About Princess Persimmon

I thought on a recent BSOP zoom meeting I noticed a third name besides yours and Mary's . If so congratulations and give a shout out to George as well . Take care Brother .
 
Where are you keeping these? You are easily a month (if not two) ahead of me. Mine are just starting to bud out.
Outside. A couple are in the ground, and the two in pots came inside during late frosts...but have been outside for weeks. The one in the painted pot starts early. This other one is a bit behind it...both came from Clark Long in Louisiana. Hear he passed a couple weeks ago.
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Any way to tell if its a male or female before flower and fruit? Also how old do they have to be before they flowers? I have a couple that I bought for really cheap at a club bonsai auction but I have no idea if they're male or female. Thanks
 
Any way to tell if its a male or female before flower and fruit? Also how old do they have to be before they flowers? I have a couple that I bought for really cheap at a club bonsai auction but I have no idea if they're male or female. Thanks
I think it’s tough to tell sex without seeing flowers/fruit, which usually takes 5-7 years to show up.
 
I just got my first “Rolls Royce of pre-bonsai” in the fall. I bought it from Ed Clark, and he said this variety is self fruitful and the fruit can be bright red. It did loose its leaves in winter.

I have a nursery can of root cuttings going, wish me luck!
 

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I think it’s tough to tell sex without seeing flowers/fruit, which usually takes 5-7 years to show up.
Thanks BVF!
 
I wanted to share my experience with princess persimmons from Evergreen Gardenworks.

A few years ago I bought 6 princess persimmons (D. rhombifolia) from EG, but they were different from the trees I got in Japan and from Dennis Vojtilla. They didn't lose their leaves in winter and the shape and color of the leaves was a little different. I chocked it up to genetic diversity until I saw a Tokiwagaki (D. morrisiana, do a google for 常盤柿) in a show in Japan. Evergreen Gardenworks sent me D. morrisiana labelled as D. rhombifolia. It's an easy mistake to make; the seeds and fruit and leaves are superficially similar. I am not complaining either because morrisiana is also a great bonsai species and considerably rarer than even rhombifolia. I just wanted people to know what I learned.

I just ordered a bunch of seedlings from them. Wonder what I’ll get.
 
They are super easy to germinate. I have 100% germ last year on 25 seeds. The ones in 4 inch pots are abot 6 to 8 inches tall now. I put a think about 8 in a grow bed and they are 2 feet tall in one growing season. They are as straight as arrows and I haven't decided yet how to deal with them.
 
Outside. A couple are in the ground, and the two in pots came inside during late frosts...but have been outside for weeks. The one in the painted pot starts early. This other one is a bit behind it...both came from Clark Long in Louisiana. Hear he passed a couple weeks ago.
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Just seen that he had passed. Sucker punch. I get my BioGold from him. The BioGold Vital that helped my wisteria...came from him. Apparently the website is still up. For I ordered off of Amazon with his site the seller ... when he didn't reply to my messenger message. Thinking.. I hope all is well with him. Not like him to not reply. But since he hadn't...easier to deal with Amazon if there was a problem. Dang ... Missed your saying this here.
 
They are super easy to germinate. I have 100% germ last year on 25 seeds. The ones in 4 inch pots are abot 6 to 8 inches tall now. I put a think about 8 in a grow bed and they are 2 feet tall in one growing season. They are as straight as arrows and I haven't decided yet how to deal with them.
This is a grow bed of Princess Persimmon ( Black variety). I obtained the seed in 2015 at Taiken Ten in Kyoto. The stems lignify very quickly so I wired shape in as they progressed to avoid straight sections and create interest. They are growing better now with lots of foliage. Planted them out a year ago in the spring and they overwintered quite nicely. Germinated in spring of 2016, so they are five years old. Still no flowers or fruit, have my fingers crossed for one or two females in the batch of seventeen. This variety is slower in growth habit I believe. Trunks have reached the whopping diameter of 1/2 inch on the largest ones and some closer to 1/4 inch still. Overall height if straight would be approximately two feet, but more contorted from wiring.IMG_0555.JPG
 
I have a lot of flowers going on in Oregon right now, so I reviewed the Japanese princess persimmon books I have. Here are some notes

Some varieties don't need pollination to bear fruit and they are common in cultivation by vegetative propagation. (May not have made it to America though)
Some varieties can be pollinated and make fruit without any seeds because of incompatibility.
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Even without pollination, fruits will seem to develop as if pollinated until June when they will suddenly drop off.
Seeds germinate in a 6:4 male:female ratio
Flowers are only receptive for a couple days, so having many males is critical.
Flowers can be stored in the fridge for a week.
Insects are best, paint brush if not.
 
I have some fruits but not sure if they will stick around as these are not pollinated. They set by themselves.
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