How many years does it take for Diospyros rhombifolia to bear fruit from planting?

Diospyros rhombifolia, also known as mountain persimmon and wild persimmon, is a wild fruit commonly found in hillside scrub and in forests along valley riversides. It tastes delicious and is very popular among people, so how many years does it take for Diospyros rhombifolia to bear fruit?

1. How many years does it take for Diospyros rhombifolia to bear fruit?

Diospyros rhombifolia grown as a small bonsai from cuttings bears fruit in about 3 years, while seedling-grown Diospyros rhombifolia bears fruit in about 5-6 years. The fruit is yellow-green when young and orange-red when ripe, with a waxy luster.

2. How do you care for a Diospyros rhombifolia bonsai?

1. Propagation by sowing

(1) Collecting seeds: After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, pick ripe fruit and take out the seeds.

(2) Treating the seeds: Wash them clean with clear water, then dry them and store them. In early April, soak the seeds in warm water at about 30°C for 2 days, then take the seeds out, put them in a container and cover them with several layers of gauze. Keep the gauze moist, watering once a day with clear water, until the seeds split open and sprout.

(3) Sowing method: Sow them on a seedbed prepared in advance, then carry out normal management. After three years they can be potted for shaping.

2. Potting and shaping

(1) Creating the shape: Dig up the propagated persimmon tree and pot it. When shaping, you can use wire to set the form of the trunk and main branches. In later management, pruning should be the main method, with hanging and tying as a supplement.

(2) Soil requirements: For potting soil, you can mix leaf mold, coarse river sand and garden soil yourself.

(3) Management techniques after potting:

(3.1) Fertilizing: After the new buds emerge, water with decomposed liquid fertilizer once a month. The ratio of fertilizer liquid to water is 1:10. Apply more fertilizer in spring and autumn, less in summer, and none in winter.

(3.2) Watering: Keep the potting soil on the moist side, and water thoroughly every night in summer. In spring, autumn and winter, water only when the potting soil is dry, and water thoroughly whenever you water. Before budding in spring, control water and keep the soil on the dry side, so that the leaves do not grow too large and the branches and buds do not stretch out. Diospyros rhombifolia is widely admired not only for its small, oily-green, glossy leaves, fragrant flowers, fine fruit, black bark and trunk, but also because it is easy to grow and highly tolerant, and especially because it is long-lived and can be passed down through generations. It is strongly shade-tolerant. It grows well on a balcony, and can be kept indoors for 1-2 [periods]; long-term waterlogging does not endanger its life.

(3.3) Pruning: First, before budding in spring, before March, since new buds tend to sprout on the branches after pruning at this time. Second, in summer, cut off branches that grew too long in spring to maintain good proportions; after pruning, the ornamental period is long, and it can make the autumn buds draw back so the branch shape is compact. Third, in autumn, wait for the branches to thicken and prune to prepare spring buds; when pruning in autumn, be careful to keep the small fruiting branches so as to favor fruit set on female plants. Grasping these three key pruning times can make the tree shape and branch pattern compact and perfect. Cold-region Diospyros rhombifolia mainly sends out spring buds each year, so it must be cut back before mid-autumn to easily prepare new buds for winter and then send out vigorous spring buds.