Good to know that topping doesn't delay fruiting. Although it's not a huge concern if it does, there are plenty of others that were already here when we bought this property that produce well, and maybe 3 or 4 that have started bearing small amounts fruit in the last two years. I get more than enough persimmons to supply customers with pulp and still have enough left over for personal use every year. We are mostly using them for shade now, so the fruit is just a bonus. I'm not sure it's worth getting into grafting. These are about a low maintenance as anything growing on our property right now.

You raise a simple question, which I believe doesn't have a simple answer. What to do with the solid waste from juicing or fruit and vegetable is a very big issue in the fruit and vegetable processing industry. What is done is as varied as the processors. Wineries in CA have been using their pomace in a number of ways, including both direct application to soils as either a mulch or fertilizer and composting it. I would look at juicer pulp waste no differently than raw produce trim from your kitchen, or produce waste from your garden. What do you do with those? In the end, both approaches - composting or as a direct soil amendment - will likely lead to the same decomposition of the juicer waste. So the question is are you better served by allowing the decomposition to take place directly in the soil, or by doing it separately in a compost pile? Some things to consider are the C:N balance of the pulp waste, possible seed carryover into the pulp, and the potential for pest attraction (insects and birds come to mind). If any of those would be an issue for direct soil incorporation in your situation, then composting first will probably serve you better. If not, then incorporating it directly into the soil, a la sheet or trench composting, or using it in a lasagna bed, might be simpler, and may allow for marginally better use of the N in the pulp as active fertilizer. Which approach "better serves" you depends, in part, on what you want to achieve, and on your specific situation. There are a lot a variables, so I don't think anyone can give a you a general one-size-fits-all answer. This post was edited by TXEB on Thu, Jun 27, 13 at 9:15

First soak the pot with the rose bush in it in a bucket of water until the whole pot is completely saturated. This may take a day or two. Have the planting hole prepared and before you plant the potted bush, poke lots of holes in the sides and bottom of the pot. I use a large screwdriver. The holes give more area for the organisms that decompose the pot to work on. They also provide a place for the roots to grow out of into the surrounding soil. Done this way, the pot should decompose in a year or less. If not soaked, the pot could keep the roots contained and not break down for years. Make sure you do as Kathy said and remove the portion of pot above the soil line or at least bury it deep enough so it's below the soil line to prevent water wicking. This process can be messy but your rose bush will grow much better and will not suffer any transplant shock or stress due to the loss of soil or feeder roots if you lose soil when planting. Planting biodegradable pots this way has been quite successful for me.

I have an old family recipe for soft persimmon cookies. They're the old fashioned kind, almost like muffin tops rather than what we think of as cookies today. Is that the sort of thing you might be interested in? Also in the '90s I tried a persimmon jam recipe, which would have been nice except the pulp was just a tad underripe--astringent jam, yuck! But it was very pretty, and I was thinking of trying again this year with fully ripe hachiyas.