I've planted my 3 persimmons 2 1/2 ft apart and so far they are doing fine after 3 years. I've got the coffee cake, the izu and jiro and can't wait to taste them. Because they stay firm when ripe I don't know when to pick them.

Xena, I have my persimmons planted 3' apart in a row and it works fine.

My impression is that Chocolate is PVNA. I don't ever recall finding any astringency in any Chocolate, and they can be eaten right off the tree. They are usually pretty soft by the point they have fully colored.

Scott

Thanks for the info!
Will they do ok with 1/2 day sun?

1/2 day is the minimum. Your yield will suffer a bit compared to full day sun.

Scott

Just one branch of chocolate persimmon will make 100% of all fruit on all your trees chock full of seeds. Ask me why I know this? No chocolate, no seeds. It doesn't taste any better than any other ones. I've grown about 15 varieties of japanese persimmons, most as just one branch on a multi-variety tree. Honan red tasted a little different than the others, but not much. I prefer the astringent ones. They are much sweeter than the non-astringent ones. Birds won't bother them as much either. The mockingbirds are now feasting on my non-astringent fruit. They eat about 1-2 a day. My suggestion is plant one saijo. It is one of the best. After 4 years be prepared to get 200-300 pounds of fruit per year. I had one. I cut it down as my other 2 trees produced more than I could eat already. I have bark grafted saijo to the center of my giombo tree. Giombo is my favorite but saijo is close.

To me Chocolate tastes better, and it is certainly quite different. Several varieties produce male flowers besides Chocolate so it is not the only one which can pollinate. It is true however that if you have no variety with male flowers you will get no pollination and no seeds. You may also have a problem with fruit drop depending on your climate if the fruit are not pollinated.

Scott

Hmm. this is great info. Now i'm wondering if I should just try the chocolate? It sounds like the flavor of the cultivars doesn't vary as much as the nursery websites say they do. I've only had Fuyu before and I liked it a bit crunchy. How irksome are the seeds?

Seeds are a real nuisance in persimmons. Chocolate may taste better but a fruit not chock full of seeds is worth a slight flavor giveaway.

I have no problems with fruit drop from non-pollinated fruit. My ichi ki kei jiro wants to break the branches with fruit every year. I do have a problem with hana fuyu not blooming. The main leader of my non-astringent tree is hana fuyu. It has not every bloomed in 5 years. The lower ichi jiro branches have bloomed for at least 4 years!

So, is it possible to have 2 different cultivars of persimmon planted that produce fruit w/o seeds if you pick cultivars that DON't produce male flowers? WHich cultivars don't produce male flowers? Or are these silly questions?