A couple things. Have you been pruning every year? Also, is it in a pot? 3 feet of growth should have happened in the first year and then some. Lastly, are you using fertilizer and if so, what is it?

Hi fireballsocal,

Just some basic pruning when necessary—there hasn't really been too much to prune, though. The tree is in the ground.

I may have put some compost around the tree occasionally, but no, I have not been actively fertilizing it. What kind are you supposed to use? And when?

Being as I would expect much more growth, you might try a higher nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen to plants is like sugar to kids. Really gets em going. It's not the best for fruit production though so use it to get some growth out of your tree then switch back to no ferts or possibly a balanced fruit tree fertilizer with trace elements. I use standard miracle grow in a half strength for a few of my trees that don't seem to grow quickly. I use grow power flower and bloom on everything else but citrus.

I thought you might have been pruning off the new growth that flowers would have appeared on but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Being as I would expect much more growth, you might try a higher
nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen to plants is like sugar to kids. Really
gets em going. It's not the best for fruit production though so use it
to get some growth out of your tree then switch back to no ferts or
possibly a balanced fruit tree fertilizer with trace elements. I use
standard miracle grow in a half strength for a few of my trees that
don't seem to grow quickly. I use grow power flower and bloom on
everything else but citrus.

OK, thanks for the advice, fireballsocal.

Joe Blow,

Wondering your location and zone.

Northeast GA, Zone 8A.

do the leaves look healthy ?

I think so.

What about the trunk ... has it grown in caliper at all ?

Decently, I think.

What about soil type and drainage ?

I'm not sure about the soil type (I think we have a good bit of clay?), but I believe the drainage is pretty decent.

Full sun or what ?

Yes, full sun.

I would sprinkle 2-3 cups of 10-10-10 around it now,

Can you buy that at a general store like Walmart?

Then, take 2 aspirin and call us in 3 months.

Is the aspirin for me or the tree? ;)

Ok, well for your conditions and location, does seems a bit stunted. One other thing, have you ever made a heading cut ? Meaning, that you chop off the central leader / main trunk. Just wondering if you are viewing the tree more as an ornamental /shade tree and don''t really care about it getting tall and in fact want that ... or if you are viewing it as a fruit tree that you want to get fruit from ... and want to be able to easily prune and harvest and keep birds from pecking your fruit ? The reason I ask is if you just want a big, pretty tree that hopefully starts to flower, the advice that we have given is spot on. My point is 7 feet is about the right height to manage ... any taller, ladders start getting involved ... and netting becomes difficult for bird control ... if it's anything at all there like it is here with regards to bird pressure, they start pecking once the persimmons are just about ripe ... then ants get in and it goes down hill fast from there. So we net. My point is, you may want to start the regime we layed out, but also top the tree, or make a heading cut to keep it short ... and hope the fertilization causes it to branch out more with some laterals and it starts flowering. Once you have definitely "woken it up" and you see new growth emerging, then I would lay off the miracle grow and really lighten up the 10-10-10 to like 1 cup in the spring , with watering monthly with a bloom type water soluble ... I use a seaweed based 4-26-26 (note low nitrogen). It is full of trace elements which helps prevent deficiencies and has plenty of phosphorus for fruit production. I also wonder if your tree is mulched ... or is it planted in a yard surrounded by grass, which could explain alot too. A pic would be nice for us to see. I'm going outside now to take a pic of our old and new persimmon trees ... I'll post those here. On the 10-10-10, would try home depot or lowe's first if you are looking for a big box store solution ... they have a better gardening section than Walmart. Anything close to 10-10-10 is fine ... another solution would to just get Osmocote Plus ... pink bag ... which is 15-9-12 I think ... and it has trace minerals, which you need in case a deficiency of something obscure is holding your tree back. Read the label of whatever you buy and make sure it has things like magnesium, iron, boron, etc...

Ok, first 3 pics are the old Fuyu , about 15 years old ... and I'm planning to get up on the orchard ladder soon to prune it down shorter by a foot or two. This tree was allowed to get too tall a long time ago ... not a whole lot I can do now other than check new growth at the top ... afraid any serious heading cuts at this point would cause issues. I took a close up of the leaves to see if yours basically look healthy like that. The last pic is a Fuyu planted this February ... and is has blooms already.

One other thing, have you ever made a heading cut ?

Not intentionally. Last year, a deer cut off the top of one of the leading branches.

if you are viewing it as a fruit tree that you want to get fruit from

Yes.

and hope the fertilization causes it to branch out more with some laterals and it starts flowering.

So when a tree doesn't flower, can that indicate a lack of nutrients?

I also wonder if your tree is mulched ... or is it planted in a yard surrounded by grass, which could explain alot too.

I may put some mulch on it occasionally, but it's in a field. I'll try to post some pix this weekend.

Read the label of whatever you buy and make sure it has things like magnesium, iron, boron, etc...

Thanks for the fertilizer recommendations.

In general, is there a best time of the year to fertilize fruit trees? And would that apply to other fruit plants too, like blueberries and figs, or even to nut trees?

Ok, first 3 pics are the old Fuyu , about 15 years old ...

Thanks for posting the nice pix, Joe. I imagine it produces a lot of fruit.

I took a close up of the leaves to see if yours basically look healthy
like that.

I think the leaves on mine look reasonably healthy. I'll try to include a picture of those.

The last pic is a Fuyu planted this February ... and is has
blooms already.

How old is the tree? Do Fuyus normally bloom that young?

OK, here are the sexy pix I promised to post! ;)

Incidentally, since taking these pictures, I've weeded out the grass from around the trunk. On another note, a few years ago, I think some animal bit a chunk out of the trunk near the bottom—unless there's some other explanation for it. It still hasn't "healed," but it doesn't look infected either. Anyway, I doubt that has much to do with the lack of blooms.

Hey, Joe, haven't heard from you for a while. Are you okay? I sure hope so.

neptune25

wow wow so nice, i would like to live in America in your place

Thanks, Yovan. Where do you live?

neptune25

Eastern Europe, Thanks

I've heard Eastern Europe is beautiful too. :)

I posted this question a year ago, and now it appears that my tree is finally blooming after 5 years! It's probably about 7 years old. Hooray!!! Is it unusual for a Hachiya tree to take so long to bloom?

Also, is it likely that the tree will bear any fruit this year? Thanks for any info.

Hi Neptune. Some fruit trees can take many years to fruit. Some can fruit the very year they are planted. I can't speak as to how long the average hachiya to bloom. Once the flowers start to shrivel, check the base of the flowers for swelling. You will start to see the fruit develop there if any flowers were pollenated. If you see tiny fruit starting to develope, it's a good chance you will get some fruit this Fall.

Thanks, fireballsocal. I am seeing some swelling at the bases of the flowers, so it looks like the tree may be bearing some fruit this year. Cool! :)

It seems that a lot of the tiny fruits have already fallen off. Right now, it looks like there are about 4 left that may develop into mature fruit. Is this normal for the very first year of fruiting? Thanks for any info.

Yes, it's normal. The tree will self abort fruit it doesn't deem necessary. When the tree is still young, small, or can't support much fruit for other reasons, it may not produce any fruit or very small amounts. One of my cherry trees gave me fruit for the first time this year, 4 cherries. It will produce more fruit next year and so will yours. Just be patient. Many of those fruit may have never been pollenated also. The tree can start the fruit itself but they will turn yellow, shrivel, and fall off without pollenation.

Great—I feel better now. :)