American Persimmon Fruit • Production & Marketing

American Persimmon Fruit • Production & Marketing
The American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, is a native fruit tree found from Florida to Connecticut in the east, and from east Texas to SE Kansas, to SE Iowa in the west. It grows in almost all imaginable habitats, from near swamp-like up to the driest gravelly ridge tops, and everything in between. Persimmons will grow best and produce the most fruit on deep, fertile, moist, but well-drained soil. Consult the Web Soil Survey, a USDA Soil Survey book for your particular county, or your local NRCS office personnel for assistance in selecting appropriate soils and sites.
Persimmons are among the most popular fruits in the world. More than two dozen companies find it profitable to process American persimmon fruit and market frozen pulp for anywhere from $3 to $14 per pound. Most of this fruit is hand-picked from wild trees in the forests of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. An opportunity exists for small farmers in much of the US to grow superior cultivars of American persimmon for the frozen pulp market. Superior cultivars are more productive and produce larger fruit with better flavor and higher quality, compared to the typical wild fruit.
It is sometimes possible to purchase planting stock of grafted persimmons of superior cultivars from reputable nurseries. If the stock is field-grown and dug bare-root, it is critical that the root system still be intact. Persimmons are not good at recovering from a damaged root system. Container-grown stock is a safer option. If quality grafted stock is not available or affordable, an alternative is to plant persimmon seedlings, grow them up to 3’ to 4’ tall, then graft them yourself in place. Scion wood from superior cultivars is widely available and inexpensive. Grafting is a valuable skill worth learning.
Please see comment below for the full video script.
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Native Fruit Association: nativefruit.org
The Native Fruit Association (NFA) was formed to promote and share knowledge about native fruits of the Midwest that have commercial possibilities. The group has received grants from Iowa Department of Land Stewardship to create demonstration plots and to create informative videos and a website.
NFA has partnered with these organizations to develop a website with a series of professionally produced videos to promote the cultivation and consumption of three native Iowa Fruits: American Persimmon Fruit, Pawpaw Fruit, and Aronia Fruit::
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach • www.extension.iastate.edu
Levi’s Indigenous Fruit Enterprises (“LIFE”) • aronialife.com
Red Fern Farm • www.redfernfarm.com
Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio • elmker.com
For each of the three fruits, three videos have been developed:
• Short introduction to introduce consumers to the fruit and to get them excited about trying it.
• Video aimed at potential growers, showing planting and cultivation techniques, site selection, production cost estimates, and production profit projections.
• Video showing how to harvest, handle, and prepare the fruit into delicious juices, sauces, jams, pies, smoothies, and ice cream.
Each video is linked to more detailed written information on the NFA website, including several recipes for each fruit, lists of producers and their contact information, and step-by-step instructions for planting and cultivation for each fruit crop.
NFA wants to introduce both consumers and potential growers to these three little-known native Iowa fruits that are both delicious and nutritious. Producers will see how these fruits can be profitably grown as specialty crops that are virtually free of disease and pest problems. They can be grown in a system of continuous living cover, protection soil and water by reducing soil erosion to levels comparable to that of natural prairie and forest.
Playlist with all nine videos:
• Native Fruit Associati...
All nine videos are produced by:
Werner Elmker Audio-Visual Studio
Website - elmker.com
Facebook - / elmker
RUclips - / wernerelmker

[@madfishinskillz]

great video!! Just tasted my first small wild american persimmons and now I want to try the larger varieties!

[@WernerElmker]

