Persimmons fruiting every 2nd or 3rd year?

[DouglasCorrell]

Southwest Indiana here. How common is it for native persimmon trees to skip one or even two years between fruit crops? Most of the trees on my property seem to be very irregular. Is there anything I can do to promote annual fruiting?

 

[gurgalunas]

Thinking out loud...

Do they have good sunlight, or are shaded? Can they be released by some selective cutting?

Persimmons bloom late enough that freeze issues shouldn't affect.

 

[Native Hunter]

I've noticed than some native persimmons won't be as regular as most of the grafted cultivars. One of the reasons for this is that most named varieties were chosen because they had special attributes - and one of those attributes is generally that they are more reliable. I would say that maybe only 30% of my natives are as reliable as the best grafted trees.

As stated in the above post, shade can be a problem, even though they are more shade tolerant than apples. I will also say that persimmons react very well to fertilization. You might try that and see what happens.

This spring I topworked a native to Morris Burton from scions that someone gave to me, and the scions are trying to make persimmons this first year.

 

[DouglasCorrell]

Thinking out loud...

Do they have good sunlight, or are shaded? Can they be released by some selective cutting?

Persimmons bloom late enough that freeze issues shouldn't affect.

Wide open sun. I opened up the canopy shortly after I bought the property before planting grafted females nearby.

 

[b116757]

I have light years and heavy years but they generally seem to be reliable fruit producers for me. Last year was a bumper crop of persimmons around me I had natives bending limbs under fruit load.