I have planted persimmons. One thing to keep in mind is that I believe it is if 10 are planted only one will be a female and that is pretty much my experience. I have planted chestnut seedlings and nuts but all are under 3 years old. I put a metal cage around the nut.

If you graft from a female persimmon to a male will the grafts still produce fruit?

I planted some Japanese variety persimmons tree more than a dozen years ago now .They started to produce in about 6 -8 years .Now the trees are about 25 feet tall .The deer absolutely love them Also have fox /coyote and other wildlife feeding on them in Jan/Feb .The ones I planted hold their fruit into mid winter so the deer keep coming back as they drop fruit in the middle of cold weather. And if you are willing to pick them up you can use them in the kitchen as a preservatives A friend has had good luck with a variety of chestnut trees .His produced quickly and bear a large amount of nuts He has bear deer and turkey feeding on them every winter

All mine have.

Home office for American Chestnut Society is in Asheville, NC. Their website has lots of good info. They will talk by phone also. Helpful people dedicated to the return of chestnut trees. Google them.

No need to plant persimmons around here. They’re everywhere along the field edges and ditch banks. Some are far more productive than others.

Chestnuts and persimmon are my favorite for wildlife. These were planted in mid March. Took the picture last weekend.

Yes. From the union of the graft on out it is female.

The four trees to the left in the picture were planted in 2006. All 4 are female persimmons. I dug a dozen root shoots up from the 4 trees and I think they will all be female too. I planted 200 persimmon trees in 2006 that I got from the NWTF - and I would say 80% survived and at least 50% are females. I’ve planted Chinese and Dunstan chestnuts. To answer your questions…..persimmons and chestnuts normally take 5 to 7 years to produce fruit or nuts after planting 1 to 2 year old seedlings. I fertilize mine in the spring and I think they grow fairly fast. It is worth it to me when I see the wildlife eating the nuts or fruit.

I hear you Turkey, good job!

I have planted american chestnuts, but more to just keep them going.

Good for the deer too

just planted some chestnut before i came to florida swamp chestnut about 4 feet tall ,i have to fence everything thing that I plant or the deer will eat , have 100 swamp oak coming when I get home

I may plant persimmon after talking to a DNR forester last week. He said there's at least 1 kind that seems to do well in Wi, & that deer love 'em: Nikita’s Gift.

AJE

Maybe someone will start a self help organization to provide any trees that are confused about this type of problem with advice

As others have stated our persimmons will take over if you don’t watch it. Unfortunately, The males don’t produce. I planted Chinese chestnuts 25 years ago from seedlings and they produce a ton of mast. However, don’t plant them in areas you want to work dogs, have kids play, or walk because the husk that holds the nuts are solid needle bombs and will ruin your day and flatten small equipment tires. I believe the chestnuts started to produce in about 6-7 years. My sawtooth oaks started in 7 years. I planted some pears and apples also. Found that the “old time” stuff did much better than the fancy hybrid trees that are designed to mature at different times. They produced but the fruit would never release from the tree….rotted on the limbs.

Interesting I have not heard of this issue

Much of the issue with planting fruit trees is what rootstock they are on. The overall performance of the tree is tightly tied to which rootstock it has. A lot of the supermarket hybrid trees may be on roots that don't stand up to your conditions.

Chestnuts are that sharp?

Yes, once the husk matures and browns up it becomes brittle and it’s a real nuisance. Won’t puncture tractor tires but will on worn lawnmower tires etc. Tough on feet and paws. However, deer live them.