops of 100 fruits from each of 3 IKKJ (PCNA Kaki), 1200 fruits from a single Kassandra (hybrid), and uncounted hundreds of fruits from a single Prok (American) – all without pollination or seeds.
I’ve also got a younger grafted branch or branches of Barbra’s Blush, H63A, and Dollywood (all American) that all seem to be holding a first crop; finally I also have some grafted branches of JT-02 (hybrid) and Miss Kim (Asian PCA) that also seems to be holding a first crop. At this point in the season, if those grafts drop fruit then I doubt the reason will have been no pollination.
Some of the trees (e.g., IKKJ, Kassandra) drop a lot of fruit early in the season because they produce 5 times more blossoms than they can manage. 20% retention is not an issue, as you can tell from the numbers. My bigger problem is broken branches from the weight of the fruit.
Asian PVNAs need pollination to produce seeds to reduce astringency, but that’s a different issue.
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