The Latest Tutorial on Persimmon Cultivation Techniques and Methods

Site Selection

Persimmon trees are best suited to calcareous soil, and also suitable for neutral or slightly acidic soil. It is advisable to choose a site with fertile, loose soil, a low groundwater table and good drainage, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun.

Seedling Selection

Choose new varieties certified by departments at or above the provincial level that are suitable for local planting and worthy of promotion, or choose varieties with a long history of local cultivation and good growth and sales for planting. One- to two-year-old grafted seedlings give a relatively high survival rate. The seedling should be over 1m in height, over 1.2cm in ground diameter, with a main root length of over 20cm and more than 15 lateral roots, and with a good, plump, robust graft union free of pests and diseases.

Seedling Planting

Before planting, dig large holes, add borrowed soil and apply sufficient basal fertilizer to create favorable conditions for root development. The planting density should be 4×5m, and the digging hole should be 1×0.8×0.6m in height, width and depth. Planting is best done in spring when the persimmon seedlings begin to sprout, so as to avoid frost damage; planting should achieve the three speeds of lifting, transporting and planting.

Soil, Fertilizer and Water Management

The persimmon tree is a deep-rooted tree species, so the planting holes should be expanded and the soil improved with additional fertilizer for the tree to grow vigorously. Persimmon trees are prone to root rot in acidic soil, so the soil should be improved when the pH value is too low. For persimmon trees in production, the holes should be expanded and the soil improved in winter; when backfilling topsoil, apply 50kg of pig and cattle manure or 1~1.5kg of calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer per tree, mix well with the topsoil and fill into the lower layer. For high-yield trees, apply sufficient pure N6.5kg, pure P2.5kg and pure K0.6kg per mu; the fertilizer concentration should not be too high and can be applied in several split applications. Watering generally includes the sprouting water, pre-flowering water, fruit-swelling water and overwintering water to keep the soil moist.

Training and Pruning

Winter pruning of persimmon trees is beneficial for early fruiting of young trees, high and stable yields of mature trees, and renewal and rejuvenation of aging trees. Winter pruning is generally carried out from after leaf fall to before sprouting the following spring.

1. Pruning of young trees

Select 3~4 suitable branches as the leaders of the main branches, generally without heading back, and thin out nearby weak and vigorous branches growing in the same direction. At present, the multi-main-branch natural open-center form is generally adopted. During training, temporarily retain the central leader and cut back 1/2~1/3 each year to maintain the open-center state; once the canopy is formed, remove the central leader.

2. Pruning of trees in full fruiting period

① Adjust the angle of the main branches to balance the internal and external growth vigor. Excessively numerous large branches should be thinned out over several years to promote the growth of inner-canopy branches, cultivate small fruiting branch groups, and support the large branches to grow outward and upward at a slant, gradually replacing the original leaders and raising the angle of the main branches.

② Combine thinning and heading back to cultivate inner-canopy branches. Head back overly tall and overly vigorous branch groups to prevent the fruiting position from moving outward, promote the emergence of renewal branches at the rear, and remove the weak while keeping the vigorous. Fruiting branches are generally not headed back; remove crowded branches, water sprouts, crossing branches and diseased or dead branches so that the branches are distributed reasonably.

③ Keep more reserve branches to overcome alternate bearing. Each year, shorten the fruiting branches or 1/3 of the fruiting mother branches as reserve branches so that they bear fruit every other year, extending the fruiting years.

3. Pruning of aging trees

Because persimmon trees have long-lived latent buds and strong sprouting ability, this characteristic can be used to carry out multiple renewals, keeping the tree vigor enduring and extending the fruiting years.

Pest and Disease Control

1. Clean the orchard in winter to reduce the overwintering pest and disease base. Combined with winter pruning, thoroughly clean up diseased fruit, diseased calyxes, dead branches and fallen leaves to remove overwintering sources of pests and diseases.

2. Before sprouting in spring, spray once with 5-degree lime sulfur mixture or 95% petroleum oil emulsion at 150 times dilution.

3. To control major pests such as persimmon mealybug, persimmon calyx borer and globular mealybug, on the basis of the above control measures, scraping off old bark and applying 5~10 times omethoate in a ring is notably effective. In addition, use biological pesticides such as Bacillus thuringiensis or diflubenzuron as much as possible to control leaf-eating pests.