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Persimmons:

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loneranger

Well-Known Member
Anyone have experience growing Persimmons? What kind best and where you get them. I assume mail order nurseries, of which I have been investigaiting.
 
I have ordered from NWTF which gets them from Keeling Nursery or whatever it's called. I am ordering some from the Iowa DNR this year, i had to call them and they placed a special order- price is the same as their other trees- CHEAP!!!

I'd basically buy from as near of a place to Iowa as you can and try and get some that are from a highly productive tree. Order a bunch because they can be tough to get going. here's a tree on its 2nd growing season on my place...
Persimmons.JPG
 
Red Fern Farms over between Muscatine and Burlington just off from 61 has persimmion trees that are grown here in Iowa and are hardy down to minus 30 degrees!

Tom Wahl is very helpful and knowledgable and you can order a couple or a couple hundred!

He often sells out early but will have 6-" grafted seedlings in one gallon pots for $5 each in September.

He also sells Asian Pears, Pawpaws, Chestnuts and Hazelnuts

Ph is (319) 729-5905

Here's just a few more possibles

Boyer Nurseries & Orchards Inc.

Burnt Ridge Nursery and Orchards

Stark Brothers
 
Thanks again, dbltree. I have been researching these trees all day on the internet. alot of nurseries. Some sell trees grown from seeds. they take from 6 to 10 yrs to bear. Some are grafted on older roots. These are said to bare in 3 to 4 yrs. American types are the northern hardy types. Asians are for the south. I would like to get some that bear sooner than 6 to 10 yrs. I will call that red fern farm. Heard of them, but think his seedlings are the longer time frame. The sex of the trees hard to figure also. How many do you have to buy to hope you get both sexes? Have you grown any??thanks again. Hope to see ya soon.
 
I used Higginstrees.com with good results. He has a special 20 trees with tubes for $100. Mine were growing out the tubes the 1st year. Expect 50:50 sex ratio.

Tim
 
Thanks anderson, but I went to that site, and clicked on Persimmon, and the one they showed said it was good for zones 7 thru 10. I am in zone 5. It also said good to zero. Where are you again? Thanks though.
 
LoneRanger, I'm in zone 5 Northern Illinois. I also talked to Charlie Morse from Morse Nursery in Michigan and he grows Persimmons in Michigan, also zone 5. I've had good service from Morse Nursery also, mostly ungrafted apples, pears, and crabapples. Late frosts will hurt any fruit tree. It appears finding northern seedlings has merit. I've got expensive fruit trees and trees where the tree tubes cost more than the tree. For my deer I'm leaning toward quantity over quality. Hopefully I'll have more variety and a longer drop time. If they don't produce I can cull them without much expense.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Have you grown any?? </div></div>

Just planting my first this year...I've been planting apples and pears rather then persimmons but it's time to add to my "variety".

I do know that Red Ferns persimmons are "superior" grafted varieties including Yates abd SAA Pieper" American Persimmons.

Seedlings cannot be sexed until the are 4-5' tall (about 3-4 years)

I have some persimmon seeds from a friend that I'm going to plant this spring also... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I bought ten bare root seedlings hoping to get at least two males. This will be their third season. There is quite a difference in the growth between the trees. A couple are well over 6 feet tall and some are struggling at four. It also appears by leaf size and color that I have two different varieties. I thought two had frozen out last winter but they came back from roots. I need to prune them up yet this winter. My other bigest poblem has been aphids and japanese beetles.

The 'Bonker
 
I have some seeds that were picked in zone 5 that I can send you if you want some more for diversity. I personally would get more than one source since the male and female flowers are on separate trees. You can weed out the extra male plants as time goes by.
 
The REd Fern told me he did not have any grafted at the present time. The grafted are more expensive but bare sooner, and usually heavier from what I have read. The quantity way might be the way to go, but I have not the time this spring or all the wire to cage. I am going with a grafted type. I found a nursery in Northern Tenn, that grows all their trees organically, no sprays and claims to be a small family business, and their ratings are all extremely positive, with no negative. They just grow trees and shubs and claim alltheir stuff is bug and disease resistant. But they were out of persimmons already. Their types were supposed to be zone hardy up here. You do need a male and female. There are a couple selfpolinating but these don't do much unless they have a male. The farm in Tenn, sells just a male type too. They said they might have some in the fall.
 
Here's some info on "sexing" persimmons...no way to tell early on from the sounds of it.


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> <span style='font-size: 11pt'>Q. I have a question about persimmon trees. I bought three pairs over the past several years from a well-known mail-order company. They were supposed to be one male and one female. All of the trees have little bell-shaped blooms, but don't develop fruit. Have I received all females? How can you tell the difference? The oldest trees are over 10 years old. How old do they have to be to bear fruit?

A. While it can take seedling persimmon trees 10 or more years to mature enough to flower, your trees appear to be ready. If the trees are blooming, then they are old enough to bear fruit. Assuming that all of your trees are American persimmon rather than Oriental, then the issue is whether you have a mix of both male and female trees. (It would be useful to know what cultivars you have planted.)

American persimmons usually bear separate male and female flowers on separate trees. Only the females will bear fruit, but you do need to have at least one male to provide pollen for fruit set on the female trees. Occasionally, persimmon trees will bear both male and female flowers on the same tree, but it is not the norm.

So if all of your trees are blooming, then the question is whether you have both male and female trees. When they bloom next year, look closely at the flowers, and you should be able to tell them apart. Both are greenish-yellow, bell-shaped flowers borne on very short stalks. The male flowers are about one-fourth to one-third inch long and are borne in small clusters, usually in threes. The female flowers are slightly larger, borne singly and are about one-half to three-fourths inch long</span>. </div></div>
 
I have fruiting american persimmons that were transplanted as 1 year old seedlings 5 years ago. The branches droop with the fruit and luckily 2 out of the 3 are female so it is a perfect combo for pollination and fruit set.

If you can take good care of the trees I don't think it would take 10 years to see fruit personally from seed or 1 year old transplants from my experience.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The Red Fern told me he did not have any grafted at the present time. </div></div>

Not until September...lot of places are sold out already

I'm just going to put a deposit on some grafted trees from RF and pick them up this fall.

I already have 4000 trees to plant in April as it is... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
If you can't find them local try Henry Fields. Their price was fair and they're sold as a pair. I asked about them when we placed our seed order for the garden this year. I had an issue with seed germination buying local last year.
 
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