Fuyu persimmon in south florida

[aliyesami]

I am in Parkland FL, zone 10b .I have a 4 years old fuyu persimmon tree that forms few fruits each may but then drops them all.
Can Fuyu persimmon grow in zone 10b?
If yes what can I do to get this tree to keep its fruits?

 

[DirtMechanic]

Yes it can.

Allow me to use my psychic plant powers ...

You are in Florida and probably have a sandy well draining soil.

You only have one Fuyu tree.

You fertilize the lawn with high N

How did I do? I have had a Fuyu but lost it in a windstorm. One of my favorites really and it was neat to stop by the tree for a snack while picking up leaves in the fall.

A young tree may drop fruit and its ok. Potassium helps but a soil test first. You may need a pollinator tree. We have other types of persimmon here so mine always seemed to do well but it really did not grow that fast and took quite a few years to get rolling.

 

[aliyesami]

Is Fuyu not self pollinating?
If so then I will get another Fuyu .how far apart should I plant ?
I gave it the Citrus, Avocado fertilizer by Miracle growth . Not sure how much nitrogen in it.
Should I only give it potassium? I do give my mango trees potash of sulphate 0-0-50 and they do well

 

[aliyesami]

I am reading online that persimmon doesn't need pollinator ,so shall I buy another one or mot ?
And is there a particular Fuyu which is good for zone 10b.?

 

[YumYum]

Fuyu is a self pollinating variety as I read it. It probably needs more time and possibly more nutrients to set fruit. If the tree is lacking sufficient nutrients, it will drop some fruit or do very poorly. I think that is what Dirtmechanic was about to propose.

I don't give my trees Miracle Gro fertilizer. Its not worth using on a tree especially if you are in sand. It will just wash right out. I give mine chicken manure in early Spring and then later on maybe some granular 10-10-10 or go back to manure.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Pollenated persimmons will have seed. You can see what it is doing. It may take some time for the fruit drop to stop as the tree develops a root structure that provides energy for itself and the ovum. Until then it will drop fruit so it can survive. This in part is why the potassium (all around) is useful to it. Soil testing helps because pH and phosporous availability are related root support as well.

A garden plant like yellow squash will also drop fruit or fail to form initially for similiar reasons until it getsmature. This process takes weeks on a short lived plant but the Fuyu lives 60-75 years so in that context its age at 4 years is very young. It is probably about to normalize anyway but the potash may help if given a little 2x a year.

As far as I know most Fuyu are grafted onto a hardy root stock. Mine were anyway. They can be an older Fuyu graft and that type of process can fool it into producing early. Pure Fuyu can take 9 or so years to produce with its natural life cycle.

 

[aliyesami]

Thanks to both of you for very valuable feedback