According to www.nuttrees.net Cliff says that Journey is THE earliest persimmon he has.
Has anyone tried this hybrid? I think it would be worthwhile to graft at least one branch to extend the season more towards summer.
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Was looking at that yesterday myself. He has several that he describes the taste as vanilla. I want to add one to my franken tree.
You can get 4 months of solid cropping with american persimmon franken trees.
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I have the beginning of two Franken tree persimmons in my backyard. I almost have to get this one to try, who doesnāt love the taste of vanilla + adding an earlier fruit?
I also assume itās cold hardy but will confirm before ordering.
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Be aware that American persimmons are noted for āself-pruningā lower limbs as they become shaded. Depending upon how you manage themā¦ you may find that multi-variety persimmons āloseā cultivars grafted on lower branches as they get older/larger.
Donāt know about yāall, but Iām finding a few ripe fruit here and there on persimmons in my orchard. NC-10 is generally the earliest here - not unusual to have significant ripe fruits by 10 Sept. Iāve not looked at that tree, but was passing by a graft of SFES(60C) the other day and plucked a couple of its small, seedless fruits. YUM!
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Thanks. Growers should take this warning to heart. Last year I did a bunch of grafts of JT-02 both on Prok and on IKKJ. It was mostly just an experiment, so I targeted lower branches. The grafts did OK but the next spring (May 22) I lost 2-3 of the low branches to self-pruning.
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Persimmon do shed lower limbs, but. While the tree is small you cut it to have multiple leaders. Then graft each and those will be almost individual trees. They also do not get as tall in that form.
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I have Journey scion wood to graft this spring. Got it because of the early ripening. We will see how it does in the north.
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Mine also get āprunedā from portly opossums and raccoons.
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My nemesisā include woodchucks.
I have some Journey wood coming this year as well. Keep us posted when someone gets their first fruits
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I grafted Journey in 2021. I might get fruit in 2023.
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Please let us know how it goes Bill! I am excited to start a few trees this year.
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I also grafted āJourneyā last year, along with several other hybrids. The earliness really caught my eye, as I think itās by far the limiting factor for me. Iāve grown persimmons for 15 yrs here in the VT piedmont and donāt think Iāve ever seen a winterkill. Iāve expanded my variety list considerably, so maybe Iāll change my tune. But hardiness is irrelevant if youāll never ripen a fruit anyway! Around here, we get about 160 frost free days in an average year. I honestly donāt know what we get for heat units or growing degree days, but I do know that if the fruit isnāt nearing ripe around Halloween, itās not worth a hell of beans! Iām generally pretty dismissive of the idea of growing zones and a given variety being hardy to a given number of degrees. At best, it seems a gross oversimplification. Ripening time, on the other hand, while somewhat variable from year to year is incontrovertible and crucial if youāre growing things on the margins. Iāve often been struck by how widely different accounts of ripening time of given varieties ranges. The gold standard for early ripening IME is undoubtedly āMohlerā, which is typically making at least some ripe fruit by Sept. 1. While often touted as an early cultivar (I think Cliff England lists it as one of his 2 or 3 earliest) Prokā, by comparison, ripens about 4 weeks later for me. Perhaps the difference is indicative of how little potential there is to ripen fruit at the tail end of the season. Between cool temps, short days, and overcast weather, ripening is probably quite prolapsed at that stage. In any case, Iām very excited to trial āJourneyā here. Iād be surprised if itās noticeably less hardy than other varieties and am hopeful that itās early ripening will make it a potential winner.
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