I grafted Sestronka to a very small rootstock, and it had one fruit 2.5 years later: Persimmons 2022 - #101 by ncdabbler
Since then it has had larger crops each year and has been a vigorous grower. I top-worked two kaki trees to Sestronka this year because I like it so well. I haven’t been counting the harvest, but I probably had about 100 fruit from my tree last year in spite of significant pruning to maintain the structure I wanted. It has at least that many fruit again this year.
Here is my Sestronka tree today, at about 9ft tall. It is notable for its large shiny leaves. You can’t really see it in this picture, but it has many fruit that are a bit smaller than a golf ball and hasn’t dropped any, while most of my kakis have been dropping immature fruit to varying degrees.
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That tree is what 6 or 7 years old? What year was first crop? Would you say Sestronka is more productive than a Fuyu or less? Trying to gauge production.
I grafted Sestronka to a tiny rootstock in April 2020, so it’s about 5 years old. It fruited for the first time in 2022 (just a single fruit that year). Roughly 50 fruit in 2023 and 100 fruit in 2024. So I don’t have that much data to go on yet, but so far I would say it’s one of my more precocious and productive persimmon trees (considering that it’s still a young tree). Most of my fuyu/jiro non-astringent kakis will bear heavily one year and bear much fewer fruit the following year. My most productive kaki cultivar (Tecumseh) consistently bears heavy crops, but it wants to get huge and needs significant pruning.
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Did it suffer any branch damage in your single digit winters?
No dieback at all. I’ve had to prune it aggressively to try to create scaffolds where I want them. It tends to put out dense growth from the main trunk that needs significant thinning out.
Excellent; sestronka appears to check all the boxes at least for zone 8A or warmer. One last question is it growing in a particularly protected or sheltered location at your place that might protect it from getting cold damage otherwise. And many thanks for your patience.
No, it’s growing out in the open. If anything, it’s in a bit of a frost pocket.
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Persimmon growers- I can’t find a good ripening chart. I want a long harvest (for public garden) of early to late non-astringent cultivars. I know it starts with IZU, then Wase Fuyu (Matsumoto) and ends with Tam Kam. Where do Maekawa Jiro, Fuyugaki, Hana Fuyu fit in? Any of them have nearly identical harvests so I can eliminate one? Hana Fuyu sounds large for good eye appeal.
I followed up with Cliff- he emailed that Sestronka will do just fine in Zone 8, he has no qualms. Thanks to @ncdabbler for advocating for it.
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Here’s the ripening chart from Edible Landscaping in Afton, VA:
Asian Persimmons
- September : Izu, Miss Kim, Sheng, Wase Fuyu
- October : Gwang Yang, Hana Fuyu, TamKam, Ichi Ki Kei Jiro, Maekawa Jiro, Smith’s Best, Sung Hui
- November : Great Wall, Hychia, Hira Tanenashi, Kungsun Bansi, Saijo, San Pedro, TamKam
- December : Hana Gosho, Tecumseh
So of those, the non-astringents in ripening order (with quite a bit of overlap in the middle) are Izu, Wase Fuyu, Gwang Yang, Hana Fuyu, IKKJ, Maekawa Jiro, TamKam, Hana Gosho
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Suruga is supposed to be a late non-astringent. I’m growing it but haven’t had any fruit yet.
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What month does Sestronka ripen for you?
October
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Asian Pears have done very well for me in New Jersey. I do not have to spray and get tons of blemish free fruit. Peaches also have done well but do require some spraying to avoid codling moth. I grow figs outdoors (Celeste) using the asian stepover method, where I cover the pruned plants with a white tarp for winter.
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Persimmon growers: Should a public orchard in 8A MD interplant Asian persimmons with hybrids or American D.v. to limit spread of Sudden Kaki Death Syndrome? Or avoid Asians entirely? Are hybrids less susceptible than straight kaki?