Persimmon thread

[HMHausman]

I picked up some dehydrated, unsulphured, unsweetened persimmon at Trader Joe's the other day.  The fruit is from California per the package.  Anyone know what cultivar they may be using?

[gunnar429]

I would guess hachiya

[bsbullie]

I would guess hachiya

Yes, most likely correct.

[Tropheus76]

Persimmons here in FL do well. I have not had any pest issues. They are slow growing however. I have had two Fuyu in the ground for a couple years now and they have grown a total of about a foot and a half. But I never have any problems with leaves or anything like that. They are flushed out now with more on the way it looks like, just very slow to get size. I have a chocolate and coffee cake on the way to replace a pair of under-performing apples in my flower garden(same area as my fuyus). Looking forward to having them. Cant wait to see some fruit off any of them.

I have a Texas persimmon in a pot grown out from a seed.(I am horrible at growing seeds for some reason.) I don't know if its truly a persimmon or not. I have an arid spot near my driveway it will go to replace some useless pear trees.

[edself65]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diospyros_texana

[Tropheus76]

It is are from the seeds I got from you Ed. Crap, now I need more seeds to germinate to hopefully get a male and female.

[karpes]

i thought that i liked persimmons until I started growing Fuyu. I really like that you can eat them hard or wait until they get soft. I have a saijo that I understand is one of the better tasting astringents but after three years it is not producing like it should. For some unknown reason the fruit just drop at the size of a quarter. I can't figure out what is happening to it but suspect that too much rain may be the cause. Anyone else have this problem with the saijo?

[funlul]

My almost-dying persimmon tree got relocated this spring and is setting 15+ fruits by now. it's still a tiny tree, no taller than 5 feet, should I thin the fruits?

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I have a high water table here at my house, and I planted some persimmons to see how they would grow.

so far they have been loving it.

I've not really had to irrigate them, and I've even got some fruits setting on my Hachiya, and Tanenashi...Saijo did not flower.

I need to plant more!  I think I'll be getting some soon. 

I'm also going to plant more Che, grafted onto Osage orange rootstock....probably will intercrop with the persimmons...and mulberries.

[gunnar429]

I have a high water table here at my house, and I planted some persimmons to see how they would grow.

so far they have been loving it.

I've not really had to irrigate them, and I've even got some fruits setting on my Hachiya, and Tanenashi...Saijo did not flower.

I need to plant more!  I think I'll be getting some soon. 

I'm also going to plant more Che, grafted onto Osage orange rootstock....probably will intercrop with the persimmons...and mulberries.

How does Che taste?

[FlyingFoxFruits]

i tasted a seedless type at fruit and spice, i didn't realize that i picked it early...it was fully red, but not deep red.

the flavor was like a melon/fig/mulberry, but not super sweet...i assume it would have only been sweeter if I had got it when it was ripe.

I really enjoyed it...I have plans to plant more of them asap...so far the che has been a very strong plant, not requiring irrigation, even when small, and recently planted out into full blazing sun.  They can take wet feet, and a drought (I suppose because of the rootstock?)

I have a high water table here at my house, and I planted some persimmons to see how they would grow.

so far they have been loving it.

I've not really had to irrigate them, and I've even got some fruits setting on my Hachiya, and Tanenashi...Saijo did not flower.

I need to plant more!  I think I'll be getting some soon. 

I'm also going to plant more Che, grafted onto Osage orange rootstock....probably will intercrop with the persimmons...and mulberries.

How does Che taste?

[bsbullie]

Hmmm...I didnt think the Che would produce this far south let alone the F&S Park.

[gunnar429]

Hmmm...I didnt think the Che would produce this far south let alone the F&S Park.

I thought the same unitl last time i went, and saw the tree near the mulberries.  The fruit was overripe though so can't comment on taste or productivity.

[Jsvand5]

I have a high water table here at my house, and I planted some persimmons to see how they would grow.

so far they have been loving it.

I've not really had to irrigate them, and I've even got some fruits setting on my Hachiya, and Tanenashi...Saijo did not flower.

I need to plant more!  I think I'll be getting some soon. 

I'm also going to plant more Che, grafted onto Osage orange rootstock....probably will intercrop with the persimmons...and mulberries.

Where did you get you're che? I have a grafted male and female plant now but they are tiny. The female did flower but the fruit aborted. I was thinking about grabbing a bigger one from Just Fruits but I'll probably wait for next season since they are done shipping for the year.

[Ansarac]

I allowed a no-name, heirloom, oblong, astringent variety to become soft, before peeling and dehydrated them, for a naturally-sugary treat.  Air layers grow cauliflower-like, yellow callouses, but have never once rooted for me. Very-rare seeds (maybe 1 seed for every 3 dozen fruit) had a high germ rate.

Black sapote, a persimmon, responded very well to bat guano. Grafting may confer cold tolerance.

And, African ebony, also a persimmon, are germinating in water. These apparently send out suckers from the roots, so may be a source of income.

1+ ounces of free date plum seeds have yet to germinate, after one year, in common soil.

