Contents
Persimmon Bull’s heart – a variety on a frost-resistant rootstock. Suitable for growing in temperate climates. The culture is photophilous, unpretentious in care, with good resistance to diseases and pests. Dessert variety, large-fruited, with a high tasting score. Persimmon contains a large amount of vitamins and elements useful for the body.
Description of persimmon varieties Bull’s heart with a photo
Persimmon is a heat-loving crop native to Asia, where it grows in the wild, and the plant is also cultivated for commercial purposes.
Wild varieties can be found in Our Country only in the southern regions. Frost-resistant varieties have been created for gardens and farm plots in temperate climates.
Bull’s heart – a variety on the stock of the Virgin persimmon, zoned in the climatic conditions of the Moscow region. Recommended for the Middle, Central strip and the North Caucasus. In Siberia and the Urals, the fruits do not have time to ripen before frost.
Growing persimmon Bull’s heart in the shape of a tree. The crown is dense, wide, the leaves are bright green, oval, arranged alternately. The maximum height of persimmon Bull’s heart is 5 m. But the variety reaches such sizes only in the South. In a temperate climate, persimmon does not grow above 2,5–3 m.
Flowering and pollination
The plant blooms 3-4 years after planting in May, the cycle lasts until June. Flowers are formed in the leaf axils singly, less often in several pieces. They have a bell-shaped, four-petal cup. Inflorescences are yellow or beige. The shade depends on the sufficiency of lighting, in the sun it is lighter. There is only one ovule in each nest.
Additional planting of other crop varieties on the site is irrelevant.
Description of fruits (shape, color, size, weight, taste)
Bull’s heart is classified as large-fruited, dessert varieties, with the following characteristics:
- the shape is heart-shaped, rounded, narrowed down;
- the peel is thin, with a glossy sheen, plain, even, bright orange;
- the pulp is sweet, juicy, fibrous, orange at the stage of technical ripeness, light brown at the time of ripening;
- no seeds;
- the mass of fruits is not the same. On one tree there are specimens weighing from 200 to 500 g, the average diameter is 8 cm.
This variety of persimmon is not transportable: ripe fruits are soft. They do not tolerate mechanical damage.
Terms of maturation and fruiting
Bull’s heart is classified as mid-season varieties. The fruits ripen from mid to late October. Persimmon bears fruit on the shoots of the current season. In order for the flowering to be intense and the plant to have enough light, the tree is rejuvenated pruned at least once every five years. Remove old branches and shoots growing inward. The rate of fruiting depends on this event.
According to the varietal characteristics, the Bull’s Heart is an early ripening variety. Persimmon gives the first harvest at the age of three. Full yield reaches five years. With timely feeding, watering and processing from possible pests, 60–80 kg of fruits can be collected from an adult tree.
Frost resistance of persimmon Bull’s heart
The variety is grafted onto a frost-resistant stock. According to the varietal characteristics, it resists frosts without loss -25–300 C. These indicators are characteristic of a plant of reproductive age. Seedlings after planting and in the next two years must be protected from the cold in the fall.
The root system and the grafting point are mainly affected. In temperate climates, the plant is spudded in the fall and covered with mulch. The stem is wrapped with any covering material. For the South, this measure is not relevant; in a warm climate, persimmon winters without additional measures.
Growing Persimmon Bull’s Heart
The variety in agricultural technology does not differ from any frost-resistant representative of the culture. For persimmons, southeastern slopes or flat terrain, protected on the north side by large-sized trees or a wall of a building, are allotted. The impact of the north wind in the spring for the plant brings significant damage. The tree blooms relatively early, cold wind and possible return frosts lead to falling buds.
Persimmon is moisture-loving, but with constantly high soil moisture, there is a risk of root rot and plant death. The site is chosen drained, wetlands are not considered.
The Bull’s Heart variety is not planted in the shade, persimmon should be in the sun throughout the daylight hours. Without a sufficient amount of ultraviolet light, the plant develops poorly and does not bear fruit. The composition of the soil for persimmons should be neutral or slightly alkaline, fertile, aerated. The variety is propagated by seedlings. In rare cases, it is possible to grow planting material from the seed.
Seeds
It is rather problematic to propagate the Bull’s heart with seeds, fruits in 90% of the total collection without seeds. A bone in a berry is rather an exception to the rule. If you still managed to collect the seeds, there is no guarantee that they will sprout.
How to do it:
- Planting material is taken from a well-ripened fruit.
- Washed to remove the remnants of pulp fibers.
- It is wrapped in a damp cloth or placed in wet cotton wool, then in a packing bag and left to soften the hard shell for 10 days. Make sure the material is always wet.
- Make a mixture of peat, compost, sand and soil in equal parts. Add ash.
- Each bone is planted in a separate container with a volume of approximately 0,5 liters.
- The container for the seedling is filled with soil, a 3 cm deepening is made in the center, a bone is placed in it.
Put in a lighted place, located away from heating appliances. Room temperature will do. Watered once a week.
In the spring, when the temperature steadily stops at a positive mark, the persimmon is taken out to the site, gradually adapted to direct sunlight.
seedlings
Acquire the planting material of the Bull’s heart at the age of two or three. It must be in a shipping container or with an earthen clod. If the root system is open, pay attention to its condition. It should be well developed, without dry areas and mechanical damage.
Before planting, the persimmon root is treated with an antifungal agent and placed in a growth stimulator for two hours.
They plant the Bull’s heart in spring (April) or autumn, so that at least one and a half months remain until frost. This period is necessary for rooting.
The planting hole for the Oxheart is dug on the day of planting:
- Mix the sod layer of soil with compost and sand in the same amount, add a nitrogen-containing agent.
- A drainage layer is placed at the bottom. The nutrient soil mixture is divided into three parts. 1/3 is poured to the bottom, making a cone-shaped embankment.
- In the center, a number of people are killed.
- The seedling is placed in a pit by grafting to the south, the roots are distributed along the embankment.
- They fall asleep with part of the soil, tamp, fill the pit completely, compact.
- The trunk is fixed with twine to the stake and watered abundantly. A day later, the trunk circle is mulched.
How to care
Agrotechnics for growing Bull’s heart:
- Persimmons are watered depending on the precipitation in the region. Do not allow waterlogging of the soil and its drying.
- Fertilizers are applied: nitrogen-containing in spring, potash during flowering, at the time of fruit set they are fed with superphosphate, at the end of the season they use mineral.
- At the beginning and at the end of the season, prophylactic treatment of persimmon Bull’s heart is carried out against a fungal infection. When pests appear, measures are taken to eliminate them in a timely manner.
In the spring, persimmon Bull’s heart is inspected, mulch is replaced, dry or frost-damaged branches are cut.
Harvesting and storage
Harvest at the end of October. During removal from the tree, the fruits are taken by the receptacle so as not to leave dents on the surface, and, according to the principle of screwing in, the paws are torn off. So that the persimmon does not touch, it is placed in a box with separate cells.
The shelf life of the Bull’s heart is negligible. At zero temperature with minimal humidity, fruits can be stored for up to three months. At room temperature – no more than two weeks. Therefore, after harvesting, persimmons are immediately processed.
Conclusion
Persimmon Bull’s Heart is a sweet, dessert variety. Berries are consumed fresh, they are suitable for processing into jams, jams. Low-alcohol tinctures are prepared from the fruits. Agrotechnics of the variety is standard for culture. Subject to the requirements for cultivation, the Oxheart feels comfortable in a temperate climate and gives a good harvest.