I was tempted to get 25, but I don’t have time or room to plant and protect 10.
Well, its that time of year again. Every fall for the past few years since I first got to taste Saijo Persimmons, I’ve made multiple, long posts always talking about how incredible I think Saijo Persimmons taste. I’ll try to contain my excitement and pleasure more this year since I’m sure you all are tired of hearing my repeated endorsements of this fruit. But I have to at least say it once again this year. I picked my first Saijo’s today and once again it confirms that of all the fruits I grow, Saijo persimmons are my very favorite. If you have never had the pleasure, I urge you to try and find a way to try one or just plant a tree and wait. For me, they are closer to a super-sweet plum than most other persimmons. With a texture similar to firm jello, and an unbelievable sweetness, these small fruits are just out of this world!!! OK…hope that gets it out of my system! ha
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Nice report. I think it is important to hear what is working well and taste good. The best reviews in my opinion are from people who have had good results over several seasons. Thanks
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Thank you for your report. I think this is the persimmon I will suggest to my neighbor who is gung-ho about persimmons. Do they require a pollinator? Or, if they are “self-fertile”, do they give better yields with a pollinator?
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Pictures Kevin! You must have so many this year now that your tree is super mature. Maybe I’ll have some in a couple more years.
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I continue my wait 
It’s exciting to get this sort of encouragement though.
I wish they were sold by grocers.
For some reason Saijo defies my attempt to graft. The first tree I bought was mis-labeled. I now have a tree that survived the last winter after planting, but hasn’t really grown. Hopefully it takes off next spring.
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@Joe Mine has produced in years that I had pollinators and years that I didn’t have. Of course I got more seeds with pollinators nearby, but otherwise I could tell no difference. I’ve seen others say they taste better when pollinated (or maybe they say worse??) but the only difference I could tell was with whether they had seeds or not. This year I had no pollinator (I got rid of all my male persimmons) so my Saijo’s have almost no seeds. I’ve eaten or cut up about 15 so far and I actually did find one seed. All I can figure is that one had a very hardworking bee who managed to find some wild male flowers.
@PharmerDrewee I really should get some photos! But to be honest, I don’t think my tree is much bigger or has many more fruit than it did last year. I think perhaps it has reached full size…it is probably about 20 feet tall now so that may be as big as it gets.
@murky for what it is worth, I’ve had a hard time getting Saijo grafts to take, though I finally do have a Virginiana that I topworked with a saijo that seems to be making it. For me, the scions almost always take and do great for a few weeks- putting on amazing growth for about a month. THen they either just abort and die, or else they never- in some cases not ever after a full 12 month year- really callous and heal and join. I take the tape off, sometimes even the following year, and even though the scion has lived, it literally looks the same as when I did the graft and covered it with tape…and the scion just falls off. Or in some cases a get a huge knot at the graft, and that doesn’t ever do well either- often the bark over the knots gets cracked to the point it can’t function any more. Anyway, just wanted you to know you are not alone…because of my love for Saijo I have attempted a LOT of grafts onto other persimmons- almost always Virginian, and it just isn’t easy.
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Which techniques have you and haven’t you tried, Kevin?
I’d like to ask in advance for a stick next winter 3/16th’s, thanks.
Dax
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I agree that persimmons can be tricky. My success has gone way up since moving to bark grafts.
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Bark grafts are pretty much the best. I have better bark grafting success than flap grafting. I don’t know why flap grafting/banana grafting was impressed upon me so much.
I like chip buds to some degree on a Hot Callus Pipe DIY but the buds can break in the pipe before they’re healed. I started to chip bud on the pipe and then I realized that the bud was going to be inside the callus tube/instrument so I emailed Tom Wahl at Red Fern Farm and asked what was going to happen at which he said, 'they’ll break in the tube but most of the time (someone) will be OK" and that’s exactly what happened. I ended up doing as many v-cut tool grafts with a single bud as possible and then went back to doing some totally strange grafts with whatever way I could use a scion I recall specifically with buds circling the stick the 3+ inches toward the tip bud. You know, you start looking at ways to whittle off buds and I know I have some real good examples that I either sold already or are in my hoophouse.
Then I went over to a friend’s to do simple chip budding (pawpaws) which literally take 30-40 seconds a graft while listening to him talk and learning about the Civil and whatever; he messaged the other day that 37 of 42 had callused.
Persimmons are the same way. They callus at the same rate as a pawpaw so I want to try chip budding Saijo onto 1-year well-rooted seedlings.
Dax
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I had good success with persimmon grafts including saijo using cleft grafts. I use a knife and a utility blade cutter for splitting the stock. I wrap with parafilm and used regular office store rubber bands.
The tool is nice because it gives you two perfectly straight edges to put your best knife cuts on.
Last year I grafted a bunch onto virginiana rootstocks, this year I grafted some onto lotus because it was there.
Waiting until all chance of frost was past, and rubbing off all below graft growth was important.
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Once I learned to wait for warm weather, I’ve successfully grafted Chocolate, Coffeecake, and a Claypool American persimmon. Jury’s out on Nikita’s Gift. It’s just Saijo that doesn’t want to work.
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Thanks for that information. I looked at Edible Landscaping’s persimmon guide and they their persimmons on native rootstock for that reason. I’ll call them to see if they think I should give it a shot. I’m in southern CT on the border of 6A and 6B.
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If you’re in a colder zone, maybe you’d consider planting a hybrid like JT-02 or Kasandra. They should survive your winters better if temps drop below freezing frequently.
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Hi Jolene. I have three volunteer seedlings at the back side of my orchard that I plan to graft. Am I correct in assuming that you added the scions when the frost danger had past but before the stock had leafed out. I’m also assuming that the scions were some that had been refrigerated until you grafted them. I know I’m asking a lot of specifics but persimmons tend to be challenging to graft. Thanks, Bill
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The rootstocks were completely leafed out, the scions had been kept dormant in the fridge. My latest persimmon grafts this year were done May 26th with most of it being done a bit earlier like May 16th and 17th.
Lotus breaks dormancy earlier then virginiana, virginiana is hardier.
Good luck on the project Bill!
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You might get a little more size and production out of your Saijo. There is supposed to be a 600 year old Saijo in Japan that’s over 60 feet tall. Imagine how many fruit you’d get with a tree that size. You’d need a cherry picker to reach most of them.
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I’m about 15 miles from Long Island Sound. If you know where Mohegan Sun Casino is, I’m very close to that place. We get below zero once or twice most years, and in the most extreme years it’s in the -5 to -10 range.
Does your Saijo experience any winter dieback in Lancaster PA? Another option I’m seeing is NIkita’s Gift, which is a hybrid.
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Being near the ocean might help moderate winter temperatures for you. I only planted Saijo this past spring so we will see how it does in my yard. I might protect it this first winter depending on forecasted lows. There are others growing it in Pennsylvania with good results. I did have other Asian persimmons survive -3 degrees last winter.
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It’s for my neighbor, I’ll see if he’s willing to take the risk. He’s conscientious and good for protecting trees if he has to. He just refuses to spray them. Maybe he’ll get two trees. I’ve seen people on this forum describe Saijo and Nikita’s Gift as the top cultivars on flavor.
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