Persimmons

[greyphase]

It only took 8 years of waiting but this seedling persimmon turned out to be a female.

 

[Native Hunter]

Those look great.

Last year I had a seedling tree that produced only one female flower for the first time. The tree was starting to get pretty big (like 12 feet tall) and I was starting to wonder if it would ever make anything. I tied a ribbon on the limb next to the flower and later on - sure enough - one persimmon. That was the entire first crop.

This year that tree is literally covered with persimmons to the point that the limbs are sagging down. One more year made a heck of a difference.

 

[yoderjac]

Outstanding! One would think seedlings would be 50/50, but that does not seem to be the case in my area with my native persimmons. We seem to have a lot more male trees. I've been on a bark grafting kick with them for the last few years.

 

[ksgobbler]

We looked yesterday. The native persimmons I found have fruit hanging. Still waiting on my seedlings to show their hand.

 

[SwampCat]

95% male persimmons on my place.

 

[144]

99.9% male on my place...;)

The .1% is the one tree I grafted that started producing...


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[yoderjac]

Have you guys verified they are male with flowers or are you assuming that because they don't produce? I definitely have a lot more native male trees than female, but not that bad of a ratio. Of course, there is nothing wrong with grafting young female trees. You will know what you are getting. There is a lot of variability in my native persimmons in terms of drop time. I've been grafting 1" trees and I can't really tell the sex of them because they haven't started flowering yet. I'm trying to get a wide range of drop times by using scions from trees with known drop times.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[144]

Jack - It was tongue in cheek. I don’t currently have any native producing trees on my property, but most aren’t mature enough to flower. I don’t wait though, I just graft them.


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[TreeDaddy]

my persimmons are homosexual

bill

 

[yoderjac]

my persimmons are homosexual

bill

I believe you are referring to a "Perfect Tree".

 

[yoderjac]

Here is a picture of a young native seedling I grafted:

You can see the tree is still less than 1" in diameter but it has a few persimmons.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[blueKYstream]

Is 8 years about the average for most persimmon seedlings to start producing?

 

[yoderjac]

I think that is optimistic for a seedling. I'd guess my native trees are about 10 years or so old when they first produce. You can probably cut a few years off by grafting. Trees typically focus their energy on vegetative growth until they hit a certain level of maturity when the focus changes to reproduction. I think it controlled with hormones. Presuming you take the scion from a mature, fruit producing tree, it has a different hormone make-up than the rootstock. I think this may cut you down to about 8 years.

Keep in mind that I'm suggesting this is an average for my native trees. What I see advertised from nurseries is very optimistic for most trees. Some trees will produce at a younger age and some will take longer. Good care and planting location probably shorten things a bit.

If I cut down a native tree that is an inch or more in diameter and bark graft it, it is not uncommon to get the first few fruits in the third leaf.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[blueKYstream]

That makes sense. Thanks Jack!

 

[yoderjac]

Not all trees follow the rules....

A few years ago, I started some persimmons from seed. I grew them in Rootmakers for a season and grafted them the following spring. This one has about a dozen persimmons on it. You can't see them all from the picture. I'll have to check the tree tag to be sure, but I think it is Nikita's Gift. It is a hybrid and perhaps that accounts for the early fruiting.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[blueKYstream]

Pretty cool to be rewarded so soon on a persimmon! Looks good Jack!

 

[ksgobbler]

Tried my first ripe persimmon today. Not bad at all. Wish the rest of my persimmons would show their hand.