🟠🟠🟠🟠 Link to Persimmon Cook Book: amzn.to/3CO3sH5 🟠🟠🟠🟠 🍒🍒🍒🍒 Want to learn about a spicy native shrub that is a host plant and produces red berries the birds love? Check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fuvrvQbXoTM.html 🍒🍒🍒🍒 This video is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission.
It’s one of my favorite trees. I found one growing in the woods nearby and saved some seeds that I planted one winter since they need a cold treatment… I ended up with over a dozen beautiful trees. It’s been 5 years, no signs of fruiting yet but I have a grafted American persimmon I found at Walmart that’s currently fruiting. Can’t wait to eat those tasty fruit! 😋❤
I was lucky to have found that the house I bought a few years back has 3 American persimmon trees. I didn’t even know it until last year. Even the smallest tree has tons of fruit on it ready to eat in late October all the way through November. For thanksgiving I made a jam and all I had to do was skim the fruit, stir the center parts in a bowl and tada it was ready! The flavor is so great and I can only describe it as honey and oranges. By far my favorite fruit now. 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Found a bunch of persimmon trees growing in a part in NC last year and got my mom to try them (proving they were edible by eating a piece myself). No they were not yet ripe and my mom didnt talk to me the rest of the day 😂
My ol' man has some persimmon trees near his house. I was trying to show my son about them, picked up an orange-colored but still under-ripe one, and took a bite to show him it was edible. Yeah, the color can fool ya. If it ain't squishy, leave it be. My son still makes fun of me for the face I made...
*mike wazowski voice* I'm famous! the picture at 4:35 of the persimmons in the collander is one of my photos I made public domain on iNaturalist :D Pro tip I learned after that: Take the caps off first, and use a collander with bigger holes! If you find a tree with fruit, look for fruit on the ground (or within reach on the branches) that's turned more pinkish than orange, those are the ones that are fully ripe. If in doubt, peel a bit of the skin away and touch your tongue to it, if it's not ripe it'll be astringent, if it is it'll just taste sweet. The seeds are really easy to grow if you get them fresh, just plant them in some soil an inch or so deep in the fall, leave the container outside over the winter (with a wire cover of some sort if you've got lots of squirrels who might dig in them), and they should start popping up above the soil in late March! The seedlings will have red stems, and narrow seed leaves :) If you give them good potting soil or plant them in the ground, they can grow three feet tall in just their first year, which I was not expecting at all! Here's the observation, that photo's at the very end :) www.inaturalist.org/observations/137694490 Please feel free to tag me if you find any more of my photos helpful, I'm so glad they're being used to help teach people and I've only watched two of your videos so far, but they're awesome! :D
If you can find a collander with big holes it does help! Persimmons are probably my favorite wild fruit, although they can be a pain to process. But, you do end up with a pile of seeds to plant - and they usually have a high germination rate (hint - don't plant a ton of them unless you want a ton of persimmon sprouts!). How cool is it that you saw your photo! Thank you for making those photos public domain, they sure help out when looking for reference material. I use iNaturalist quite a bit for reference photos and I will tag you in the future if I use more of yours.
@@BackyardEcology I love their high germination rate because that means I get to plant more in wild areas, and try to convince other gardeners to take them as a gift. The spot where the parent wild tree is growing isn't suitable for seedlings, since the grass gets chopped down twice a year, so I plant the seeds in other wild areas where they'll be able to grow. Most of the problem of trying to get other people to grow them is that they're upset about needing a male and a female tree, even when I assure them that in 5-6 year's time when they might start flowering, if I'm still in the area I'll give them branches of the alternate sex to graft onto it or clone lol. I've also made some youtube videos about the common persimmons I've found, and also made them as public domain as I can with RU-vid's settings, so feel free to take clips from them if they're helpful :)
Dude I just learned these along with pawpaws existed two years ago and desperately want to try them. My girlfriend just enherited 20 acres with a few on there growing fruit. Only one persimmons seems to be fruiting so I have a lot of grafting to do. Few more months and I will eat my first one!
