Growing exotic plants at home in our time is not an exception, but rather the norm. Many are engaged in this, but not many know how to handle them so that they develop normally, and even give at least some kind of harvest. Grooming for persimmons is no different from grooming lemons, feijoa, figs, pomegranates, etc.
Growing at home
For the normal development of this plant, it is necessary to withstand the required temperature and humidity, both in summer and in winter. This is especially true for the winter period. For its overwintering, certain conditions are necessary: the temperature is not more than + 10 degrees, light is not required, but regular, although not abundant, watering is needed. For this, a basement or cellar may be suitable, if there are none, then you can insulate a balcony or loggia or use an unheated storage room. This period starts from the end of October and ends in the month of February. As for the rest of the year, it only benefits her, including the high summer temperatures. At this time, she feels good outdoors, where there is a lot of warmth and light.
Pitted persimmon. There is an opinion that persimmon seeds do not germinate well and need special processing before planting. For this purpose, many instructions and wishes have been written. But if it is decided to plant a bone of a freshly eaten fruit, then nothing of this is required. Their germination capacity drops sharply during long-term storage, and only then it will be necessary to carry out "resuscitation" measures in order for the seeds to germinate. And so a bone is taken, sprinkled with earth, watered regularly, and after two weeks at most, you can see powerful shoots.
Top dressing and watering. In order for a young tree that has just appeared to grow successfully further at home, it needs to be watered and fed. It should be remembered that this is a tropical plant and needs tropical conditions. Only in this case, you can count on the harvest. Despite this, an ordinary persimmon can withstand frosts of 20 degrees, and its virgin form is even more than -40 degrees. It is best to water with soft (rain) water, but if you strained with this, you can soften the usual one by taking a handful of peat, wrap it in a rag and put it in a bowl of water overnight.
Persimmon prefers light and hard to tolerate heavy soils - this should be remembered when growing it at home. As for top dressing, persimmon feels fine on poor soils. Therefore, it is better not to feed her than to overfeed her. This applies to both mineral and organic fertilizers.
Transfer. In the process of growth, this tree needs to be replanted several times, so the volume of the root system increases. In the first year, when the seedling grows rapidly, it will have to be transplanted 2-3 times, the next year and up to 3 years of age - every six months; after 3 years - every year, and after 5 years of life - after a year. During the transplant, it is not recommended to immediately greatly increase the volume of the container. With each transplant, the diameter of the pot increases by no more than 3-4 cm.
Crown formation. Persimmon is a tree and can grow at home to large sizes.To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to control its growth, while forming a compact crown. Usually, a spherical crown is formed. To do this, when reaching 35-40 cm of growth, pinch its top with lateral shoots. This is also done in order to limit the growth of this tree, resulting in a small compact tree with a spherical crown.
Fruiting and grafting. There are myths that it is impossible to get fruits from persimmon, growing it at home, and, therefore, why do this. But if you know some of the nuances of her agricultural technology, then this task becomes such a no longer difficult. The main conditions for obtaining a crop:
- Correct organization of wintering. It is at the time of wintering that persimmons lay the harvest of the next year. It requires cold wintering, despite the fact that it is a very thermophilic plant. The optimum temperature is 0 .. + 5 degrees. As you know, she calmly tolerates winter with frosts of -20 degrees.
- Constant growth inhibition by shortening fast-growing shoots.
- Keep her on a "diet". In no case should you overfeed, as this will only cause its rapid growth.
- Graft the cuttings from the already fruiting persimmon. This will speed up the onset of fruiting.
- Growing a tree in a small amount of soil limits the development of a large root system. A disproportionate root system will contribute to an overdose of nutrients, and therefore the tree will grow sickly and frail.
- to accelerate the appearance of fruit buds, ringing of individual branches can be carried out, but, in no case, ringing of the trunk.
If you adhere to such recommendations, over time, you can enjoy the appearance of the first flowers, and with the onset of winter, pick the first fruits. This miracle can happen already in the third year of life.
Useful Uses of Persimmons
Persimmon contains many vitamins (C, PP, E, A), as well as a large amount of trace elements (potassium, phosphorus, iodine, copper, manganese, iron, calcium). Which, in turn, help with vitamin deficiency, scurvy, increase the number of red blood cells.
In addition, it has antibacterial properties and is able to neutralize various E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus. With poor heart function, cardiologists prescribe it to remove excess fluid from the body. To reduce the burden on the kidneys, it is recommended to drink it with milk. It cannot be used in the treatment of atherosclerosis - a daily dose of about 100 g. It helps to calm down the nervous system, increases efficiency, helps to restore the functioning of the brain in case of lesions and hemorrhages. In case of thyroid dysfunction, it helps the body by replenishing the lack of iodine.
Its fruits can be successfully used as a source of valuable sucrose and is recommended for the "Kremlin" and vegetarian diet. Persimmon is an integral part of salads, meat dishes and in the preparation of various desserts and drinks.
Main varieties
There are three types of persimmons:
- Persimmon verginsky. It can be found mainly in the western United States and in the Mediterranean. The fruits of this variety have a high (about 45%) sugar content and they are distinguished by high nutritional value, despite their average size (from 2 to 6 cm in diameter). The tree is up to 25 meters high, very frost-resistant (up to -35 degrees) and can be easily grown without shelter in our conditions.
- Persimmon Caucasian. She took a fancy to the subtropical zone from Japan to Spain. The fruits are not large (about 2.5 cm in diameter) and are sold in the markets as common persimmon. Frost resistance is not lower than -25 degrees.
- Japanese persimmon. Compared to previous species, it has a small, compact tree no more than 10 meters high. In addition to Japan, it is widely distributed in the USA, Spain, Korea, China, Israel. The fruits of the Japanese persimmon are the largest and can weigh up to 0.5 kg, and at the same time, from one tree, you can collect up to 500 kg of fruits.
