Is there anyone on this forum growing American Persimmon Diospyros virginiana?
I am growing Garretson. I talked to someone who was growing Ruby and Meader and she said they didn't ripen for her.
Hoyt Arboretum grows the species. They are good, but not nearly as good as Garretson. They ripen every year, but it is in an urban environment, so the urban heat island effect applies, whereas my friend's trees are in the country.
I would be very curious as to whether anyone else is growing this plant.
Thanks,
John S
PDX OR
I had grown Meader, John. Though up in the hills, and likely a couple weeks behind Portland by the end of the season, they ripened for me. What didn’t work for me was their extremely brittle wood… I lost two scaffold limbs while fully leafed out to a slight summer gust… I was there 
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Hey Viron,
I have been looking through the literature and Meader is listed as the most brittle of all varieties. A neighbor lady had Asian Persimmons and said that a fully uniformed postal carrier on duty came onto her property, stole her persimmons, and broke several branches. I think most kinds have some brittleness issues but Meader is probably the worst of all. It is self-pollinating, but I think it would be good for people to know that before buying it.
John S
PDX OR
Yes, supper-brittle. I’m in a wind-sheltered pocket… so can’t imagine Medears surviving anywhere. I’d had several crops off the …maybe 4 year old tree before it’s final demise. Being self-fertile was one of the reasons I went with it.
Actually, all my persimmon’s are brittle, and Asian, it’s a real downside with them. I’ve known several people who’ve eventually lost most of the limbs from their Asian persimmon trees. Most still growing them have developed a routine of propping up their limbs in some way when the fruit begins to get heavy.
My Uncle had an entire Fuyu persimmon tree snap off at the trunk – just above the graft. He was sick as it had it’s first ‘full load’ of fruit. I was sick because I’d ‘made it’ for him. He let it grow back from above the graft (a more patient guy than me) and it’s doing well… with his constant yearly propping and elaborate ‘cage-frame.’
Other than a postal carrier, my problem is raccoons. Not only can they strip out a persimmon tree in a few evenings, but they’ll break all kinds of branches in the process. Trap time… Can we win for losin 
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Viron
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