Rossyanka is most productive among the hybrids and has a unique taste between Kaki and American persimmon with no issue of fruits drop and very cold hardy to -20F. It is a keeper. Nikita’s Gift is very tasty somewhat firm ripened fruits but not that cold hardy only to -8F with lots of top died back. The draw back on NG is that it tends to drop fruits like crazy and not as productive as Rossyanka. My 2 1/2 years old 6 1/2 feet tall Kasandra has not fruited yet but it is suppose to be a very good sweet tasting Kaki like in taste just like the Great Wall Kaki as one of the parent and crossed with the F2 Rossyanka male.
Cliff recommended sestronka to me for flavor, although not as cold hardy as kasandra and other hybrids. Good to know there’s a fan of kasandra out there!
I want to try growing jt-02 but the tree I received never leafed out. I hear great things about Jt-02, but a dead tree won’t help!
I enjoy Nikita’s gift a lot, but it is late ripening for me in nj for some reason. If other hybrids are better than Nikita’s, then I’m sure I’ll love them too!
Hi Tony, you state above that NG drops a lot of fruit and is not as productive as rosseyanka. Just wondering if you experience the same amount of fruit drop as I do from NG. Mine is still dropping fruit like crazy, and it’s mid/late July. I know I’ve lamented about this before on this site, but wondering if your statement above is based on personal experience as well.
Tony, just wondering about the Spanish R/B is it doing anything for you? I think that it would be your best bet for container growing since it is easy to keep small.
Yes, My Nikita’s Gift was 9 years old. I bought it from Burntridge Nursery. It fruited three years after I planted it. The tree had hundred of flowers and only hung on to 2 fruits that year. The fourth years it had 5 fruits. The 7th year I harvested 25 fruits. I topworked last year to JT-02, Kasandra, and Rossyanka. I left one branch of NG but it died back badly when the temp dropped to -8F without Winter protection. One gentleman told me to make a ring cut around the base of the trunk like a foot up to prevent fruits drop but I never come around to do it. You can you tube the video and see what you think.
Thanks, Tony! I’ll likely do the same as you by topworking mine. I applied no fertilizer on the lawn this year, hoping for better NG results… but I think my results will only be marginally better. I have to get a hold of some jt-02 and rosseyanka scion wood for the NG multi-graft. I already have zima khurma, kasandra, and sestronka to graft onto it.
We all have decay problems. The origin can be multiple and without explanation.
For me this year, it’s the H63A that problems for me, whether it’s grafted on khaki, virginiana or lotus. The rootstock isn’t always the cause.
So H63A who are gone… dead.
We have not only successes.
Nikita’s gift seems like a winner! It dropped most of its figs which was a good thing since the tree was so small. But it appears to be keeping the remainder.
I will likely have a few to taste this fall! Can’t wait.