Along with the trees ordered from England's that haven't shipped yet and a pound of stratified seeds added to the order yesterday, we also acquired a Saijo and Chocolate from Willis Orchard, both large size 5 ft.  These arrived today from Georgia after shipping out Wednesday via Fed Ex and I must say they have the best looking root systems on any fruit trees I've ever gotten from anywhere and several nice limbs they didn't chop off.  All the other persimmon trees we have were just a trunk with barely any roots.  These I had to dig a 2 ft diameter hole, 2 ft deep for each.  

Have a few questions for those of you who may have started some from seed.  How did you do it?  How long of a root does the American persimmon put down?  How big do they grow in one year?  Fertilize or no?     

Charlie,

Our native Virginiana  puts down a strong tap root.  When I started them I group planted them in 15/20 gal pots then separated them in 1st or 2nd year.  I didn't push mine and nothing was graft size after 1st year, but I am sure fertilizer will help. An option to save a year or 2 is that many state forestry services offer Virginiana seedlings at very low cost in their seedling offerings. when I ordered mine they were too small to graft 1st year but a friend of mine ordered and got graftable size trees. I might be to late for this season to order.

Glad to hear you were pleased with the Willis order, many folks have not been.

Charlie, I stratified my seeds for around 4 months in damp potting soil in ziplock in the frig. I planted the seed in the spring. I had good germination and most of them lived. I planted them in 4 inch deep cells and transplanted to 1 gallon pots. They grew 1 1/2 to 2 feet the first year.

I picked a bunch of Chocolate persimmons about three days ago from my two year old tree and left them inside. They were hard, then they ripened and soften on my dining table.The birds got none this year. The name chocolate is fitting. Along with Saijo these are some of the best tasting persimmons that I've ever had. The flavor of these supposedly astringent varieties is more complex than any Fuyu. They are smaller than Saijo and other varieties, but once they softened, there wasn't any trace of any astringent flavor, at the contrary they were super sweet. I have a Fuyu, but after tasting Saijo and Chocolate, I don't believe that Fuyu belongs in the same category and would be my last choice, perhaps after I run out of the other two.

We're lucky in NJ. Persimmons grow naturally here. If anyone is wondering what an unripe one is like or how to describe it....put a spoonful of your basic kitchen alum in your mouth.

Sas, Honan Red is one of my favorite, right up there with Saijo.

Persimmons...another deliscious fruit! I tasted that variety some years ago. Nice crop!

Will any decent persimmon survive unprotected in Connecticut, I have a male and female of a small variety that produce about 1inch size fruit more seed than pulp , not worth eating but they are cold hardy

I like both astringent and non-astringent,  both Kaki and Virginiana.  I pick some Matsumoto Wase Fuyu yesterday. I really like this non-astringent Cultivar a early fruiting sport of Fuyu. It's one of my earliest although these were not quite colored up enough, my ignorance in letting it over set and not thinning resulted in major limb breakage and I had to stop the bleeding. Normally if they have started coloring up, they will ripen respectably nice fruit. This tree is at my cabin plantings and I did not attend as well as needed I should have thinned or at least supported the limbs from the heavy crop, but still a decent sized fruit I find it a little more hardy than than Fuyu as well. Couple Asian pears in one box. Matsumoto Wase Fuyu a winner despite my neglect.  Ate a few Meader Virginiana as well.

 

 

Meader on tree

    


@SAS,

So you liked Chocolate not polinated/seeded?  I don't grow it present but I did not care for it unless seeded, seeded it develops the brown flesh hense the name and really has a enhanced flavor and you can eat them before they soften up completely as a PVNA type.  If I start a planting in my back pasture I will put it in but my main planting I don't want many seeds in all my otherss

@Strudle God Bless!

Did not find any seeds in my fruit and no brown spots. Perhaps it's another mislabeled tree. Have a Fuyu and it turned out to be a Tamopan. (I also have a Fuyu).
I prefer the Astringent varieties when fully ripe over Fuyu. Fuyu is just sweet with no complex flavor.
I was surprised at how sweet the fruit was considering I picked them when they were fairly unripe.

@Terry had a Honan red and unfortunately lost it, replaced it with a Hachiya and lost that one too. I noticed that there might be poor drainage in that spot.
My other tiny trees are Maru and Hachiya, but no fruit yet.

Sas,

  Of the others you listed I think only Maru will put out male flowers, so it seems Chocolate which does have male flowers did not pollinate itself.  Maybe when Maru flowers  you will see a change in Chocolate. No seeds = no brown flesh. I am not saying it's not Chocolate.

I love Persimmons; my favorite is Hachiya. Dad had one growing in Flushing NY that was nestled between his and neighbors brick houses. Great winter protection... Prolific as heck! Not possible for 1 or 2 or 3 families to eat all the fruit off of that 1 tree... Too bad it was so big we couldn't move it when he moved up to Carmel. Since then, my in ground attempts have been failures so now my plants join the figs each spring and fall in doing the shuffle....

T

I would love to buy a chocolate persimmon. Can anyone recommend a nursery?

I don't own a Chocolate Persimmon so I don't have specific knowledge about this cultivar however I have made persimmon purchases from Willis, Just Fruit and Exotics as well as England's and I have been happy with the plants received and the warranties provided...

Meg, mine came from RR nursery. Just put your email in there and when it becomes available they will send you a notification.
On my way to CA I was stopped and asked specifically if I had any plants. Never knew how serious they are about importing plants into CA.
You could also get one here:
https://baylaurelnursery.com/persimmons.html

Thanks, Charlie. I will check this out.

Sas: I have purchased a couple of trees from RR but I wasnt looking for a persimon then. I will check them out to compare pricing with the others. It seems RR is very reasonable. And as far as agricultural inspection, there is a stop near San Diego where i have been stopped & they definately check! Thanks for the tips on the Choc Persimon.