Persimmon (lat. Diospyros, per. "Food of the gods") is a genus uniting several hundred species of evergreen and deciduous plants. Homeland - subtropical territories of Southeast Asia. Some representatives are used as a source of ebony.
Botanical Description
Persimmon is a sprawling tree with thin, often curved trunks, a wide ragged crown. In regions with cold winters, it often grows in the form of shrubs due to freezing.. Height - from 6 to 10 m, but there are specimens above 20 m. Outwardly, adult culture resembles an apple tree. The bark is dark gray, with cracks. Lateral shoots densely branched, located at a large angle to the trunk. The leaves are simple, alternate, leathery, elongated-oval, with pointed tips, up to 15 cm in size. The upper part of the plates is dark green, the lower is lighter, the surface with pronounced feathery veins.
Persimmon - a dioecious plant. Only a few species combine the characteristics of both sexes on the same tree. The flowers are axillary, inconspicuous, small, with four-lobed calyxes and bell-shaped greenish-white or yellowish corollas. In female specimens, they are located singly, in male ones they are collected in rare brushes. Flowering begins in early April or May, lasts until June. Plants are pollinated by insects.. In some cases, fruit ovaries on female specimens appear without pollination. They differ from ordinary ones by the absence of seeds.
Fruits - juicy, fleshy ovoid, spherical or flattened berries, covered with thin skin, smooth or velvety. Ripe persimmon has a bright orange, reddish, brown or brown color, sometimes a surface with contrasting specks. Seeds are located in the center, in the thickness of the pulp. One copy contains 1-10 pieces. The size of the fruit is from 2 to 12 cm, weight is from 10 to 100 g. In appearance remind tomatoes. Full ripeness is reached in late autumn, when the sugary pulp becomes soft. For a delicate texture and sweet taste, persimmons are often called date plums.
Spread
The homeland of persimmon is India, southern China, North America. This thermophilic plant prefers sunny, humid regions with mild winters, with temperatures not lower than -2 ° C. The greatest species diversity in Southeast and South Asia. Territories where persimmons grow:
- Malaysia,
- India,
- Korea,
- China,
- Philippines,
- Thailand,
- Sunda Islands
- Ceylon,
- Sri Lanka,
- Japan.
Fruit trees are introduced, cultivated in areas with a suitable climate:
- Italy
- Spain
- Turkey
- Iran
- Mexico
- Brazil
- New Zealand
- South Africa.
In the regions of Central Asia, Transcaucasia, on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory of Russia and Crimea, Caucasian persimmon is grown.
Species and varieties
All existing natural varieties and hybrid cultural forms belong to three main types of persimmons:
- Caucasian. Distributed throughout the subtropics of Japan, China, in the Crimea, the Mediterranean, and the Caucasus. This is a sprawling tree up to 15–18 m high, with wide leathery leaves, white flowers. Fruits abundantly. The berries are small, spherical, 1.5–2 cm in diameter, with hard bones. When ripening, they acquire a bright yellow color. The Caucasian persimmon has no cultivars; it is used as a stock. The species is photophilous, undemanding to soil nutrition, relatively cold-resistant, can withstand frosts down to -15 ° C.
- East. Distributed in Japan, South Asia. Based on the species, several hundreds of cultural varieties were bred, including hybrid ones: dioecious, monoecious, mixed. Trees withstand cold up to -6–9 ° C, grow up to 8–12 m in height. Leaves are broad-ovate, pointed, flowers yellow or white. The fruits are large, sweet, in some varieties reach a weight of 400 g. There are varieties with light, orange, chocolate-colored flesh.
- Virgin. Originally from North America. These are deciduous trees up to 15 m high, with bright green lanceolate foliage, yellowish flowers. The berries are ovoid, 4-6 cm in size, yellow-orange, brown in color. There is a variety with light green skin, dark brown jelly-like flesh, and rum flavor. Virginian species is characterized by good winter hardiness, roots withstand frosts up to -20 ° C, crowns - up to -35 ° C. Varieties of high yields were derived on the basis of virgin persimmon: Russian woman, Belogorye, Nikitsky burgundy. These are interspecific cold-resistant hybrids with large fruits. Wild species are used as a stock for breeding.
Features of the fruit
The fruits contain a large amount of carotene, ascorbic acid, B vitamins, PP, iron, potassium, magnesium, iodine, tannins, and other biologically active compounds. Unripe pulp has an astringent, bitter taste due to the high concentration of tannins. Eating such persimmons can lead to indigestion, intestinal disorders. Long-term storage or freezing helps to enhance the sweetness, change the consistency of the pulp. It becomes jelly-like, slightly spicy, similar to marmalade or pudding.
Persimmons can be eaten fresh and dried, as part of desserts. Jam is prepared from it, the fruits are added to salads, sauces, meat dishes, drinks.
