Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

I am looking for some good persimmons to feed the deer in the back yard. The faster growing and bigger the fruit the better. It gets cold here so it will need to survive zone 5-6 type weather. Thanks in advance as I know I will gets lots of good info. Once anwsered any ideas on a cheap place to order the trees. The more established the better. I can't find any in local nursery's.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

I always though building a series of small "islands" to feed the deer would be a cool idea. Horse feed from agway works well too.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

That would be a little slice of heaven. No these deer are my daughters pets. There in the backyard and we currently just feed them cracked corn. I swor they were safe( unless his antlers make him look like Bullwinkle).

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

I could send you some fruit from local trees for seeds.. but that will take a few yrs... though I could also send bud wood as soon as the trees are big enough to graft to give you fruit a few yrs earlier..





they are native persimmons..

PM me if you are interested.. I'm going to go harvest some tomorrow..

Gina *BabyBlue*

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

Stumpy,

I'm orginally from KY (not sure how far from where you are) and the zone there would be similar to yours. The only persimmon I know of that does well that far north is the one that Gina has already mentioned. It is known scientifically as Diospyros virginiana and is dioecious, meaning separate male and female plants. I ate some while I was home over Thanksgiving and my aunt had made a bread pudding out of persimmons (the Asian type, I think) that was great.

You might be able to find a nursery that carries persimmons, but I have never seen too many. We have a fruiting (and obviously female) tree in our yard back home and the male that provides the pollen must be in the woods nearby, but I don't know where. They don't have to be in real close proximity to each other, but I'm sure it helps to have several females and one male planted nearby for pollination, sort of how people do with 'China Boy' and 'China Girl' hollies or some of the deciduous hollies. If you can't find any at a nursery, your best bet may be to get some seed and grow a number of them and hope for a mix of sexes. Unfortunately, they will take a while to bear fruit.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

Thnx Brent. I did just find a couple on the web, but I'll have to call them to see if they have any in stock. Does anyone know if the asian types are cold hardy? I see the fruit is much bigger.:lurk:

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

Stumpy
I am here, in New York, and I know of people who have persimmon trees that produce fruit that are the size of peaches. Don't know what kind , Asiatic or native, these are.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

Thanks John, I know the american native is hardy enough as Gina showed in her pics. I was wondering if the asians were from a cold climate or a tropical type enviroment.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

Gina, do you eat those? Years ago, my mom made persimmon pudding with them. It was amazingly good. The japanese varieties are good too, but the native ones seemed even sweeter.....lots of seeds, though.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

The asian varieties are not as cold hardy as our native varieties. Having said that, when I was in St. Loius we did have one asian type (Diospyros kaki) that survived the Zone 5 winters there. However, it was right next to a wall and under the canopy of a larger tree, and in the city, so it had a really nice microclimate going. I don't think they normally grow that far north, though.

Re: Need a lil help with Persimmons
 

The American persimmon Diospyros virginiana is very cold hardy. You'll need 1 male plant for each 4-6 females. It produces plum-size fruits. The unripe fruit tends to bring on indigestion in mammals and the animals become wary of it.

As an alternative to persimmons, consider growing winter wheat or alfalfa in a separate area and fed it to them incrementally.