Giombo Persimmon in zone 6b

You guys I reeeeally want to try adding giombo persimmon to my collection. I’ve been eyeballing it for quite some time now after hearing how delicious it is. Can it be done in 6b or am I breaking my own heart? I tend to do that often with plants. :sweat_smile: Success stories welcome.

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I might be totally out to lunch—and you old persimmon hands please reprove me for my ignorance if I am—, but I’ve never heard reports of Giombo being particularly hardy. In eastern Kentucky, you will likely be disappointed sooner or later. Unless you are at hand with ample protection, it just takes one good late freeze (like happened in 2020!) or one especially hard winter, and your work’s undone.

Personally, I’d keep an eye peeled for a good hybrid such as “Mikkusu” (aka JT-02), which reportedly gives you the flavor of an excellent Asian astringent with the hardiness of D. virginiana. If you want to trial a pure kaki, stick with the hardier ones, plant in a sheltered location such as near a sunny southern wall, and be prepared to provide some protection in case things go extreme, especially when the plant is young and small.

This thread is a great resource: Persimmon Cold Hardiness Resource (BTW, a search for “Giombo” in the thread does not turn up any promising reports—only one that it died back severely at -1.5F in MA, and another from AR reporting extremely severe dieback on a mature one after a winter vortex low of -7F.)

Of course, none of these numbers is absolute; and things such as degree of dormancy, tree age, specific planting conditions, etc. can impact a tree’s tolerance of temperature extremes. For instance, Chinebuli, reportedly the hardiest of the non-astringent Asians, has survived some pretty impressive temperature lows in Jackson County, whereas it died for a grower in Lincoln County in a pretty standard winter. You roll the bones whenever you plant anything—even when you think you’ve got loaded dice!

It’s worth mentioning that some folks successfully keep persimmons as potted specimens. To me it seems like a lot of work for modest production, but everybody’s got different goals and interests.

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I grow a bunch of citrus in mid size containers for years, a modest yield per year but enough to continue and always looking forward to the following year. These are my priced trees. Btw I am in zone 7a. Is it challenging? Not any more! Same with figs. Why in containers? Easy, guaranty fruit. Not feeding the masses, just my wife and a few friends.

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Thank you! I will definitely keep an eye out for Mikkusu!

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I grew a Giombo in a large container for a few years to build up its size and cold hardiness, and planted in ground last fall. We had a mild winter–a low of negative one or so–and it suffered pretty bad dieback. Out of a bunch of true kakis, the only one that’s consistently survived for me with no dieback is Inchon.

I’d agree with that. Hybrid persimmons are excellent. Just try to order from a northern nursery so that you’re getting a rootstock that’s as hardy as the grafted hybrid itself. @KYnuttrees (nuttrees.net) would be your best bet if he’s got anything available.

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I would think that surely any American persimmon, even from relatively less hardy stock, would still be more than hardy enough for 6b. Do you think otherwise? Or do you mean something else?

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Not hardy enough. I ordered some persimmons a few years back from Just Fruits & Exotics. They were kakis, and most died back to the soil line that first winter, but the rootstocks survived and so I figured I’d graft something else on top of them. But then those rootstocks kept dying back each winter (which is actually really annoying because they come back as a thicket each spring and I’ve had a hard time getting rid of them). The JF&E website lists the rootstock they use as “Native American Persimmon, Diospyros virginiana.” So I’m guessing they collect seed from a stock that isn’t cut out for the north.

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@JeremiahT good thoughts… Yeah the reason why I put the max zone for Giombo/Smiths Best at 7a is it has like you say had damage. It survived a long time at Wye which I believe is 7a and survived temps in that -5 or colder range. But I would not plant in 6b with the damage reports I dont think it is reliable long term below -5 or so and might not even take that in some situations, most of 6b can get -12F or so so I would for sure in 6b only try those proven to take at least -10F or -14F. The one exception is a great 7a microclimate within 6b, such as maybe areas right along the east coast, in that situation a tree that can only take -4 to -6 might thrive within 6b because of the microclimate. :slight_smile:
The safe thing to do is to lean toward the hardier side of things, for instance plant things in my list that I put as max 6a in your 6b zone, or say Smiths Best I listed it as 7a but in 7b or a protected microclimate within 7a and that should be really safe, yeah that would be playing it on the safe side especially with all the variables like wind chill and young tree size and dormant status etc that could see damage at warmer temperatures than what we may expect :slight_smile:

@cousinfloyd here in my 6b I had two native rootstocks from louisiana that I grafted Kasandra to about 8" up… In one winter at i believe about -5F or so it killed one rootstock to the ground and did not damage the other which has since taken -12 undamaged. :slight_smile:

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@PaulinKansas6b was Giombo at Wye or are you thinking of Giboshi which I think is the one also called Smith’s Best?

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You are right @zendog yeah I was thinking of Giboshi(Smiths Best)…, it did well for a long time at Wye… But yeah… Come to think of it Giombo i believe is less hardy than Giboshi so yeah thanks for correcting that mistake! :smiley:
So in light of that yeah I doubt Giombo is good for colder than 7b long term(except maybe a coastal warm microclimate in 7a?)

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Here is a Wye report PDF. It has many varieties good for 7a and a few of the hardiest maybe for warm/ sheltered parts of 6b.
But it does not have Giombo.
For kaki in 6b the only ones I have decent confidence in are those that have survived 6b levels of cold for Mr Cliff they are Inchon, Steiermark, Korea, Chinebuli, Miss Kim, and of course the wonderful hybrids like JT-02 Mikkusu, Kasandra, Davids Kandy, Rossey, Sovietski, etc, and maybe the super large Gora Goverla.
Here is that Wye PDF:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6TutDMwsjqSYmZpOWpqejl2ZWM

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Thank you!

I have had Giombo in the ground for two years now. Not much to go on, but seems to be doing fine. I’m on the VA/MD state line 6b-7a.

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And just like that my giombo obsession is reignited :sweat_smile:

How big is it? Any idea of what kind of low temps it’s endured so far? Source of tree?

It’s about three foot tall. It has not really grown a lot yet. It was on sale for about $25 at plant me green. So far it has only seen high teens colds. The Saijo I bought at the same time has really done well with huge growth. I just put them in and if they make it great and if not maybe try again with another later. Most borderline trees if you can get them past the first couple years they do fine.

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