Ever heard Jerry clower talk about green persimmon wine? If you look at the map that was given in this video I believe most of these trees were spread during the civil war because of soldiers trying to find things to eat.
The range on the map is known native range for the American persimmon in eastern North America. It was quite widespread before the Civil War and even before European colonization.
I had two enormously tall ones - easily 60-70 feet tall, as tall as the 100+ year willow oaks - in the backyard of a home built in 1950 in Charlotte, NC. Their fruits were definitely popular with the wildlife, and I survived the job of cleaning up the fruit to be able to mow effectively every fall. I've been thinking about trying to get some going on our family property in Alabama, to provide additional sustenance for native wildlife.
Persimmons are great trees and should grow well in Alabama. Plant several to ensure there are some female trees, or plant grafted female trees and pollinator males. Not every nursery will have grafted known sex stock for American persimmon but I know The Wildlife Group does have grafted female American persimmon - and they are in Alabama!
You are welcome! Persimmon is an awesome tree and some tasty fruit - just make sure they are a little squishy and ripe. You will know if they are not as soon as you taste an unripe one!
My grandfather was a practical joker, so of course when I was kid he "happened to mention" that the persimmon was a delicious, sweet fruit. There was (is) a large mature persimmon behind his dairy barn, so he picked one for me and told me to taste it. I think he laughed about that for a couple of weeks, and my cousins all confirmed that he did the same to them. That tree is still going, but it must me toward the end of it's life. I want to plant two more (a male and a female) to continue the goodness.
There is one growing in my backyard near Seattle Washington. 50 feet tall, was nearly choked by English Ivy, I cut the trunk of the ivy. It makes lots of fruit, haven't tried them yet.
Appreciate the info. I live in Montana in zone 4b. I got a couple of the Yates variety and the traditional American Persimmon. I’m really excited to get these going. I’m hoping they’ll survive our winters here. I was told they’re good down to zone 4.They were just planted this year so I have some years before they’ll fruit. The Yates is self pollinating but I’m hoping with the Americans I’ll have a mixture of male and female.
That is pretty far north for persimmon but they should survive. Fruit production may be spotty due to late frost some years. Glad you found the video useful.
I always check to see if the fruit can be (very) easily pulled off a branch before attempting to eat it despite it looking orange in color. Even then, just letting them sit and ripen a few days usually guarantees a delicious, ripe fruit.
Good tips! I normally just shake the branch, or the whole tree if its small enough, and pick up the ones that fall off. Persimmons also feel a little squishy when ripe.
I just bout a place with some persimmons…my first one so far was delicious! Also have them popping up all over the yard.. box turtles must love them,2. I don’t have anymore ready to eat and I’m not very patient. My rabbits had a bite,2👍🏻guess I should dig up the ones in my lawnmower path . I love it! Thank u for this video. Very helpful.
If you can find persimmons from stock growing wild in your area it would be best. Also, persimmons do not grow natively or well if planted in areas with harsh winters.
@@BackyardEcology none around here. I’ll just get them at a stand or grocery for the short time they’re available. I’ve gone with figs instead. Potted. I can keep them small and store them for winter.
Do you have any cool experiences with American persimmon? Tell us about it! Want to learn about a spicy native shrub that is a host plant and produces red berries the birds love? Check out this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fuvrvQbXoTM.html
I had the strongest cravings for persimmons during my pregnancy-- which occurred during the time they weren't in season. It was 4 years ago and I still think about it.
@@BackyardEcology agreed. I wonder if the difficulty to obtain one or the roughly 20-30% daily vitamin C per 25g had anything to do with it. Guh! The custardy texture and spiced fruit flavor... I was dreaming about them!😂
Yes, you will only make the mistake of eating an unripe persimmon once. 😅 I still remember it vividly. Scared me off of them before I looked up why it happened lol
Ive eaten one that wasnt ripe 2 times ;) hahaha. Before I knew how to identify a good one. Astringent. Makes your mouth feel like youve been walking 2 weeks in a desert without having water. Bad cottonmouth. The taste of tannins, if youve ever had a raw acorn, thats present in an unripe persimmon. Makes you want to rinse your mouth out. Foul, utterly foul. The ripe fruit however is utterly & literally divine per the latin name & otherwise :) sweet potato/sweet carrot/pumpkin pie/caramel type taste. One of my favorite foods to forage once i found a good tree at the right time of year! My trick to my first good one was to let it fall from the tree naturally; if you give the tree a little shake, any fruit that fall are golden to eat.
