The BEST GUIDE To GROWING PERSIMMON TREES On The Internet!

what's going on gardeners it's Sunday October 30th and it is a Pleasant Fall day here on the Southeastern coast of North Carolina and on today's video I'm going to share with you what just may be the most comprehensive guide to Growing Persimmons on the entire internet now there is a tremendous amount of information in this video and it took a lot of research to make so if you need help navigating expand the video description and click on the table of contents so you can navigate to where you need to go if you're new to the Channel please consider subscribing and hitting the Bell to receive new video notifications and check out our Amazon storefront and spreadshop in the video description for a list of the gardening products I use and awesome custom designed apparel and other gear your support is greatly appreciated most people have never heard of a persimmon and that's a shame because they are not only one of the easiest fruit trees you'll ever grow but they are incredibly delicious persimmon trees are part of the genus geospiros which translates Loosely into the fruit of the Gods when ripe persimmon fruits have a text mixture of jelly with a flavor of honey cinnamon and spice truly Heavenly if this sounds good to you you must grow them because they are almost impossible to find in grocery stores because they cannot be shipped once they're ripe When selecting a persimmon tree to grow there are two types of Persimmon fruits astringent fruits and non-astringent fruits most persimmon varieties have astringent fruits the reason most Persimmons are astringent is because they contain soluble tannins within the fruit if you've ever had dry red wine it's the tannin content that leads your mouth to have that dry puckering feel however the tannin content in red wine is fairly low and that mouth feel adds to the wine drinking experience with unripe astringent Persimmons the tannin content is so high they're basically inedible if you bite into an unripe astringent persimmon it would be a very unpleasant experience that would suck the moisture out of your mouth like taking a deep breath into a jar of rubbing alcohol this this tannin content Fades as the fruit ripens a properly ripened astringent persimmon fruit feels like a bag of jello or like a very soft bordering on over Ripe Tomato this is the moment you've been waiting for because this fruit is going to blow your mind this is the fruit of the Gods and it's called so for a reason because they're so soft and jelly-like they cannot be shipped so the only way you can eat these persimmon fruits is to grow it yourself usually persimmon ripening coincides with the first few frosts in fact it said the first couple of frosts actually speed up the ripening process that is another thing that makes persimmon trees great they are the ultimate season extender because they ripen after Frost which keeps your Harvest going from your garden well into the fall maybe even the winter the second type of Persimmon fruits are non-astringent varieties non-astringent Persimmons have a low tannin content while you can eat them green because there will still be 10 is present you can eat them after they've turned orange but are still firm and crisp like an apple for this reason you will occasionally see non-astringent Persimmons sold in grocery stores briefly in the late fall since they can be shipped when very firm however they are very expensive and border on nearly a dollar a piece now what's important to note that while you can eat a non-astringent persimmon when they're firm like an apple that is not the only way to eat them at that firm stage they are edible and sweet but they are still under ripe non-astringent Persimmons will continue to soften and ripen like an astringent persimmon will and as they soften they will get even sweeter however most varieties won't reach the jelly-like consistency of an astringent persimmon and most lack the amazing fruit quality that the astringent persimmon varieties can have so why would anybody buy a non-astringent persimmon Harvest extension I have both a non-astringent and astringent variety because the non-estringent varieties allow early Harvest and food storage while astringent fruit is superior it can't be easily stored and the shelf life is very brief non-astringent fruits can store for weeks or months so they are great for medium-term food storage it's worth it to have both types because then you'll be able to eat these incredible fruits for weeks or months throughout the year now that you understand the difference in fruits there are three different types of persimmon trees the American persimmon the Asian persimmon and the Asian American hybrids that have been crossed to incorporate The Best of Both Worlds of both species keep in mind throughout this video that Asian and American persimmon trees do not pollinate each other American Persimmons are native to the eastern half of the United States making them a bulletproof addition to most landscapes in the U.S have you ever heard of the term sugar plum a sugar plum is actually an American persimmon they have virtually no Pest and disease pressure when grown in the United States so once they establish the only problems you'll have to worry about are the squirrels deer and