[mrtexas]

Beware of pollen bearing persimmons like chocolate. Just a small
branch will result in all your persimmons being full of seeds.

The saijo tree at my old house was producing 100s of pounds of fruit
after 5 years and grew like a weed.

[Diospyros]

Hey yall,

I'm grafting Hachiya, Rojo Brillante (Spain's leading variety! I absolutely love it, it's an astringent type but they treat it with CO2 so you can eat them as you would non astringent) and fuyu....

I tasted a store bought fuyu last week but I wasn't really impressed. I just thought I'd still proceed and graft it because as much as I love mushy persimmons, I dont think I'll be able to hold on until the astringency is all gone.

Now one I'm really curious about is the Hachiya because I've never tried it.... What do you guys think about it? Is it really worth it? I heard it's the most popular variety in the US...

[darkcoolboo]

From what I understand is that Hachiya and Fuyu are up there in terms of taste and obviously have excellent productivity. Only a few rival them and since the flavor of astringents and non astringents are monotone within their respective categories, most of them rank high. The only difference is the intensiveness of the signature persimmon flavor or texture. I bet only a persimmon connoisseur from Japan or a member from Texas's persimmon clubs could distinguish the difference. Astringent ones that are flat tomato shaped are best for fresh eating, while conical shaped ones excel at both drying and fresh eating.

[darkcoolboo]

How exactly do you fertilize persimmon? Ever since I bought my Fuyu, it hasn't grown much. I do a combo a citrus fertilizer (which I should replace with a 8-8-8) and fish emulsion. I do a micro nutrient foliar spray as well. Is it too hot? Not the right growing season?

[Diospyros]

From what I understand is that Hachiya and Fuyu are up there in terms of taste and obviously have excellent productivity. Only a few rival them and since the flavor of astringents and non astringents are monotone within their respective categories, most of them rank high. The only difference is the intensiveness of the signature persimmon flavor or texture. I bet only a persimmon connoisseur from Japan or a member from Texas's persimmon clubs could distinguish the difference. Astringent ones that are flat tomato shaped are best for fresh eating, while conical shaped ones excel at both drying and fresh eating.

Wow that last bit of information turns out to be true, it is a cool and easy way to know what use to make of a bountiful crop. The above mentionned varieties have indeed a reputation for bearing heavily and one better know what to do with a heavy crop ahead of time...

Anyway, I woke up to swollen pushing buds on my grafted lotuses and I can't wait til the first leaves show up and right right I'm just glad I grafted a fuyu and 2 Hachiyas!!!!

I'll post pictures when they have developped some more!

[funlul]

My small fuyu tree has many fruits set, while happy for it being happy, do persimmon trees require manual thinning? Or will it take care of itself?

[Viking Guy]

My small fuyu tree has many fruits set, while happy for it being happy, do persimmon trees require manual thinning? Or will it take care of itself?

Persimmon, Fuyu especially, are notorious for having very high success at fruit set and holding it.

If this is the first year in ground, then thin it to no more than 1-3 fruit per branch.  They will actually benefit from holding some fruit to weigh down and strengthen the branches because persimmon wood is very weak, but really need root and limb development first year or two in ground.

If this is after the first or second year, then let them develop unless fruits are too close together--thin those only.  Persimmons are tough, and can hold quite a bit of fruit without much stress to the tree.

I thin mine by about 50% just because it makes the fruit larger and tastier--especially on the suruga.

[funlul]

Persimmon, Fuyu especially, are notorious for having very high success at fruit set and holding it. If this is the first year in ground, then thin it to no more than 1-3 fruit per branch. 

Thank you so much Viking Guy! This tree is recovering from a relocation this spring, and is bearing fruit for the first time.

It took care of itself by dropping fruits    Probably tried to too hard and needs some feeding. Any recommendations on organic persimmon fertilizers?

[Viking Guy]

Persimmon, Fuyu especially, are notorious for having very high success at fruit set and holding it. If this is the first year in ground, then thin it to no more than 1-3 fruit per branch. 

Thank you so much Viking Guy! This tree is recovering from a relocation this spring, and is bearing fruit for the first time.

It took care of itself by dropping fruits    Probably tried to too hard and needs some feeding. Any recommendations on organic persimmon fertilizers?

You should also consider getting a chocolate to help increase pollination for astringency reduction in some varieties since it makes a predominant number of male flowers.

I can't comment so much on organic brand fertilizers (adding peat, bone meal, etc isn't going to hurt), but I'd suggest keeping nitrogen low (around 20%-25% of your P & K), with humus and micros.  Also, add worm castings and epsom salts.

Once fruits are set each year, be sure to tip the longer branches to promote some new side growth and increase girths.

[funlul]

It took care of itself by dropping fruits    Probably tried to too hard and needs some feeding. Any recommendations on organic persimmon fertilizers?

I fed the tree a bit using commercial plant food 2 weeks ago. The tree has been able to hold its the remaining 7 fruits... LOL yeah I count them.