Ichi Non-astringent Persimmon

Hi Maria,

Rossyanka, Nikita’s Gift, and JT-02 are looking good. Let’s trade again this year. I will bring you a couple of Jujube seedlings and some good fig cuttings for your tomato plants.

Tony

OK Tony, I’ll send you the list of tomatoes and peppers later, which I grow this year, so you can choose beforehand.

Tony, it is great! Tell me, where is your zone 5 located? And also, will this tree produce by itself, or it needs pollinator? There is sure no persimmons around for hundred miles in Massachusetts. .
What have you done,:grinning: Tony! Now my heart is pounding, like I am about to win Jack Pot! I want t grow it. But my space is so limited. I have to give up some of my plants to plant it. Do I understand, that the best location will be south side of the house, to cover it from the north wind? What is reliable source to buy the tree?

I lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Right in the Center of the country. I ordered my Ichi from Starkbros seven years ago. A foot and a half tall. I planted on the South side of the house to take advantage of the micro climate. I also wrapped the tree with leaves inside for the first few years. Once the tree established, I only Winter protected when the temp dropped below -10F with the light bulb in the center of tree and covered with a tarp for a day or so during that period. Asian Persimmon are self-fruitul. Labor of love.

Tony

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Thank you, Tony! I actually found old thread started by you on garden web, with pictures of your wrapped trees. I have some ideas in mind how to protect it too. As Scott mentioned in the old thread we may have big jumps of temperature in few hours. I think aluminum bubble wrap will be better in our area, to keep the tree out of the jumps. I may just build a frame around it - will use it for net in summer and for insulation cover in winter. But thank you so much for posting it - I was sure it is impossible to grow persimmons here.

Galina,
I heard of a gardener in Worcester who grew non-astringent persimmon. Busy Bee Nursery in Rutland used to sell Fuyu, a popular non-astringent persimmon. I have not been there for the past two years so I don’t know if it still carries persimmons.

Non astringent is not as cold hardy is an astringent variety. Even though nurseries may say it is cold hardy to zone 6, a freezing cold zone 6 could kill it if not proteected.

I ordered my Nikita’s Gift from Burntridge, one of nurseries with sells fruit trees at a reasonable price.

Yes, I understand that non-astringent persimmons less hardy, but it is only one I love. I like them hard, like apples. And you can’t do it with astringent one. I ordered form Stark Bro’s today. For winter protection I am thinking to build a permanent frame for all the space available for the tree(6X8). And cover with foiled bubble insulation or may be pink insulating panels and tarp above them… This will provide enough natural heat from the soil inside it. If it will get too cold, I always can put electric oil hearer and small fan inside, as I usually do in my greenhouse in spring. That should get it through the coldest weather. What ever it takes to grow them :slight_smile:! In my last visit to Moscow where persimmons available in every fruit store and cost about $1.50-2.00 per kilogram(more then two pounds) I eat almost 2 pound of them a day. Here in Massachusetts stores they sold also for $1.50-2.00, but per ONE FRUIT :grinning:.

I buy Fuyu persimmon from Vietnamese store on Green St. whenever they are in. Like you, I like eating crunchy non astringent persimmons.

Judging from many of your veggie gardens, I have no doubt you will be successful in protecting your persimmon trees. You are such a good gardener.

England Orchard Nursery probably has more persimmon varieties than most ther nurseries. Just Fruit and Exotics is another nursery selling a lot of persimmons.

What variety you ordered?

I ordered this: Ichi-Ki-Kei-Jiro Asian Persimmon (Grafted) Select EZ Start®.(the bigger one of two available) I only can get one tree, you know I can’t give up my garden. But anyway, I only have one warm spot I can use on south side of the house. So if the tree will be producing well- I should be fine with just one. For buying persimmons, sometimes I go to Russian store in Newton, they have it like $2.49 per pound. Not that cheap, but at least not $2/ct. How much are they on Green St?

Hey @galinas I’m on the eastern side of Mass. and have had mixed luck with persimmons. I’ve trailed many varieties and all have either died or suffered die-back unprotected here. Ichi suffered die-back the past two winters. Even Nikita’s Gift suffered die-back for me. This past spring I added several of Cliff England’s new releases, which are supposedly much more cold hardy. He has one called Chinebuli that’s non-astringent and should do better in zone 6 than Ichi. you might want to cancel your Starks order and try to order one of those from him when he posts his spring catalog in a few weeks. The ones I’m trialling now and will have a report on this spring are Chinebuli, Miss Kim, Korea Kaki, Pen, and Chibacha.

I also grow several varieties of persimmons in containers. Maybe that would be an option for you.

@tonyOmahaz5, looking good!

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Thanks a lot, I will be protecting it.I have a lot of structures built in my yard for garden protection, so building one more not a problem. I liked info I found about Ichi, so I think I will try it. The tree looks compact, it is very important for me. Where exactly in Mass you are? I am in Worcester, it’s south edge. All around us is zone 6, but Worcester hills are 5B.

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My orchard is at the edge of Sherborn and South Natick.

Galina,
I can’t remember how much I paid for a pack of 9 persimmons. I bought other things, too, so I did not pay attention.

I f you travel near Burkington, stop by at H Mart. It is a Korean mega supermarket. I think they get persimmons and many other fruits from Israel. It is worth a trip if you like Far East/ Asian produce and products.

I visited SMC’s orchard last year. He has plenty of space and tons of interesting fruit trees. Make me very envious :smile:

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Looking good, Tony! Are you not worried about low temps anymore, or just checking on it?

Kelby,

I am still watching the weather prediction during the Winter months. I got all the protection gears ready to go if the weatherman predicts the temp will drop beyond -10F. So far, the last 2 years were mild.

Tony

Tony, need your advise! We expecting 6 or 7 nights in a row around negative 5 - 6 F. with day temperatures positive 10-15 F. My first year Ichi is growing inside gazebo structure. It is mulched with leaves about 1’ high, then wrapped with burlap and whole frame is covered with double tarp. Do you think I need to provide some kind of heat source under the tarp? If yes, what would you use - light or electric heater?

I wonder if mulch (like leaves) couldn’t work against you, especially if you’re going to cover the whole tree. I don’t really know, but my concern and my thinking would be that there are two competing temperatures, ground and air, and I’d want to have as little insulation between the above-ground part of my tree and the ground as possible, and I would think all the helpful insulation/protection would be between the tree and the outside air. I would also be inclined, if I were covering a tree, for example, to have a wide base to my protective cover instead of gathering the cover tight around the base of the trunk, and my reasoning would be to have more ground to transfer heat to the air under the cover. If you add heating elements inside the protective cover that might nullify what I’m saying, and maybe my thinking is just wrong altogether, but I’ll throw those thoughts out for whatever they’re worth and maybe to solicit some feedback and learn something myself.

I had exactly the same questions when I was thinking how to make the cover. So this is how it is covered in stages:

As you can see there is a lot of space that has no mulch under the tarp, so I hoped it will provide micro-climate under the tarp. I mulched in case my protection will not be enough to at least keep the roots and graft alive. This is my first year with it, and I am jumping a zone, so trying to be proactive. :grin:

Galinas,
I think you will be Ok at -5F or -6F with all those layers plus the leaves. If you want to play it safe then put some Christmas lights in there during those cold -F temp. That will increase some degrees.

Tony

Yes, I think I will do it, thanks!