Persimmons

Recently, since the big supermarket chains began importing them at reasonable prices, persimmons have become one of my most favourite fruits. Persimmons, per se, are not exotic in Bulgaria, where they are commonly grown in a lot of villages, especially in the southern parts of the country. However, the varieties I had tasted in the past, were rather astringent and not very sweet and I used to stay away from buying them at the market. But the varieties sold at Lidl and other supermarkets turned to be very delicious and sweet, without the astringent character I had been used to. However, they are usually seedless.

So, our surprise was quite genuine, when I brought a bag of persimmons from a local market and they had these big shiny brown seeds within. I goggled germinating persimmons and found a number of youtube videos. I was intrigued and decided to give it a try.

The process is very simple - after the seeds are removed from the fruit and cleaned, they are placed on a kitchen paper and sprinkled with water.

Then the paper with the seeds is placed in a tightly closed plastic bag and left in a dark place for about a month. No other care is required, the water in the paper is enough to activate the germination and the tight seal prevents the evaporation.

I prepared four bags with about 5-6 seeds each and left them for at least a month and a half. Some germinated, some grew mold and some remained unaffected. I selected the bag with the best developing seeds, two of which had started to grow leaves, and placed them in a pot with fresh soil.

I placed the pot near the central heating radiator next to a south facing window, with plenty of light, warmth and water, but for two weeks since I planted them, my persimmons have not started to grow - they are still alive, but in a sort of stasis. To be honest, I was just curious to see if the seeds would germinate, following these instructions, I'm not particularly keen on growing a persimmon tree :) We'll see what will come of these suckers soon.