It doesn’t sound like anything special among named American persimmon cultivars, but this is interesting. First of all, if Gurney’s thinks there’s enough folks willing to shell out over $100 for a named tree over a seedling, that indicates a level of persimmon awareness among general consumers that we haven’t had before. Second, Gurney’s new offerings are usually patented and/or trademarked, and this appears to be neither. So I’m having a hard time figuring out whether they actually bred this or just slapped a new name on an existing variety.
Id be willing to bet american persimmon will be the next paw paw. I give it 3 years
I can almost hear the NPR segment about it in my head now.
You have to give nurseries like Gurney’s and OGW credit for their marketing. The names almost approach the absurdity of cannabis varieties. Almost. When Gurney’s comes out with a persimmon called ‘Unicorn Poop’ or ‘Death Star’ youll know we american persimmon growers have finally struck gold!
And youll know its gotta be good, because it’s expensive…
ive read that persimmons CAN be grown from cuttings, though several on the forum seem not to think so. Ive tried without luck, but not hard, just fooling around. Lenticels tend to correlate well with rooting ability. There are ways to root most things. With enough experimentation in timing and of course mist beds. The etiolated shoot method makes many tricky things roof easily too. But an outfit like Gurney’s would surely just tissue culture it, no?
anyway, own roots is almost always good IMO. Still not worth $250, but then a plantsman is almost always a thrifty sort and Im no exception.
I just filed paperwork for my new blue persimmon ‘purple nurple’ ™️. $500/ for a 2 gallon or $300 for a rootless bare root.
also, I’m gearing up to release my rarest, most desirable creation- ‘hen’s teeth’ ™️ - 1000 Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) / payable directly to my offshore account in the Caymans. You only get a speck of it, but if you put it in water overnight it grows like one of those dinosaurs they used to have in the quarter vending machines at the supermarket
Edited to add a link to the post; it’s a restricted group, but if you join you’ll be able to read the discussion in the comments. The summary is that Gurney’s seems to be tissue culturing these based on plants people have received and Gurney’s statement that they’re on their own roots.
So tissue culture H-63A = Caramel Cocktail. Great information to hear. I imagine there is a possibility of exploring that genetic line for cuttings propagation.