Persimmon is recommended for use in heart diseases, anemia, cholecystitis, and kidney pathologies. With a pronounced sweet taste, the sugar content in it is low, calorie content is about 60 kcal per 100 g of product. Therefore, berries can be included in the diet.
Persimmon wood
Persimmon trunks are a source of black, or ebony, wood. It is a valuable, beautiful, hard material. It is not exposed to moisture, fungal diseases, pests. Density exceeds 1100 kg / m3, the surface is almost black, similar to a metal to the touch.
Wood is obtained mainly from the Ceylon species or black wood persimmon. This is valuable ornamental material. Knitting needles, chess pieces, collectible figurines, objects of artistic design, sports equipment, parts of musical instruments are made from it.
Growing at home
Persimmons are cultivated as indoor and greenhouse plants in regions with insufficiently mild climates. Seeds are germinated in small containers with a capacity of 400-500 ml, filled with a mixture of identical parts of garden soil, sand and peat. This should be done in late autumn, for stratification, setting the pots in a cool place with a temperature of 4-6 ° C.
In the spring, moisten the soil. The containers are transferred to a warm, lighted room. Appearing sprouts slightly shade from the sun. When the shoots reach a height of 8-10 cm, it is transplanted into a larger container. Nitroammophoska is added to the soil for planting - 15–20 g per 1 kg of soil. You can make ¼ part of the humus. The seedlings are removed gently, moisten the soil with water, shake the sprouts together with a lump of earth.
It is necessary to place the culture on the sunny side. During the growing season, young plants require diffuse lighting for at least 10 hours a day. In cloudy weather and with a short daylight, additional illumination is needed. The optimum growing temperature is 24–25 ° C.
For winter, persimmons should be brought into a room with a temperature of 8–10 ° C.
Outdoor cultivation
Persimmons are planted in the garden when the soil warms up to 14–15 ° C. The root system is pre-treated with a growth stimulator. To ensure normal fruiting, it is recommended to prepare several trees. One of them should be masculine. The distance between plants should be at least 4 m. Planting algorithm:
- Pits are prepared with a depth and width of about 70 cm. 20 cm of broken brick, expanded clay or gravel are poured into the bottom.
- The soil from the wells is enriched with humus or compost, 200 g of nitroammophos are added.
- A support peg is driven into the center of the hole. A mound of soil is formed at the bottom, a seedling is placed, carefully covered with the remaining soil. The root neck should be flush with the surface.
- In a radius of 70 cm around the trunk, a circular roller is formed from the soil to retain moisture. Water a sapling of 30 l of settled water at a temperature of 20 ° C. When it is absorbed, the plant is tied to a support.
- Trunk circles are mulched with chopped straw, needles or sawdust.
Care
Persimmon requires regular, plentiful watering. Every week you need to make 10-15 liters. So that the soil does not swamp, it must be loosened. In August, the frequency of humidification is reduced to 1 time in 3 weeks. In autumn, trees provide a supply of moisture, pouring 30 liters under each root.
To feed persimmons during the growing season, you need compost, organic. In April, wood ash, complex compounds can be added under the roots. For winter, plants are insulated, covered with lutrasil, spanbond or thin burlap.
Sanitary pruning is carried out in March. Freezing and diseased shoots are removed. Crowns begin to form from the age of 2-3 years. The persimmon stamp is usually 70–90 cm, 5–6 skeletal branches are left above.
Breeding
The seed propagation method gives good results, but varietal traits are not preserved. Vegetative cultivation by cuttings or layering in home gardening is used more often. The material used is lignified shoots. Layers are instilled into the ground, making preliminary several notches on the cortex, treating with a growth stimulator. After the emergence of young shoots, you can cut branches from the donor.
Cuttings are harvested in June; for rooting, they are planted in a nutrient mixture from soil and peat, and kept at a temperature of 20–25 ° C.
Harvesting and storage
Ripe fruits are recommended to be removed from the branches, avoiding falling to the ground, otherwise the flesh will quickly rot. Harvest should be carefully sorted, discarded damaged and diseased fruits. Persimmons are stored in a cool, darkened place at a temperature of 5-6 ° C. It is recommended to use special boxes with cells. You need to freeze the fruits carefully. After thawing, it should be used as food for a week, otherwise they will rot.
Diseases and parasites
Persimmon is susceptible to infection with scab, gray rot, powdery mildew, black spotting, and a bacterial burn. To prevent disease, each spring, before flowering, trees should be sprayed with a 1% solution of Bordeaux fluid. Infected specimens are treated with Trichodermin, Mucosan, Fitosporin, or Gliocladin.
For the destruction of mealybugs, mockworms, woodworms, it is recommended to use the biological preparations "Boverin", "Bikol". In case of mass pest damage 1.5–2 months before fruit ripening, plants are treated with chemical insecticides.