birds stealing your Harvest before you get them American Persimmons are Hardy from zones four through nine so even folks in incredibly cold climates can grow them American persimmon trees have not been in cultivation very long and as a result they closely resemble their wild fruit American persimmon varieties are all astringent so you need to wait for all of them to turn very soft before eating which usually happens after a few hard frosts the fruits are smaller generally only about one to two inches in diameter wild American persimmon trees can get very large with some reaching the 30 to 80 foot tall range so keep that in mind if you're going to grow an American persimmon seedling tree wild American persimmon trees are either male or female if you're growing a Seedling tree to set fruit you will need both a male tree as a pollenizer and a female tree because only the female trees flour and fruit for this reason I generally discourage growing American persimmon seedlings and sticking to some of the newly developed grafted varieties while the breeding of the American persimmon is in its relative infancy there are breeding programs that claim that they have bred self-fertile American persimmon cultivars of smaller stature so I will overlay a list of apparently self-fertile persimmon variety selections self-fertile American Persimmons are a game changer for potential cultivation for backyard Growers and I suggest anyone interested in American persimmon trees research these cultivars for self-fertility and overall size and stature while American persimmon trees are generally large they can be managed via pruning annual pruning practices can keep them to a reasonable size though you will want to give them enough room because they could develop a potentially large root system over time some persimmon connoisseurs say that American Persimmons have the strongest flavors and are worth the effort Asian Persimmons on the other hand have been in cultivation for generations and as a result they have a wide variety of cultivars available Asian Persimmons are much smaller in stature the largest varieties grow to be about 20 to 30 feet tall when left unmanaged while the smallest varieties only grow to be about 10 to 12 feet and with annual pruning you can easily maintain any Asian persimmon variety at 12 feet tall or less making them wonderful additions to most backyards Asian persimmon trees are not as cold hardy as the American persimmon trees but they are still widely adaptable most Asian persimmon varieties are Hardy to zones seven through ten when growing Asian Persimmons in North America you should only be purchasing grafted trees that have been grafted onto American persimmon diospiros virginiana rootstock since they are a native rootstock to the United States and they are adapted to our conditions despite being small in stature Asian persimmon trees bear much larger fruit ranging anywhere from two to five inches in diameter some Asian persimmon varieties can have fruits as large as beef steak tomatoes Asian persimmon trees are available in both astringent and non-astringent varieties in addition nearly all varieties of Asian Persimmons are self-fertile most varieties of Asian Persimmons are seedless when unpollinated however there are varieties of Asian persimmon trees with male flowers and if you allow pollination the formerly seedless varieties will develop seeds so why would anybody do this well that's because pollination has some distinct benefits first off the Japanese pollinate the Persimmons and cultivation because the fruit quality improves despite the addition of the seeds the size and flavor increases with pollination and second some Asian Persimmons change completely once pollinated that's because there are four different types of Asian in Persimmons there is pollination constant non-estringent pollination constant astringent pollination variant non-estringent and pollination variant astringent whoa whoa what does that all mean while both pollination constant and pollination variant fruits develop seeds when pollinated pollination constant varieties produce the same consistency in color whether pollinated or not pollination variant varieties change color and consistency when pollinated pollination variant fruits the flesh turns from light orange to Brown when pollinated here is a list of Asian persimmon varieties classified by astringency and pollination type if you want to pollinate your fruit you will want to make sure you pair pollination variant varieties that have male flowers and are noted by nurseries to be good pollinators for example two of the most common pairings are planting a chocolate persimmon tree next to a coffee cake persimmon tree tree since they are pollenizer varieties these varieties when pollinated are said to produce incredible fruit but not so much when they're unpollinated and the third type of Persimmon tree is the Asian American Hybrid persimmon these varieties have been bred to have the smaller stature of the Asian persimmon while having the cold hardiness of the American persimmon if you want to grow an Asian persimmon tree in a colder Zone these are your best bet while there are several varieties of Asian American Hybrid Persimmons on the internet the two most notable is Nikita's gift and rosianca they have the