Persimmon

[Daluke]

My Italian grandparents in law have been kind enough to leave 50+ persimmon seeds which I have sown.

According to them they are “Royal” persimmon.

Has anyone heard of such a type? Or, anything sounding similar (they have thick Sicilian accents).

[shibui]

I think there is mention of Princess persimmon on US Bonsai nut forum. Looks like it is a different species from the fruiting one - Diospyros rhombifolia.
I was surprised when you mention seeds because the fruiting persimmon rarely has seeds. There are a number of species and obviously some do set seed.

[TimS]

I can't say i've seen princess persimmon in Australia, but maybe i've not been looking hard enough.

[Daluke]

Could be princess (they are royal no?)

[TimS]

If anyone knows of princess persimmon available let me know, i'd love to try growing them

[PeachSlices]

If anyone knows of princess persimmon available let me know, i'd love to try growing them

Yes they are available. To get them to fruit is another story.

Simon

[TimS]

If anyone knows of princess persimmon available let me know, i'd love to try growing them

Yes they are available. To get them to fruit is another story.

Simon

I will try to hunt some down and look into it further

[KIRKY]

I think you need both male and female plants. They take a long time to fruit from seed. They are also difficult to propagate from seed.
Cheers
Kirky

[PeachSlices]

If anyone knows of princess persimmon available let me know, i'd love to try growing them

Yes they are available. To get them to fruit is another story.

Simon

I will try to hunt some down and look into it further

Can pick you up one and send it down if your unlucky but will be a small plant. i've seen them bear fruit on a 10cm pencil cutting.

Simon

[melbrackstone]

There's some useful information here on getting the persimmon to fruit....using the Chinese tree...Diospyros armata.

I use Chrome's auto translate to help me read it.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/y5OZN9uTCzSC ... BbWxHByyLI

[MikeK]

If anyone knows of princess persimmon available let me know, i'd love to try growing them

Yes they are available. To get them to fruit is another story.

Simon

I will try to hunt some down and look into it further

Not sure if it helps as he's in Sydney, but I have a vague recollection of seeing 'Princess Persimmon' starters at Ray Nesci's nursery. Maybe give him a call ...

[treeman]

Diospyros kaki is the one we eat and the wild form, which is about half the size of the eating type, is what they use for bonsai in Japan. It is called Diospyrros kaki var sylvestris. Diospyros rhomifolia is the Princess persimmon from China with small fruit and is also very popular for bonsai. It has small leaves and ramifies pretty well compared to D kaki. I have some from seed (and later from cuttings of the seedlings) but until they flower I won't know which are males and which are females. When I do I will be able to multiply them in earnest. You will need one of each to get fruit. Daluke, your seeds are most likely D kaki.

[yumcha1]

Ray Nesci (Sydney) definitely had/has them, both male and female plants. I bought this one from his nursery about 3 years ago (and was just a straight stick), and it fruits without the need for a male, and therefore no seeds. The fruit remains on the tree for a long time and even into winter.

[Daluke]

Thanks.

These seem under rated - I haven’t seen any exhibited in Australia.

[melbrackstone]

I look forward to seeing some exhibited in Aus one day too. I'm currently growing about 6 different Diospyros varieties, 3 of which are native to Australia. Some I'm growing to see if I can get some fruit - D. kaki for a start...since I love eating them, but they're rarely available at the fruit shops here...