North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Mark Lee <mark.lee.phd@gmail.com>]

Over 20 years ago I grew a Diospyros lotus tree from seed. This is a
persimmon species often used for rootstock for the more common
persimmon species, like Diospyros kaki. D. lotus is also known as date
lote. Like other Diospyros species, date lote trees are either male or
female. My seedling turned out to be male. I have a second date lote
tree that I planted 7 years ago. I can't remember where that tree came
from. I have lost track. I was thinking that this second tree was just
a clone of the first one, from a sprout that sprang up near the base
of the first one. To my surprise, I found yesterday that the second
tree has female flowers. The male tree is growing in the shade, the
female is in the sun. Could it be that the clone changed from male to
female?

Another question: How can I graft on the persimmon? Every attempt I
have made to graft date lote end up dying. I want to get the two trees
near each other so I can get fruit in my lifetime. Maybe I should hand
pollinate.

-Mark Lee, Seattle