stature and fruit very similar to that of an astringent Asian persimmon meaning the fruits are two to three inches in diameter and they grow on a smaller semi-dwarf tree but they are cold hardy all the way to zone five making it possible to grow an asian-esque Persimmon in very chilly Winters in fact my younger brother just bought his first house in zone 6 New Jersey and I bought him a a Nikita's gift persimmon tree for his backyard which we planted when I visited him a few weeks ago Nikita's gift is probably the perfect tree for those in zones five and six that want to grow a smaller stature astringent persimmon and since it only grows to be 10 to 12 feet tall it's really the perfect self-fertile fruit tree for many backyards in general planting a persimmon tree is easy simply dig a planting hole twice the size of the root ball and fill the bottom of the hole with a couple inches of compost add a few handfuls of organic fertilizer somewhere around a 555 NPK to the planting hole optionally dust the bottom of the hole with bone meal which is fantastic for root development mix the fertilizers evenly into the planting hole then place the root ball so the top of the root ball is slightly elevated above the soil line by about two inches add more compost around the planting hole and firmly Tamp the compost and soil around the root ball so it's locked into place once you compress the root ball and compost the root ball will sink slightly so that's why we always want to position the root ball a little high in the beginning we never want to bury our trees deeply because it discourages surface root formation elevating the root ball slightly high encourages easy root growth through a light loamy compost and mulch layer also be sure to never bury the graft of a graph Fruit Tree Top dress the soil with a little more fertilizer and bone meal and rake the native soil and compost around the root ball finally add a natural mulch such as hardwood bark pine bark wood chips pine straw or wheat straw do not use a dyed mulch which is usually ground up old Lumber and pallets dyed to look like real wood rake the mulch around the base of the tree in a consistent two to three inch deep layer then water it in I like to add two tablespoons of fish Emulsion to my 1.5 gallon watering can when watering the trees in after I transplant because fish Emulsion is great at preventing transplant shock be sure to keep the tree moist for the first few weeks while it establishes I usually water every other day the first two weeks then scale back to once a week for the next month until the tree establishes it's best to plant most trees in early spring or fall when sun stress is lower but what is truly astounding is that tree planting footage that I just showed you was this tree right here my itchy non-estringent persimmon and I planted that back on June 27 2021 and today is October 30th 2022 so it has been almost 16 months to the date since I planted that tree that's how long I've been holding on to this planting footage just to make this video right here and as you can see not only did the tree more than triple in size but it is already loaded up with fruit and one of them is ripe and ready for Harvest already in only 16 months that goes to show you how amazingly fast these grafted well-adapted cultivars can fruit for you but just as a point of comparison because you never know exactly what you're going to get in life this tree right here is my giambo astringent Asian persimmon tree and I planted this a full year earlier than my non-astringent persimmon tree so this one is actually on its second full year in ground and its third season overall and I have not yet gotten to pick any fruit off of this tree now it did flower for me this year for the first time but it dropped all of the flowers once it Formed little baby fruits they all fell to the ground so I may not get any fruit off of it until next year and that's not to say that I did anything wrong it's that fruit trees are just like people some are literally early bloomers and some are late bloomers so even if you take two grafted fruit trees of the same size and the same variety and you plant them both right next to each other one just may decide to fruit before the other so don't be discouraged if it takes two or three years to get fruit off of a grafted fruit tree that is also pretty early pretty normal and an overall great investment now back to my itchy kikejiro non-estringent persimmon this persimmon right here is ripe and you know it is ripe because when you press on it it feels like a really soft tomato and it has just the right amount of give it feels just wonderful and like I said these non-astringent Persimmons you can eat them when they they are firm like an apple if you wish but in my opinion the flavor is vastly superior when you go ahead and you let them soften some so we are going to Simply twist and pick that off right there and I have to say this is some of the most excited I've ever been to harvest a fruit out of my yard now I've purchased the fuyu type non-astringent Persimmons from Trader Joe's and other supermarkets in the fall for years but they never get to this level of softness because they pick them rock hard and ship them and they just can't get this soft on the counter to have one that has that is basically