centuries to come. Unfortunately, Jerry passed away on April 1st, 2018. There is one other living persimmon breeder in addition to me, and that is Don Compton of Indiana, who is currently in poor health. Before Jerry Lehman there was John Gordon Jr., James Shanks, James Claypool, and JC McDaniels that worked on breeding North American 90 Chromosome persimmons.

The combined knowledge of these before mentioned folks and partial knowledge that has been shared over and over with me and several others that were interested in breeding persimmons has been invaluable.

At England’s Orchard and Nursery, we have both Asian (Kaki) persimmons and northern 90 chromosome persimmons and not more than five of the southern 60 chromosome American persimmons. Most of the trees on our farms #1 and 3 are hybrids of the 90 chromosome Kaki and Virginiana persimmons species.

Northern persimmons produce quite large fruit that weigh up to between 2 and 4 ounces. This is as large as a scotch tape roll and they have similar shapes. Asian persimmons produce very large fruit that may weigh up to between 6 and 10 ounces.

A grafted Kaki/Asian X Virginiana hybrid tree will produce in 3 years but will set a good harvestable crop in 5 years. Grafted Americans persimmons have similar production characteristics, that is, produce in 3 years, full crop in 7 years.

Seedlings begin fruiting in as few as 5 to 6 years, but normally take 7 years for substantial production. Most seedling are male because most species of persimmons are male dominant, with 75-80% of all seedlings being male. If persimmon breeders use a 90 chromosome male parent that sets female flowers like F100, George or F58 the cross results in progeny that produce a high percentage of female seedlings.

It is only the northern 90s and the Kaki that produce very desirable fruit. The 60 chromosome American persimmon has a place in the market since they produce very heavily, but cropping is very irregular from year to year. These are mostly marketed as wildlife food, but some have a very nice tasting fruit that most find appealing.

The natural boundaries between the 90 and 60 chromosome types (northern and southern strains) are the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Over thousands of years Native Americans moved the seed back and forth from one area to another, but still today these persimmon races are labeled as American persimmons and most individuals do not know the difference.

The southern 60 chromosome persimmons can grow to a massive size reaching from 80 to 100 feet in height and are used as timber trees, while the northern 90 chromosome persimmons mature into much smaller trees. These are an ideal orchard tree size, never growing much taller than 20 to 25 feet with a spread of 15 to 20 feet.

Clifford and Kum Hui England England’s Orchard and Nursery 2338 Highway 2004 McKee, Kentucky 40447-8342