I previously failed at growing Texas Persimmon from seed. So I am doing things a little differently this time. If you try germinating this plant be sure to read this paper first.

2022 December 31

I got seeds from BlueGenesStudio on etsy. The listing said 20 seeds for 15USD but there were 22 seeds in the packet. I put a seedling heat mat in the bottom of a styrofoam ice chest, lined the ice chest with a trash bag (Styrofoam is not water tight), put a few bricks in the bottom for thermal mass, and then put 5 4inch pots with big box potting mix on top of the bricks. I put 1 seed in each pot 1/4inch deep and watered them in. The heat mat is connected to a thermostat set to 77F. The thermostat probe is stuck into one of the 4inch pots. I put the lid on the ice chest. I’ll check regularly for emerging seedlings. BlueGenesStudio says the seedlings should emerge in 2-3 weeks if they are kept moist and between 68-86F.

2023 January 7

The instructions from the etsy seller said that the seeds should germinate in about 7 days so I uncovered 2 seeds to see. The first one I uncovered had not germinated, but the second one had! I covered them back up.

2023 January 22

One seedling emerged. I put it outside in a hoop house where it gets heat at night. The thermostat is  set to 55F.

2023 January 24

Another seedling emerged with the seed still around the leaf. I took the top off the ice chest and put lights over it on a 12hr/day schedule. I left the newly emerged seedling in the ice chest with the 3 that haven’t emerged yet.

2023 February 14

I put 6 more seeds in a 6 pack with 50/50 potting soil and sand. I put the 6 pack on a heat mat in an ice chest with the lid on and the thermostat set to 80F.

From the first batch of seeds the one that I put out in the front yard didn’t make it. Three more have sprouted and I am keeping them under lights inside and on a heat mat set to 72F for now. Only one has not sprouted yet.

2023 March 7

I took the six pack out of the ice chest, and almost all of the seeds were just beginning to sprout.

The two plants from the first batch seem to be growing well.

2023 April 16

Two of the seeds in the six pack sprouted but they didn’t do very well after that. I think the six pack cell was too short and the 50/50 sand peat moss mix I had them in was kept constantly wet. Next time I’ll try tree pots with regular peat moss potting soil.

I potted everything up into larger pots.

2023 August 31

I couldn’t keep these alive in pots. Maybe I’ll try germinating more in March and then put them directly in the ground.

2023 October 14

I thought all of these had died. I only had two left in pots, and they had lost all of their leaves after the potting soil had dried out. They started getting consistent water and they leafed out again. I planted them out in the front yard this morning. I dug hols just big enough for the pots and didn’t amend the backfill.

2024 Jan 24

Several nights of temperatures below freezing seems to have killed these two seedlings.