american persimmon...a drought resistant and delicious fruit and source of beautiful carving wood

Wayne Mackenzie wrote:

Dan Boone wrote:
I would also be looking for (or making a road trip to get seeds for) diospyros texana, the Texas persimmon.  From what little I know about them, they seem likely to be better adapted to your biome.

I actually had a Texas seedling for awhile. It just sat there and sulked. I finally pulled it to use the spot for something else.

Doh!  Well, that's that, then.  

Although to be honest, this is basically the behavior of every American Persimmon tree I've ever planted from seed, too.  They don't die, but after five or six years if they aren't perfectly happy with their situation they might easily still be belly-button tall.  I've seen feral ones grow much faster, but planted ones just have not done a lot for me.

Dan Boone wrote:

Doh!  Well, that's that, then.  

Although to be honest, this is basically the behavior of every American Persimmon tree I've ever planted from seed, too.  They don't die, but after five or six years if they aren't perfectly happy with their situation they might easily still be belly-button tall.  I've seen feral ones grow much faster, but planted ones just have not done a lot for me.

I don’t believe it was a good seedling. It didn’t do anything under controlled conditions either.

The American seedling was growing like a weed in a tree pot. It was getting full exposure and the desert delivers that big time. I waited for it to go dormant before planting it.
This is why I still have hope.

We planted 2 a couple of years ago.  The seem to be taking forever to grow.  I this usual?

I've never tried planting them from seed. I live on a ridge in WV, and the D virginiana grow wild all over--they prefer ridges. Unfortunately, transplanting isn't much of an option as they have long and angled taprooots=--like, they seem to run out horizontally a foot below the surface. Consequently I can't get RID of some growing in my garden or next to my compost bin. By the way--if I remember right, when my ex was carving spoons he found persimmon was one of those that was beautiful briefly but them faded to a dull brown. He ended up using mostly black walnut, which doesn't change, and black cherry whose red heartwood only gets a deeper red.

John F Dean wrote:We planted 2 a couple of years ago.  The seem to be taking forever to grow.  I this usual?

plants being plants, it depends on the situation.  
I started with fresh seed and 6 years later a few of my trees grown from those seeds are already producing fruit.

Mary Wildfire wrote:...... Consequently I can't get RID of some growing in my garden or next to my compost bin.

I've discovered they sucker from roots very easy.  Any existing tree can lead to young trees starting from the roots.

I planted saplings 8 or 9 years ago, collected at the county extension office for free.  They are finally over my head, but have not flowered yet.  There is a volunteer persimmon just across the drive in the tree line which fruited once only.  I wish I knew how to encourage them further.

Several years back they were attacked by twig girdler:



Supposedly, they leave an attractant for re-infestation, but I burned all the evidence and they haven't been back (knock on good wood!)

I have a very small (1' tall) Texas Persimmon. I'm trying to select a pollinator for it. What will cross pollinate a Texas Persimmon? I live in Mesa, AZ, USDA zone 9, where we enjoy bipolar weather. That's up to 115 degrees through the long summer and and down into the 20's in the short winter. I am not sure if my current tree is a male or a female. Any suggestions?