Persimmons
- Thread starter Mnydir1
- Start date
J B
5 year old buck +
I have 10 in zone 5a. They came from a northern source in MI. They are going to be in the ground 11 years this spring. A few started to put on a few persimmons last year. They really haven’t been utilized yet. They wake up really late in the spring and I don’t think they harden off very well before freezing. They are not in a high traffic area. I’m not sure if I would plant them again. I would have been farther ahead with apples and pears. Same goes for Dunstan and American chestnuts planted in the same area. My 10 year old apples are really coming into their own now.
chickenlittle
5 year old buck +
I know of some in NY in zone 5.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
I'm all for diversity. You won't know unless you try. Just don't put all your eggs in one basket and you will be just fine. It is a lifelong process. You don't just plant a bunch of trees one spring and think you are done forever. I sure wouldn't want to plant all my apple trees in one year just to have to replace all of them at the same time in the future. We don't go crazy, just plant about 10 fruit tress a year. Haven't messed with chestnuts if I do it wont be until I get my savanna cleared. I will do pears and persimmons in the future but there is only so much time and money to go around. (two things that l don't have much of) I'm just fortunate to live less than 5 minuets from each of the properties.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Possible in zone 4? Maybe. I have a friend that was working on a project to try to breed some trees with cold tolerance genetics. He did find one or two mature persimmons in the north. He said they were growing on folks lawns in town. My guess is that those trees were somehow protected from the cold by the original owners when they were young. His theory was that in areas where there are no persimmons that they would be deer magnets.
My personal view is that zone pushing for wildlife trees is usually not worth the effort. Many backyard orchardists love to zone push. They worry about micro climates and protect trees when necessary. I think they just enjoy doing it. Lots of nurseries are pretty liberal with zone ratings and those zone rating often vary from nursery to nursery for the same tree.
I think we are better off first finding trees that are well suited for our areas. In order to attract deer, there needs to be enough food. A single apple tree in an area that doesn't have many apple trees won't do much in my opinion. Deer either need to have that same food available in the general area or they need a concentration of it. A dozen apple trees together might produce enough apples to be an attraction. Similarly, a single apple tree that is secluded in an area where deer are used to eating apples may also do the trick. If you are zone pushing, with persimmons, your trees will likely be the only persimmon trees in the area. That means you'll at least need one male tree or a "perfect" tree. Persimmons are very slow to fruit. If you have to take special measures to protect them from the cold, it will be a lot of work and they may die anyway. Compare that to a tree that is well suited for your zone that requires little if any care.
I'm a big persimmon advocate. They are my best bang for the buck tree, but they grow natively here.
Thanks,
Jack
My personal view is that zone pushing for wildlife trees is usually not worth the effort. Many backyard orchardists love to zone push. They worry about micro climates and protect trees when necessary. I think they just enjoy doing it. Lots of nurseries are pretty liberal with zone ratings and those zone rating often vary from nursery to nursery for the same tree.
I think we are better off first finding trees that are well suited for our areas. In order to attract deer, there needs to be enough food. A single apple tree in an area that doesn't have many apple trees won't do much in my opinion. Deer either need to have that same food available in the general area or they need a concentration of it. A dozen apple trees together might produce enough apples to be an attraction. Similarly, a single apple tree that is secluded in an area where deer are used to eating apples may also do the trick. If you are zone pushing, with persimmons, your trees will likely be the only persimmon trees in the area. That means you'll at least need one male tree or a "perfect" tree. Persimmons are very slow to fruit. If you have to take special measures to protect them from the cold, it will be a lot of work and they may die anyway. Compare that to a tree that is well suited for your zone that requires little if any care.
I'm a big persimmon advocate. They are my best bang for the buck tree, but they grow natively here.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I have persimmon varieties that fall as early as September in zone 7a and some varieties that hang on the tree into February and some in between. But I don't think Persimmons are for you.
Lots of late hanging native/feral crabapples scattered all over MN and WI
