Hey everybody, I have been reading and watching everything I can get when it comes to persimmons. I even went out and evaluated foraging spots around me (pretty bare until you go to South Jersey TBH). I have tried a bunch of varieties this year and have found that I prefer the drier textured ones over the wet textured ones. Many of the wild selections around me have that drier texture, with pastey and creamy flesh. The flavor still varies wildly, from dried fruit to candied yam.
I noted that, what I think is Deer Candy, had this texture. Prok also had a drier texture than the other selections. Dollywood, for example, was pretty sloppy.
I am assuming that more firm fruits have drier textures, but it is not always the case since the firm fruits can still have a jelly texture.
From my dive into the subject, where people rarely describe any actually specific qualities of the fruit, I have found that Rosseyanka is a hybrid with drier texture. Not much I could find, but most pictures and videos show that the majority hybrids are jelly textured. Not that I hate that, just that I prefer the baked potato or custard texture.
Any suggestions and experiences would be appreciated.
I am considering adding a Rosseyanka here in southern middle TN next spring. Graft to a wild dv.
I have been watching all the taste test and texture reports I can find on youtube.
Many do describe it as having a thicker/dryer jell type texture even when very ripe.
Flavor reports vary some… in more northern climates… pleasant but not outstanding… in more southern climates the flavor seems to be more robust… some describing as very delicious.
I have a pretty long hot season here… so hopefully I have a chance of getting good flavor from Rossy.
PS at Englands Orchard this fall (mid October)… I saw Rosseyanka and SuperRosseyanka.
SuperRossey had noticeably larger fruit on it than Rossy did.
I asked Cliff what the difference was between the two… and he said nothing but the fruit size.
SuperRosseyanka is a bud sport of Rossey.
I may get scion from Cliff to graft SuperRosseyanka here at my place.
Of the D.virginianas I’ve grown, ‘Keener’ has been the firmest/driest/most fibrous.
Good flavor, one of the latest-maturing D.v. varieties in my orchard; at one time, it was my wife’s favorite persimmon.
While some still cling to the myth that Keener is a D.v.XD.k. hybrid bred by Luther Burbank, there is nothing about it that even remotely hints of D.v. influence to me.
I shook the last of the Rosseyankas out of the tree this week, squashed them, and dehydrated. Some ‘splatted’ a bit when they hit the ground, but many remained mostly intact, and held up to digital compression to flatten them out to fit on the dehydrator trays.
Pulled the last of the JT-02’s (I can still reach the top of that tree fairly easily, whereas the Rosseyanka is 15 ft or more). Sliced them crosswise and dehydrated… none were runny gooey soft, and the skin is fairly tough, so contains even the softest of them.
I am thinking that the wet texture may be an early golden trait, since a lot of the drier textured ones may not have relation to it. The wild ones I have found certainly don’t.
I wonder if the D.E.C varieties have more variety, since the gene pool seems more varied.
