I am also trying Early Golden, Celebrity, and Nikita’s Gift. Deer Candy and Deer Magnet are also options.
Edit: Check England’s Orchard for descriptions, and also welcome to the forum!!! It’s a wealth of information.
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Hello neighbor.
My Kassandra is doing great, planted 2017 too. It dropped all its fruit 2019 and last year, I tasted fruit for the first time and they. were. delicious. I noticed they all ripened at different times, towards the end of October into November.
I had a Rojo Brilliante (European) that didn’t make it. I think @scottfsmith recently bought one? I suspect that it was grafted on diospyrus virginiana 60 chromosome type (I think JF&E uses this type of rootstock). Perhaps the more experienced persimmon growers could give a better answer. I have scions of RB and JT-02 and plan on grafting them to the Kassandra and also to a diospyrus virginiana 90 chromosome type rootstocks which is cold hardier to my understanding. I hope they take this year, last year wasn’t a good year for grafting for me.
I’m growing a Haychia. It’s on a lotus rootstock, and still alive. It’s grown in a microclimate with winter protection which is a pain. It fruit dropped last year. Perhaps this year I can have a taste.
I’m growing a Chinibuli too. It’s on it second leaf now. So far so good 
. Like @mamuang I want a non astringent persimmon that’s cold hardy without protection. I have a Tam Kam also from JF&E thats growing in a pot, 3rd leaf. I take this one indoors during the winter. I plan on taking scions next year and grafting those onto the Kassandra too. I missed out this year because it started leafing out back in February. I need to find a colder spot somewhere.
This is from my experience and I hope it helps.
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I am going to say that after reading about cold hardy persimmons for the past 5 years, I don’t think there is a non-astringent variety that grows and fruits consistently in zone 6a without protection. (Zone 6b, maybe).
Right now, Tam Kam is the one. It has survived my zone 6a for 3 years (not harsh winters) but I won’t be surprised if it won’t make it during a harsh winter.
There are several hybrids that people are trialing them in-ground unprotected in zone 5 and 6. JT-2 seems to be the talk of the town because it fruits for @tonyOmahaz5 in zone 5.
Soon, we may find out more cold hardy hybrids from members here.
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Where are you (neighbor)?
I don’t need to have a non-astringent persimmon. An astringent Asian or American would be fine, provided that it ripens here to a non-astringent state. So far, IKKJ is working as a non-astringent Asian but it’s been a few years since we’ve seen -5 F. The hybrids seem promising.
So far, Prok has been good but somewhat mild. And it has not always been completely non-astringent when ripe, even after falling from the tree. I’d be very happy if, say, H-63A turns out (as reported) to be richer flavored and reliably non-astringent when ripe.
Thanks for the help!
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Thanks. Yes, I was turned on to JT-02 by Tony’s reviews. Hopefully my grafts do well – and I live 5 years to harvest ripe fruit!
So far, my IKKJ have survived 0 to -7 F, though we haven’t had a rough winter in a few years. This year dropped only to +10 F and last year to +15 F. A normal 6B winter would be a better test.
That’s one reason why I have Prok and still think about other American varieties – We can count on them being cold-hardy.
Also,
Rojo Brillante has been talked about a lot on the forum, too. A member from Spain showed us how he removed its astringency in this thread.
No chance it will survive in-ground in zone 6. The only way you can grow it is in a pot and keep it in a garage or a basement in the winter.
Hi jrd,
I am in a similar cool summer climate and am looking for persimmon varieties that will ripen in our maritime zone 8A climate here near Seattle. So far my only adult tree Asian Chocolate does ripen and has good tasting fruit when I manage to prevent pollination. When it pollinates however, it’s a wasted year, so I am converting it to other more useful varieties. The top working grafts I have working since this spring 2021 are Zima Khurma, Nikita’s gift, Korea, Kassandra, Makawea, and Hachiya. It may be several years before I see these grafts fruit so meanwhile I have several other branches I can top work. So I continue to look for more varieties that show promise.
