Princess Persimmon care info please

[tanlu]

Hi,

Does anyone have experience with or comprehensive bonsai care info on Princess Persimmons? All I know is that they need both male and female plans for the female plant to produce fruit. I just purchased a male and female plant. They are still pre-bonsai, but already look pretty nice to me. My questions are:

How cold hardy are they?

How well do they handle root pruning?

Do they do well in full or partial sun?

Do they have nice fall color?

Are there any diseases I need to worry about?

Your info would be most helpful!!!!

T

 

[John Romano]

Hi T,
Check Brent's site at Evergreen Gardenworks. He has a little description on them. Some of them do not need a male pollinator but most do. We have one older plant not for sale at New England Bonsai Gardens that flowers/fruits without a male plant present at the nursery. I think they are hardy down to zone 7 (maybe lower, in the ground). Brent says zone 5 but I question that. We protect ours down to the high 30's at the lowest in the winter. Fall color does not seem to be that spectacular. They don't seem to have too many insect problems but can get certain fungal diseases that affect the leaves, fruit. And, if you have a young plant, they take up to 7 years from cutting/seed to start flowering. Do you have one in the where you are in the NY area?
John

 

[tanlu]

Hi John, I'm glad you responded to this thread! I hear p. persimmons are quite new to the west, which explains why there's hardly any info on them.

I have a male and female tree I've been keeping in the basement where it's about 46F. I live in zone 6b and I just purchased them at Julian Adam's nursery down in VA. He wasn't confident that they could take the cold where I live, but my friend who drove down with me has 2 that spent the winter in New Jersey. He said they're quite happy there. Julian said the female one I purchased has already put out orange fruit. I checked out Brent's site, and many others, but since he lives in Northern California, I assumed his care info wouldn't completely apply to my situation. Do their leaves burn easily like J maples? Do they prefer acidic or alkaline soil?

T

 

[rockm]

Persimmons aren't new to the west. There are several varieties of native persimmon in North America--Texas persimmon and American Persimmon. The American variety (Diospyros Virginiana) is distributed well up into New Jersey. It's also common in the foothills of the Blue Ridge here in Va.--Zone 6a. I'd be surprised if what Julian told you wasn't accurate.

 

[reddog]

here is some info put together by Dennis Vojtilla who now lives in Oregon.
http://www.bssf.org/meetings/january-meeting-notes/

 

[tanlu]

rockm, What I said was that specifically princess persimmon seem to be rarely used as bonsai in the West. I noticed they're well documented on Korean, Chinese, and Japanese sites, which is why I made the comparison. But I would love to see some nice VA persimmon bonsai! Julian is the most knowledgeable person I know when it comes to growing and training plants into bonsai. One of the reasons I trust his information is because he never says it's absolute. He said that his area (zone 7a) should be lowest limit in hardiness zones, which I'm assuming means that anything lower requires significant winter protection. He leaves them outside mulched together. He strongly advice that I repot them asap, which is what I did today. They were both severely pot-bound and had some dead roots. I'm wondering if leaving them in the basement, as a post-repotting treatment, where it's always about 46F is a good idea? Should I be worried about fungus?

T

 

[tom tynan]

Slip potting these into a larger pot and storing in garage/basement until spring will do just fine as they are dormant. I have two that were purchased from Julian a few years ago - they are already starting to wake up in the garage as I can see buds swelling. In the dormant stage they will stay like this until Spring. Like any fruiting tree they are prone to typical fungal problems; they need good ventilation and occassional spraying in the Spring.They have funny roots in my opinion - almost like black twine. In early Spring you will see white tips on the roots - then you can tell what is dead and what is alive. Very hard to tell in the dormant stage. Find a good spot in your garden where you can get some good morning sun and then shade from mid to late day. tom

 

[John Romano]

Hey Tom,
Funny you said that the buds were swelling. I just repotted ours at the nursery Sat because it was just starting to bud out. We keep it in our semi tropical greenhouse - gets down to the low - mid 40's. They do defoliate in winter. I also second your recommendation for good air flow even in winter storage - this is important for any trees in storage.

 

[tanlu]

Thanks Tom. Good air flow was something I had overlooked. I actually never had to worry about it since my trees were always kept outside.

I'm going to keep them outside for now, and bring them in when it gets below freezing. The basement air seems stagnant, which may invite a fungi infestation. Julian said P. persimmon tend to have bud swell much earlier than other trees. When I repotted them I noticed their base of the buds were already green. They do have odd roots, and the only way I could tell if roots were alive was by feeling around for soft and crumbly roots.

T