I actually prefer the taste of the native persimmons. It is not true that they have to be eaten after a frost. As long as they are fully ripe the American persimmon are good to go. If we waited until a frost here in KY there would be zero persimmons left as the critters would have eaten them all.
Tried to get persimmons and pawpaws going this year, but I just couldn't get anything to germinate. I may try again in the future or try to find a good seller of saplings.
It happens when working with seed. Give it another try. Persimmon generally has a high germination rate if stratified long enough. Pawpaw seed has to be stratified when fresh - if it dries out at all germination rates plumate.
There are some self-fertile cultivars of the American persimmon. Yates is a popular one and is commonly available and is said to be good in zones 4-10.
@@BackyardEcology How many trees need to be planted to ensure there is enough female trees? If we are unlucky and only have male trees, we just chop it down since it bear no fruits? How do you tell if it is male? No flowers? Will female trees pollinate other females trees or you need a balance of male and female?
I usually plant at least three. Some nurseries sell grafted female trees so that is an option. Both sexes have flowers, but they differ in shape. I'll do a video on it this spring when the persimmons flower. You can also graft a known female onto a male sapling if you have too many males. There are some cultivars of American persimmon that are also self fertile (have male and female flowers). @@hykok
@@BackyardEcology If grafted tree that have both male and female, does that means we only need one tree? Can we mix /graft astringent (asian pasimmon) and non-astringent (asian pasimmon) on the same tree? After we pruned the tree, do we continue to get more of both male/female of it's just a one season only fruit only from each graft?
A grafted tree should continue to produce for the life of the tree. If the graft is done in such a way that male and female braches will be produced I guess one tree would work. Usually they are grafted to so the entire top of the tree is female. I am not sure on grafting American and Asian persimmons on the same tree. @@hykok
I have a 35 foot tall tree that is growing on a property in Alabama. It has the alligator skin. It looks very much like the American persimmon tree you show. However, it is dropping small black, and a few green, Persimmon type fruit right now. The fruit has four lobbed leaves attached to their top. Next to this tree is a smaller tree without fruit - a male? What the heck is this tree?????
I have been seeing a lot of small green persimmons on the ground the last week or so. Storms have been knocking them down. I'm not sure why they would be black though. There is a species that is native to TX that does have black ripe fruit, but this time of year they would be green like the American persimmon. Interesting.
My neighbor's persimmon is dropping similar colored fruit - very dark purple with hints of green and orange. They are quickly rotting on the ground and flies are having a multi-week feast, so we got some fly traps so they wouldn't annoy us so much while eating on our nearby deck. This persimmon has some bark missing near the base, and its leaves have already turned yellow and have also been falling along with the fruit. This leads me to believe it is a diseased tree.
Depends on the pollinators - some don't really check out rotting fruit, plus when fruit is rotting the tree isn't flowering. It is good for bringing in some of the butterflies that rarely visit flowers though. You can learn more about them in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VCi2uZX_ir8.html@@tinawindham6958
There is tree like this at my job. It makes a fruit like this but they’re smaller. When they ripen and fall they have this terrible, terrible smell. What the heck is this tree called? I want to have it removed
That would be a Ginkgo tree. They are not related to persimmons and are not native to North America. The ripe fruit smells like dog poop but the trees are popular in landscaping due to their nice growth form and super fall color.
@@BackyardEcology ooh thank you! that’s it’s name “ginkgo” I gotta look up more about this tree. I want to have it removed so badly. The smell ugh lol thanks again
