Useful tips for gardeners who want to grow a persimmon tree in their garden: how to grow a plant, take care of it and other advice read here. Persimmon varieties. For those who decide to grow a persimmon tree at home from a stone, it will be useful to get acquainted with the persimmon tree itself and the fruits of the persimmon first.
These trees (genus Diospyros "lat. Diospyros") belong to the Ebony family, and their homeland is the famous China, like many other fruits and vegetables. There are a lot of varieties of this fruit, about 200 species, and there are also exotic (not edible) ones. The fruit of a persimmon has an average weight of 80 to 550 grams, and a diameter of 2 to 9 cm. There can be from 1 to 10 seeds in one fruit, as a rule, in many varieties there are very few of them. You can read and find out how many calories are in persimmon, what useful properties it contains, and much more.
The trees themselves have an average height of 6-12 meters, which can give up to 250 kg of fruit in warm regions. Trees of this genus live for a very long time - 450-500 years. And some of their species have very valuable wood. Now this fruit, in addition to the Indomalay region, is actively grown in the countries of Eurasia: Kazakhstan, Georgia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Abkhazia, Iran, even in Ukraine (in Transcarpathia), in Crimea, Russia (in Dagestan and Krasnodar Territory), Italy, Spain and other countries. Some special species grow in the countries of Australia and America.
For those who want to grow this tree in Ukraine and Russia, you need to know that it will not be possible to harvest a lot. But it is worth trying to grow, since such an exotic persimmon tree will look very beautiful in the garden.
What is the lowest temperature a persimmon tree can withstand?
The "Rossiyanka" variety will be able to withstand frost at -20 ° С. Next comes the Tamopan variety - up to -15 ° C, and the rest of the adult plants will be able to survive -10 ° C. The Russian variety very actively restores shoots that have been damaged by severe frosts and will be able to bear fruit again in a year. For the winter period, persimmon trunks should be tied with burlap, spruce branches or other insulation materials.
How to grow a persimmon from a stone
The first step is to sprout, our seeds obtained from fresh persimmon. To do this, they need to be rinsed under water and put 1-2 centimeters in a pot with damp earth. You can also do this with cotton wool, for this, put persimmon seeds in damp cotton wool, wrap them with cellophane wrap and put them in a warm place, you can put them on a battery if it is winter. Sometimes cellophane needs to be opened and the cotton wool moistened so that everything does not dry out and mold. It is also advisable to keep a pot with a planted bone in a warm place and can be covered with a film. Sometimes open cellophane, and pour the earth one and a half centimeters. So that you know - persimmon is thermophilic, it always needs a lot of light and warmth, so you shouldn't keep it in the shade and in drafts.
Seeds rise in 10-15 days. If there is no result, then do not hold any more, new seeds and repeat the procedure. If a sprout has appeared, then the cellophane can and should be removed. If seeds in cotton have sprouted, then they should be transplanted into a pot. If a persimmon bone remains at the end of the sprout and for several days it does not want to fall off itself (its valves are strongly clamped), then it should be carefully removed by ourselves, otherwise the plant will disappear. This can be done with a knife, scissors, or needle. If she is already very tired of our tree, then you can spray it with warm water, wrap it in a bag and put it in a warm place for the whole night. In the morning, the bone will be steamed and removed very easily.
Persimmon sprouts grow very quickly, so if several seeds have sprouted, then each small future tree should be transplanted into a separate spacious pot. The root system of this fruit is very active and if there is not enough space, the sprout will wither. Lack of substrate will lead to poor sapling and yellowing of the leaves. So, do not skimp on a good pot and soil if you want to get a healthy and fast growing tree.
Persimmon tree care
A young tree in a pot in the summer should be taught to the sun a little, otherwise the leaves may burn and dry out. To do this, a thermophilic plant should be shaded a little in the first days, but this should be done by exposing it already to the balcony, windowsill, or taking it out into the yard. Throughout the growing season of persimmon, it should be fed alternately with mineral and organic fertilizers twice a month. With the onset of autumn in October-November, the tree must be transferred to a room with a temperature of +7 to +30 ° C, it is possible to go to the cellar, but not desirable, there will be no light there. To do this, you need to lay out a layer of wet sawdust on the ground and systematically spray or pour the earth so that it does not dry out.
With the onset of March, you need to transplant the tree into a larger pot with new soil. Water well and put in a bright place.
Then it is time to produce the formation of young seedlings into small trees. To do this, at the level of 0, 4-0, 5 meters, you should make a clothespin for branching a tree. Leaving 2-3 apical shoots, they wait until they grow 30-40 cm, after which they are pinched to form branches of the second order. Then again 2-3 branches are left, and so on, a round persimmon tree is grown in a height of one and a half meters. The first flowers can only be seen in the third or fourth year.
Already an adult persimmon tree is transplanted with the arrival of spring in the garden in a bright and wind-protected place. It should be continued to be watered systematically and abundantly (but not overfilled) and the leaves should be sprayed. Persimmon bloom usually occurs in June. During the active growing season, the tree is fed with mineral fertilizers twice a month with a minimum nitrogen composition.
In winter, persimmons are kept cool (on average -5 degrees, but not colder than 10, otherwise long-term work will be lost). You need to water it periodically with water at room temperature, and spray the leaves. But it should be watered without fanaticism, otherwise the plant will wither. Persimmon fruits are not afraid of the cold, it even benefits them, since the content of tannins decreases.
When does the tree begin to bear fruit?
3-4 years after grafting, the tree begins to bear fruit. If you grow persimmons from the seed of the fruit, then you will have to wait from 5 to 7 years. If the tree is in a dry, permanent indoor "climate", then this period should be increased by another one or two years. You need to feed the plant, like everyone else: phosphorus, sodium, potassium and trace elements from a well-balanced fertilizer or compost extract.
Persimmon varieties
- Jiro - This sweet persimmon variety (up to 13% sugar) has flat-round fruits, grooves divide them into four parts from top to bottom. You can eat even unripe.
- Hachiya Is a large self-pollinated variety with a weight of up to 300 grams. It is also called "bull heart". These fruits are conical in shape with a bright red color. They have a wonderful taste only after full ripening, since the sugar in them reaches 18%.
- Hyakume - or Kinglet, also a self-pollinated persimmon variety, vigorous. Fruits of medium weight - 250 grams, round. This variety is easy to distinguish as all fruits have concentric circles at the top. The fruits are considered ripe and edible when they turn brown. Sugar up to 17%.
- Zenjimaru or chocolate crust. This self-pollinated variety is characterized by small fruits up to 100 g and a dark orange color on the outside and a chocolate shade of flesh. The taste is very pleasant. They have a lot of seeds - 5-8 pieces. You can even eat them unripe - still hard. Sugar content up to 15%.
- Tamopan - this is the largest variety - up to 550 grams. Also self-pollinating and vigorous variety. Has a banner (cap) on top. Only edible when fully ripe.
