Love my seedling persimmons

[blueKYstream]

Two years ago, this seedling persimmon (about 12 years old) produced the grand total of one persimmon as its first crop. I stood in the bed of the truck and found the one fruit. Two years later, every limb is covered with fruit. They are slow to start, but can really take off fast once they get started. This year all of my persimmons are loaded. I could feed all of the deer in the state.

Those are some great pics! Do you notice a lot of variability in taste with your seedling/native persimmons or do they all taste about the same? Also, I'm curious if you ever take the fence down with persimmons as well or if you keep them up because you've had deer rub them.

 

[Native Hunter]

Those are some great pics! Do you notice a lot of variability in taste with your seedling/native persimmons or do they all taste about the same? Also, I'm curious if you ever take the fence down with persimmons as well or if you keep them up because you've had deer rub them.

I think the native trees taste a lot the same. Some of the named cultivars taste better to me. It is unusual for a deer to rub a persimmon but I’ve seen it happen a couple of times. Therefore I leave the cages. It would be a bummer to get a nice tree damaged.

 

[Native Hunter]

I found my first ripe persimmon for 2021 on the ground today. This is a tree I topworked to the cultivar "Miller," and it is making its first crop. Note how that even though ripe fruit is beginning to fall, there are many on the tree that are still very green. This is an indication of a persimmon tree with a very stretched out drop time, which is a good thing. You keep them coming for months.

 

[greyphase]

Fruit on a seedling Persimmons I planted 10 years ago. had it's first crop last year and was the best tasting persimmons I've grown.

 

[yoderjac]

Fruit on a seedling Persimmons I planted 10 years ago. had it's first crop last year and was the best tasting persimmons I've grown.

Congrats! You gotta love persimmons!

 

[TreesuitSC]

Love the pics of these. The fruit on these seem larger than the ones I see in SC.

I have noticed this while hunting in KY.

Are these a different subspecies within the American Persimonn family?

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[Native Hunter]

Love the pics of these. The fruit on these seem larger than the ones I see in SC.

I have noticed this while hunting in KY.

Are these a different subspecies within the American Persimonn family?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

Thanks. The best way I can answer your question is to give you this link to read. As a general rule the northernmost (90 C) persimmons are the largest ones. The ranges of the 90C and 60C overlap in KY. I have been checking out some native females that just started bearing this year and noticed one with very small fruit compared to the others on my place. I will try to remember to get a picture later on. I hope this link helps:

Ploidy Level in American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) Cultivars

The American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is a slow-growing, moderately sized tree fruit native to the forests of Kentucky. This tree fruit is in the early stages of commercial production with many cultivars selected from the wild. Small orchards of commercially available cultivars are...

journals.ashs.org

 

[Native Hunter]

Another Note of Interest. A very small percentage of persimmons will have blue fruit rather than orange fruit. A neighbor of mine has a tree that makes blue persimmons, and I'm going over to look at it and take some pictures in a few days. I did note (as shown in the picture below) that a native tree on my farm bearing its first crop this year is currently showing fruit with a blue cast early on. I have no idea if these will be blue or orange once they ripen, but I will be watching it.

 

[Native Hunter]

Love the pics of these. The fruit on these seem larger than the ones I see in SC.

I have noticed this while hunting in KY.

Are these a different subspecies within the American Persimonn family?

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

See the picture below that I took today. The top is the unusually small native persimmon that I mentioned in another post. The middle is Miller, and the bottom is Deer Magnet. I also have some other named cultivars that are a little larger than Deer Magnet. The normal size for a native here would be between the small one and the middle one.

 

[BrushyPines]

I recently discovered a persimmon tree that is producing at my place. I am guessing it is due to thinning the pine stand and the tree getting enough sunlight to produce fruit now. I'd say it is around 20 ft tall and is already dropping fruit as we speak. Do persimmon trees usually drop fruit this early?

 

[Native Hunter]

I recently discovered a persimmon tree that is producing at my place. I am guessing it is due to thinning the pine stand and the tree getting enough sunlight to produce fruit now. I'd say it is around 20 ft tall and is already dropping fruit as we speak. Do persimmon trees usually drop fruit this early?

Yes, many do, but some don't start until much later. It just depends on the genes of the tree. I was told growing up that you couldn't eat a persimmon until after a frost. It just isn't true for all trees.

 

[BrushyPines]

Yes, many do, but some don't start until much later. It just depends on the genes of the tree. I was told growing up that you couldn't eat a persimmon until after a frost. It just isn't true for all trees.

It is definitely not true for this tree. I have heard they are always bitter before a frost then turn sweet after a frost. I tried one for the first time last week from the tree and it was very sweet! No bitterness at all. The taste reminded me of an orange popsicle.

 

[BrushyPines]

Also, one of the skid's tires scraped it. Is there anything I could do to help heal it? The thinning was done last summer. The tree looks fine and has a good bit of fruit that it produced. Just didnt know if there was anything I could do to help it heal.

 

[Native Hunter]

Also, one of the skid's tires scraped it. Is there anything I could do to help heal it? The thinning was done last summer. The tree looks fine and has a good bit of fruit that it produced. Just didnt know if there was anything I could do to help it heal.

Don't do anything to it. Lot's of people now say not to put any kind of wound sealant on damaged trees like that. No tree is infallible, but persimmons are one of the absolute toughest. Once established you can mow them down twice a year for 30 years in a row and they will pop back from the roots. I have one that a barbed wire fence has mangled badly but it just keeps pumping out the fruit.

 

[BrushyPines]

Don't do anything to it. Lot's of people now say not to put any kind of wound sealant on damaged trees like that. No tree is infallible, but persimmons are one of the absolute toughest. Once established you can mow them down twice a year for 30 years in a row and they will pop back from the roots. I have one that a barbed wire fence has mangled badly but it just keeps pumping out the fruit.

Thanks Native!

 

[Native Hunter]

Several of the Miller Persimmons are dropping now with several still very green. Persimmons bigger than most crabapples - no disease worries - starting a slow, early drop and going for weeks upon weeks.... Yes, the love is real.....

 

[BrushyPines]

Native, do you ever check the seeds for spoons, forks or knives?

 

[Native Hunter]

Native, do you ever check the seeds for spoons, forks or knives?

Lol I don’t but will try to remember to do that this time. Someone else asked me that yesterday too. Will let you know what I find.

 

[BrushyPines]

My seeds were spoons. Shoveling snow in MS does not sound likely.

 

[Native Hunter]

My seeds were spoons. Shoveling snow in MS does not sound likely.

I’m hoping to find an antler in mine.