Persimmons from seed?

[Angus 1895]

I been sprouting oaks, plums, chokecherry, maples. They been coming along even in spite of my propane heater being dead lined, been burning a lot of wood in the building.

No persimmons have sprouted. I took them out of cold storage. They been in cold storage since early November.Some are submerged in warm water, some in moist potting soil.

Am I missing something?

Thanks.

 

[Gravel Road]

For me, they took a long time to sprout. I was about to throw them out and they finally took off.

 

[Kdog]

How long has it been, how warm is it where you have them, are they under lights, did you pick them from the tree or out of scat and did you soak them prior to cold stratifying them?

 

[The Fishman]

Did you scarify them? The seed coat needs to be broken down so water can enter the seed. You can sand them with sandpaper or I like to put them on rough concrete and scrape them back and forth. You don't want a pretty, shiny seed. Also persimmon seeds will sometimes take two years to germinate. Some of my largest persimmon seedlings (40-48") have been grown from seeds that didn't germinate the year before.

 

[Catscratch]

I scraped the side edges off with a knife. Scarification. Good germination doing this.

 

[Angus 1895]

I been storing them in a cooler, with frozen bottles of water. So it been cool and dark.

I bought them from a tree farm, I soaked them when I got them for 12 hours, then put in the refrigerator where I was staying at.
I got them in early November.

when I got back to idaho they went in the cooler in the garage. Just before Christmas.

The ones soaking in water I just scraped across the cement floor.

The ones in the wet dirt i will scrape this afternoon. I scraped the flat parts, not the edges. The next batch I will scrape the edges.

thinking about keeping half in the warm , the other half back in the cooler.

I have a few months before it will be “ frost free” out side. Mid May.

I have to go back on the road so the garage won’t be very warm. The propane man still hasn’t fixed the heater.

Electric heat would be very expensive. My wife has banned my tree deal from the house.

( I did get one oak tree In before Christmas.) There are like little flys in the soil she don’t like in the house.
This one didn’t have the flies yet. Probably too cold.

 

[Gravel Road]

Mine didn't sprout until late May here in Kansas(if I remember correctly). They were planted in small pots and were in a warm building. Seemed like it took forever compared to everything else. I stored them over the winter in the refrigerator in damp peat moss. The outer coating had been removed in the fall and scarified the edge with a grinder.

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

Late to the party, but I had very good luck with persimmon seeds I picked up off ground (not out of excrement) that I stratified for two winters. I bet germination was pushing 40-50% which was more than satisfactory for me. Once planted persimmons are about the last tree to leaf out so give them time.

 

[Angus 1895]

Late to the party, but I had very good luck with persimmon seeds I picked up off ground (not out of excrement) that I stratified for two winters. I bet germination was pushing 40-50% which was more than satisfactory for me. Once planted persimmons are about the last tree to leaf out so give them time.

Stratify for two winters?

Do you leave in the refrigerator for two years? Do you scratch on the seed at all? Thanks
John

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

I did not scarify the seeds at all, and yes I left them in my garage refrigerator in a ziplock bag with a moist paper towel from November of 2021 when I gathered them until I planted them in spring of 2023.