Persimmon In A Flowerpot - Growing Persimmons In Tubs (part 2)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

The subtropical culture of persimmon can be grown in our region, but in tubs

Most of the varieties grown in our country are of Chinese and Japanese origin. Persimmon wood is hard, valuable and beautiful. Leaves are large, oval, entire, 8-16 cm long, shiny above, yellowish-pubescent below; in the fall they turn red, becoming deep burgundy, effectively staining the crown. Plants can be both polygamous (rarely), and mono- and dioecious, with different transitions between them. The flowers are creamy, odorless, pollinated by bees and flies. Men's - small, gathered in bunches; female - large, single. Many varieties carry only female flowers, therefore, for 7-8 such trees, one male pollinator is necessarily required, or grafting a branch of such into the crown. Productivity - up to 100 kg per tree. The fruit is a fleshy, oval, egg or tomato-shaped, less often a cylindrical berry,up to 6-8 cm long and 5 cm in diameter (the size of a tomato); with 1-4 large brown seeds, sometimes without them. Skin color - from light yellow, bright orange to dark red, sometimes almost black. The skin is smooth, even, sometimes with shallow longitudinal grooves, covered with a waxy coating.

The peduncle is thick and short. Fruits on the tree hold firmly, and remain hanging even after the leaves fall. The pulp of ripe fruits is soft, fleshy, jelly-like, juicy, tender. Around the seeds - soft fibrous. Its color in most varieties is orange, less often - chocolate brown. In the first case, the pulp contains a large amount of tannins, so the unripe fruits are strongly knitted. Only when fully ripe, or after daily soaking in water, tannins, and with them astringency disappear, and they become sweet. However, the Sharon variety and some others can be eaten unripe. Fresh fruits contain 9-15, and sometimes 25% of sugars (glucose prevails), and in dry fruits their share can increase to 62% (usually 13.5 glucose and 8.5 fructose). Fruits without astringency are usually somewhat finer and always with seeds, i.e.resulting from pollination. Such berries are usually stronger and are called "chocolate" persimmon (by the color of the pulp) or "kinglet" - after the same name of one of the varieties that gives similar fruits. However, if it happens that pollination does not occur on such a variety for any reason, then the fruits will be tied parthenocarpically. In this case, their pulp will be seedless, orange in color, and, unfortunately, tart, i.e. you get an ordinary persimmon.you get an ordinary persimmon.you get an ordinary persimmon.

In addition, eastern persimmon fruits contain 0.3-1.2% proteins, fiber, tannins, about 0.4-0.9% organic acids (mainly citric), 0.25% phenolic compounds. There are also trace elements in them: copper - up to 0.33 mg%, manganese - about 0.7, iron - 4.0, and potassium up to 0.9 mg%. In addition, vitamins are also contained: C (15 mg%), B1, B2, P, PP, carotene (2.5 mg%). Lots of pectins. The fruits usually contain 8-10 seeds, but often, as already mentioned, they are parthenocarpic, seedless.

Fresh persimmons at a temperature of 0 … + 1 ° C and a humidity of 85 - 90% can be stored for 2-3 months. They are eaten fresh and dried. There is no astringency in the latter, but if you cook something out of them, for example, compote, then astringency may appear again. Berries are also used to make wines, liqueurs, candied fruits, preserves, jam, marshmallows, jellies and other food products. Fruit juice has bactericidal properties against colibacillus and hay bacillus, Staphylococcus aureus. They are used to prepare the drug sucdioscapil, which is used to treat tereotoxicosis. Powder from dry leaves is used in folk medicine of the East as a hemostatic, diuretic and antihypertensive agent; and the infusion of the bark - for diarrhea, dysentery, intermittent fever.

The eastern persimmon is practically not damaged by pests and diseases and requires almost no maintenance. It is easy to grow it in a tub culture from seeds taken from the fruit. Such plants will be better adapted to indoor conditions. However, there may be a problem with fruiting, since most persimmon plants are monoecious. Therefore, if the gardener wants to get fruit, it will be more desirable to harvest varietal cuttings (male and female) in the south and graft them into the crown of the rootstock. Grafting is also promising for cuttings taken from female specimens of self-fertile varieties. Caucasian and virgin persimmon are most often used as rootstocks. Own seedlings of oriental persimmon are used less often for this. In addition, persimmons can be propagated by air layers, although they take root slowly. When growing persimmons for decorative purposes,to give its crown a beautiful bush-like shape and to promote better ripening of the shoots, it is advisable to prune branches in the fall. Unlike the Caucasian and Virginian ones, due to their low winter hardiness, the eastern persimmon is not suitable for moving north in the open field, although it tolerates light frosts. It is only promising as a tub culture.

It is difficult to grow the listed persimmon species completely as indoor plants, because in the middle of winter, they need a temperature in the range of -5 … + 10 ° С. In addition, they are deciduous, therefore, 2-3 months in a leafless state are not able to be an interior decoration. But as a tub culture, as already mentioned, they are perfect. Especially oriental and virgin persimmon. Caucasian persimmon is less suitable, because its trees are large, and the fruits are less tasty. Since all three species are quite light-requiring, they should be placed in the house in the most illuminated place, near the window of the south or south-west exposure. In addition, in spring and autumn, when daylight hours are less than 12 hours, they must be supplemented. When exposed to a garden, balcony and other outdoor areas, plants should be placed in full sunlight,well protected from the wind. The transition from insufficiently lit room conditions should be smooth. Therefore, the first days after the exhibition of flowerpots with plants on the street, persimmon must be shaded. Otherwise, its leaves may be burnt by the sun's rays. After leaf fall, when the plants lose their decorative effect, they are removed to the basement or to some other cool place. They transfer her there late enough.

As already mentioned, in nature, all types of persimmon are quite undemanding to soil conditions. Another thing is the tub culture, when the size of the root system is ten times smaller. In such conditions, persimmons require rich, but at the same time loose soil mixtures, and the entire active growing season - until the end of August - it needs weekly feeding, alternately full of mineral (NPK) and organic fertilizers. The same goes for soil moisture. In the summer, persimmon requires abundant watering. It is unacceptable to flood the plants, but it is also impossible to overdry the soil lump. The soil should always be slightly damp. To avoid stagnant water, a good drainage must be made of broken bricks, shards, and even better - from charcoal. In room conditions, when the air humidity is often low,it is advisable to spray the crown of persimmon from time to time.