American Persimmon Fruit • Production & Marketing
The American persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, is a native fruit tree found from Florida to Connecticut in the east, and from east Texas to SE Kansas, to SE Iowa in the west. It grows in almost all imaginable habitats, from near swamp-like up to the driest gravelly ridge tops, and everything in between. Persimmons will grow best and produce the most fruit on deep, fertile, moist, but well-drained soil. Consult the Web Soil Survey, a USDA Soil Survey book for your particular county, or your local NRCS office personnel for assistance in selecting appropriate soils and sites.
Persimmons are among the most popular fruits in the world. More than two dozen companies find it profitable to process American persimmon fruit and market frozen pulp for anywhere from $3 to $14 per pound. Most of this fruit is hand-picked from wild trees in the forests of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky. An opportunity exists for small farmers in much of the US to grow superior cultivars of American persimmon for the frozen pulp market. Superior cultivars are more productive and produce larger fruit with better flavor and higher quality, compared to the typical wild fruit.
It is sometimes possible to purchase planting stock of grafted persimmons of superior cultivars from reputable nurseries. If the stock is field-grown and dug bare-root, it is critical that the root system still be intact. Persimmons are not good at recovering from a damaged root system. Container-grown stock is a safer option. If quality grafted stock is not available or affordable, an alternative is to plant persimmon seedlings, grow them up to 3’ to 4’ tall, then graft them yourself in place. Scion wood from superior cultivars is widely available and inexpensive. Grafting is a valuable skill worth learning.
Persimmon trees should be planted 20’ apart, both within and between rows. For bare-root trees, planting holes should be dug just deep and wide enough to accommodate the roots without crowding or bending the roots around the sides of the hole. For container-grown stock, the hole should be just as deep, and no deeper, than the container. The root crown-the point where root and trunk meet-should be planted exactly at ground level. No part of the trunk should be buried or allowed to settle below grade. Normally, only the soil that came out of the hole should ever be used to backfill.
Persimmon trees are very attractive targets for both browsing and rubbing by deer. Rabbits will also girdle them or snip them off. Newly planted persimmon trees should be protected by 5’ tall tree shelters, or “grow tubes.” The tree shelters should be well-ventilated.
Persimmon trees need protection from competing vegetation to become established. A 3’ square of landscape fabric with a slit in the center for the tree to poke out, topped with 2” to 3” of course wood chips can provide very effective weed control, provided the vegetation is kept mowed short right up to the edge of the fabric. It is important to secure the margins of the fabric with a 6” turf staple at each corner, another halfway between each corner, and a ninth staple to hold the slit closed. Failure to fully secure the landscape fabric will result in it getting sucked into the mower blades.
A low-cost alternative to the fabric/mulch/mowing weed control strategy is the use of the herbicide Oust (sulfometuron methyl). When used according to label directions by a qualified pesticide applicator, Oust will provide a full year of weed control with a single application, and at a cost $1000 per acre less than the cost of the fabric/mulch. Oust should not be used on persimmon seedlings in their first year of life.
Persimmons are rather drought-tolerant, and shouldn’t need any supplemental watering once they’ve been in the ground for a month or so. After 4 to 5 years of growth, they should be established and start bearing fruit. After this point, they need little or no additional care except for some pruning to control the size of the tree. Persimmons are quite resistant to pests and diseases. Their worst pests are raccoons and opossums which climb the trees and break branches to get at the fruit.
One important point to keep in mind is that persimmons are diecious-they come in male and female. Normally, only female trees produce fruit, and normally only when there is a male in the vicinity. Only a single male tree is needed per farm, in order to fully pollinize all of the female trees. Some female trees will produce seedless fruit if there is no male tree nearby.
Persimmon fruit can be marketed in several different ways. PYO and farmers markets are options, though the massive production may make additional outlets necessary. An additional possibility is to sell fresh, high-quality cultivar fruit to one or more of the two dozen-plus companies that process persimmon fruit into frozen pulp. Superior cultivars should bring a premium price above the wild fruit they are used to using. Brewers and distillers are also starting to take an interest in using persimmon fruit.
Persimmon trees are reliable, productive, and nearly care-free once established. The fruit is popular and valuable. With some hard work and imaginative marketing, persimmons could become a very profitable enterprise on your small farm.

[@ujjwalthakur543]

Sir, I have planted persimmon trees in my orchard... They are 6-8 years old .... They produce flowers , but then after that they all fall from the tree ..... We haven't seen their fruit as well ....... Can u help me what problem are they having ????? Otherwise by no other choice I have to cut all the trees down ... I am from north india and persimmon trees are grown in my area. Waiting for ur reply🙏🙏🙏❤️😩

[@WernerElmker]

Please send your question to [e-mail]

[@davidnielsen2383]

instead of using commercial fabric, just use compost, chips or straw. why bring in artificial to grow a natural tree?