ripened on the tree is really just it's just a miracle to me and I can't wait to try this so let's cut into this wow oh it is just dripping juice everywhere look at that right there dripping juice all over the place I don't think I have I've well I know I haven't I've never seen a persimmon like this because I've never had them straight out of the yard straight out of my garden like this so this right here it goes to show you that even a non-astringent variety can get to the point where it's like straight Jello straight jelly it just looks incredible to me right there so I can't wait to try this on camera it is so juicy oh that is just ridiculous that is one of the most ridiculous tasting things I've ever had this is like eating it's like eating jello but it tastes like it tastes like almost like a cross between honey a melon some type of light Berry and it just has like these spicy notes to it like a like almost like a clove or a nutmeggy type flavor you know that's that's up there with as good as any fig that I've ever had from my garden my camera loves to autofocus on my face so it's hard to get it to focus when your face is in the frame so I just want to get this this jelly like persimmon just dripping juice like crazy and this even could have sat on the tree for probably another week or so and gotten even softer and sweeter and juicier honestly it's an absolute joke how good this is it is ridiculous that anything that comes off of a tree could be this good and I've said that about some of the figs that I've grown in the past like how can nature create something better than what humans can create in a bakery no matter how hard they try but it really is the case and these Persimmons are even more consistent in flavor than figs they are they're always a 100 winner when you let them get juicy like this I probably have to turn this off because many of you probably don't like watching me eat this mess so after watching that taste test have you gone out and bought your first persimmon tree yet no what are you waiting for this video has everything that you need to make good selections and plant your persimmon tree for Success now if you're just worried about where to buy a persimmon tree well I bought my big giambo persimmon tree the astringent one from just fruits and Exotics that was the first one I ever bought but I also bought three persimmon trees from plant me green I got the one for my brother from plant me green one for my neighbor from plant me green and also my non-astringent persimmon came from there but if you're looking for more reputable sources you can get them from Stark Brothers from Raintree from logis from Burnt Ridge from one green World they are all reputable suppliers that have a good selection of persimmons so check out some of those websites as well find one that you want that's a good value and order one because the sooner you get it in ground the sooner you will have those incredible fruits and that right there just may be the most comprehensive guide on the entire internet for growing and planting persimmon trees there's a ton of information in this video so bookmark it and come back to it everything is time stamped in the video description to help you find the exact point that you need to get to I hope after this everybody that sees this video has at least one of their own persimmon trees so everybody I sure hope you found this video helpful if you did please make sure to hit that like button subscribe to the channel and ring that notification Bell for when we post more videos like these if you're curious about any of the products that I use in real life in my garden they are all linked Down Below on my Amazon storefront in the video description so expand the video description click on the Amazon storefront link and you'll see everything in there that I use in real life while you're there check out my spreadshop link for custom merch if you want to support the channel and of course if you have have any questions about Persimmons ask them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them thank you all again so much for watching and I hope to see all of you again on the next video perfect timing it just started raining there's a good boy Dale it is raining pretty good I'm following him around with the umbrella so I can keep them nice and dry while he goes potty the things we do for our boys the things we do for our boys Isn't it nice that it's finally raining out Mr candy inspector we haven't had rain all month this is a nice change of pace come on buddy now is not the time to go sniffing around everywhere we got to go back inside it's raining come on bud let's go inside

Channel: The Millennial Gardener

Views: 189,349

Keywords: growing persimmon trees, growing persimmons, how to plant a persimmon tree, persimmon, persimmons, persimmon tree, persimmon trees, american persimmon, asian persimmon, astringent persimmon, non astringent persimmon, garden, gardening, raised bed, vegetable garden, organic gardening, fruit tree, fruit trees, gardening tips, garden tips, gardening tips and tricks, food forest, edible landscaping, growing, plants, vegetables, how to, diy, millennial gardener, the millennial gardener

Id: 2fk1UFWKZME

Length: 20min 34sec (1234 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 04 2022