I noticed your Kassandra (2017), which blossomed last year but didn’t hold any fruit. Has this variety fruited this year, if so how is it doing?
I am observing a neighbor’s tree of unknown variety, but he has told me it ripens here and produces very nice sweet fruit, so in about a month or so I hope to revisit him to have an opportunity to evaluate his fruit. It’s a mature tree with fruit the shape of Fuyugaka.
I also have two 2 year old trees: IKKJ and Fuyugaka. Only the latter fruited this year, but all fruit were shed by mid summer, so hopefully next year I can see their potential here.
I am trying to compile a better database of persimmons that have potential to ripen in cooler climates like ours, so I would like to hear from you as we go into the harvest season.
Let me know if you are interested in exchanging ripening data!
Sincerely
Dennis
Kent, wa
You might contact ramv, who is a buddy of mine from a fig forum but also posts here. I believe he is growing persimmons near you. His comments might be more helpful than mine. While my weather is fairly cool like yours, you have special issues in the PNW. If you are near the coast, your growing season is probably longer than mine but your summer weather is probably cooler.
Here Kassandra (2017) blossomed even better this year but again the tree held no fruit. Nevertheless, the tree is growing great – roughly 12’ high and 8’ wide, with luxuriant growth – so I think it’s only a matter of time.
Updating other items: (1) One of the two JT-02 grafts onto small rootstock trees thrived, the other died. So I have a 5’ whip with good leaves. I will plant it in the ground next spring. Meanwhile, many field grafts of JT-02 onto Prok and IKKJ also thrived but really those were mostly just experiments in grafting. I may remove most of them. (2) My three IKKJ (2015) are loaded with fruit. I’m hoping for a good crop (>50) but don’t expect to pick until mid-October at the earliest. (3) My Prok (2015) is loaded (>100) and some fruits are coloring. This harvest should start in a week or so. CAVEAT: I ruptured an Achilles tendon a month ago, with surgery 3 weeks ago. As a result, I have not actually been down the hill into the backyard to see the trees myself in a month. I’m relying on reports from friends and family. My ability to observe, pick, and report may continue to be be impacted by my impaired mobility.
FWIW I think I may have the best of the hybrids in JT-02 and Kassandra, and I don’t want to push limits with other Asians, but I still plan to expand the collection of Americans. I have 10 D Virg rootstock trees growing in pots. My tentative plan is to graft 1 Kassandra, 1 JT-02, and two each of 4 American varieties next spring.
I’d be happy to exchange ripening data.
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@jrd51,
I should know more about H63a later this year taste wise. I have heard it is an early/very early to ripen variety. It is showing the most color of any of my varieties so I believe that to be true.
Dax ranked H63A as A+, the only A+ out of a dozen or so varieties he tried in 2017 on a trip to Lehman’s orchard. I also know two growers who are active in CRFG California and they ranked H63a at the top out of all persimmons they tasted.
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@jrd51,
I compared my degree days to Bristol, and found you are about 503 cumulative degree days using a base of 70 F versus my location of 305 degree days on the same base. I am astounded at the difference! So I would expect anything that ripens here should certainly ripen there if it can withstand your winter freezes. Here our winters are mild so we hardly ever need to worry about frost damage, but often our early blossoms get nicked. Still, if we get a long warm summer it’s possible that some of the varieties that ripen there in Bristol may work here, just weeks later. So getting your ripening data may be very useful.
Ram,
I will be good to see what works for you these next few months. This year i have just a few chocolate that i managed to save from pollination and my neighbors tree that looks very promising, based upon his recent comments to me. I will get good photos to share with you once they ripen to see if you have any clues on variety.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
@ramv – Thanks for the feedback. Early ripening would be great. An astringent variety that ripens too late to lose its astringency is an ornamental.
Have you got Prok? That’s the only American variety I have, as yet, so I could use it as a benchmark. Here it ripens from very late Sept into early Nov. I wouldn’t want a variety that’s later than that.
As is my habit, I’m gonna overdo it here . . . I’ve got 10 rootstock trees growing in pots. I’ll most likely make one copy each of Kassandra and JT-02, then (following the current draft plan) two each of H-63A, WS 8-10, H-120 and D-128. If most of the grafts succeed, half the trees could end up as gifts.
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Great info, thx. Yeah, I have a warm enough summer for many fruits (including early/mid-season figs). But the growing season is short and the winter is cold. I may have “zone pushed” slightly planting the Asian IKKJ, but so far it has worked. I’m reluctant to press my luck. So unless somebody tells me I’m making a ridiculous mistake, I’m going to avoid other Asians as likely too tender. Initially I thought I’d shift only to hybrids, which is why I have Kassandra and Mikkusu / JT-02. But last winter I read so many positive reviews of various Americans that I figured I should try them too.
I do have a Prok but it hasn’t fruited yet. Smaller tree than my H-118 and H63A. After seeing that other thread, maybe I should give it away?
H-118/Early Jewel was spectacular last year. This year it dropped all fruit in the June 110F heat wave.
I’ve seen H118 compared with Prok. But H-118 I remember to be intensely flavored, perfumy and quite enjoyable.
A lot of growers love Prok, and I think we really still don’t know why sometimes it is bland. So I think you should try it and see.
I assume you have it in a pot (“give it away”)? It’s certainly not inherently small. My 6-year old tree is probably 20-25’ tall and wide. FWIW, it fruited well after 3 years. Maybe you need to put it in the ground.
In a separate thread, H-118 is described as taking forever to ripen. If true, that would rule it out here.
I agree that the hybrids and named American persimmons are worth trying, I am checking with Cliff England to see if he can give us a list of his earliest ripening ones. Hopefully his orchard has recovered from last winters damage.
Dennis
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I’m really liking Early Golden again this year, even though it’s substantially smaller than Prok, 100-46, WS-8-10, H118, Ruby… Early Golden is probably my overall favorite American persimmon of all the varieties I’ve fruited. It’s just extra tasty, and it’s a really appealing color, too. All those varieties have fruited within a few years of grafting but 100-46 seems extra precocious and productive, and I definitely like it. Some local selections that I’ve grafted have taken significantly longer to fruit than any of the named varieties, though. WS-8-10 hasn’t impressed me as much, although it is very large. I only just grafted H63A last year, and it hasn’t fruited for me yet. I also just picked my first Yates slightly under ripe, so I’m looking forward to trying it tomorrow. I haven’t gotten much fruit from H118 yet, so I haven’t had a good chance to form an opinion of it yet, but it seems pretty tasty, possibly better than any of the other very large varieties I’ve fruited. Elmo seems about average compared to 100-46, Ruby, Prok, WS-8-10 but not quite a large. In my experience, Meader isn’t even close to as good as any of the other named varieties I’ve grown. Ruby is a few weeks later than almost all these others, but the rest of the ones I’ve mentioned all seem very similar in ripening time.
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Why is that? Isn’t pollination generally preferred for Chocolate fruit?
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Not by me or my family! If you let allow pollination to occur you get a chocolate colored fruit with seed that is not fit to eat. So to get the bright orange fruit that has an regular persimmon taste similar to other Asians varieties, you must pluck off every male flower before the females open. That is a lot of work. I could never recommend chocolate to anyone due to the effort it requires. The very first year it fruited, there were no male flowers, so we enjoyed the fruit, but after that year it’s been undesirable
Dennis
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That is quite interesting.
I haven’t tried chocolate but have had coffee cake pollinated and unpollinated. The pollinated was much tastier than the unpollinated. As you say the coffee cake had brown colored flesh when pollinated.
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Yes, I have not tasted Coffee Cake but understand it ripens well here. The texture of a pollinated chocolate is like mush and in no way resembles chocolate flavor, so we do not allow pollination, and I am working each year to graft on more desirable varieties.