I live in the Seattle area and planted a Fuyu persimmon tree 4-5 years ago. This year it had about 25 persimmons on it so I’ve been looking forward to a nice treat. However, the fruit is mealy and mushy on the inside even though it still feels very firm from the outside. What causes this?
I have a similar issue with Khurma Zima persimmons. My fruit is actually soft and no longer astringent, but is mealy (at least many of them). Looking forward to learning more – will be monitoring this thread!
I’d wonder if that’s perhaps due to a lack of sufficient heat. It’s my impression that persimmons do best in hotter areas.
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It probably got frosted in the cold weather and it wasn’t ripe to begin with.
Fuyu is marginal in our climate. Fortunately there are lots of other great varieties.
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Suggest consulting Ram on the best varieties that can ripen in out climate.Then top work all main scaffolds to grow a variety more likely to please. In a year or so you will be close to getting good results!
Dennis
Kent, wa
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I wondered about that. I have read conflicting things about when to pick the fruit and whether frost is harmful or not. Are you saying that I should have picked them before the first frost?
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Thanks for the suggestion. So despite the description when I ordered this tree that it would be fine in our zone, it may not be optimal here and I might have better luck with a different variety. But I think you are saying that I could graft another variety on to the existing tree and get better results.
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Hi Ram: What non-astringent varieties do better in the Seattle area?
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Jiro aka Fuyu on the west coast will ripen fine in many places with excellent sun exposure in Seattle. But not all. It may not develop good sweetness in many locations.
Hybrids and American persimmons develop more sweetness consistently. And a few kakis are good too
I think you are unlikely to go wrong with Nikita’s gift and Coffee cake.
Where are you located? Seattle city? Or suburbs? Do you have the tree in full sun spot?
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Thank you Ram. I am located in Bellevue, on the east side of a hill with trees above. I located the persimmon tree on one of the sunniest places on the south-facing side of property where it gets about 6 hours of sun a day and more in the middle of summer. The flavor of what I got this year is sweet, but the texture is not pleasant as it is comparatively dry and mealy. I will look into Nikita’s Gift and Coffee Cake.
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Good to hear! I’m still relying on Costco for my once a year persimmon fix!
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I recommend Uwajimaya for better quality persimmons than Costco.
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@AvidSlacker — I grafted Zima Khurma to a wild DV this spring and had success.
I don’t know much about it… Cliff at Englands Orchard says — it ripens late season… orange medium to large fruit. Not a hint of what it taste like.
Do you have any details you could share on the taste / flavor / sweetness ?
Years to start bearing ?
I am in southern middle TN…zone 7a. Hoping my long hot season here will ripen them properly and in time.
TNHunter
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@TNHunter - I can’t yet form a firm opinion on Zima Khurma as my tree is probably still too young. It started bearing on the third summer after grafting. Taste-wise, it’s very sweet. Some (not all) fruit still have a hint of that caramel flavor of American persimmons but it’s not overwhelming as I felt Barbra’s Blush was (so I personally like Zima Khurma much better). But texture-wise, I liked Barbra’s Blush better because some fruit of Zima Khurma is a bit mealy. On the other hand, I wrote that earlier message after picking the first few fruits, and the later ones I picked yesterday are much less mealy if at all, but still not as gelatinous as I would have liked. Perhaps they still needed more time on the tree. Also, I am in zone 5b so at the coldest extreme of its range, it will probably work better for you in your zone.
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@AvidSlacker thanks for the details on ZK.
Very sweet… taste of caramel in some sounds good to me. Perhaps with my longer hotter season it will turn out to quite good here.
I have a Barbara’s Blush/WS8-10 as well and wild americans are the only persimmons i have ever eaten… i am quite used to that strong flavor.
Getting a couple scions of Journey Hybrid this spring and H118 to get some early persimmons started here.
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Maybe try turning your persimmons this year into fruit leather? It may even out the texture and concentrate the sugars if not completely ripe. I’m not speaking from experience, so if anyone else has suggestions… It just seemed like a good way to turn lemons into lemonade here.
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This was my exact thought as well. @Rhona, have you considered slicing the persimmons and using a dehydrator or the oven on low heat with the door propped open a touch in order to dry the fruit?
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I topworked my Chocolate tree with numerous varieties. The two fastest growing ones are ZK and Kasandra both two year old grafts. This year Kasandra produced 2 fruits that I picked last week but ZK even though it is outgrowing Kasandra had no fruits yet. Maybe next year I can compare the two.
Another tree Ichi kei Jiro which I planted in 2019 started out the year with 18 fruits set, then promptly shed all but 4 which made it to ripening stage. Soon I will test them when soft enough to see if I have a good result. It will be my first ripe persimmons. Kasandras are the two smaller ones!
Dennis
Kent, wa
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I will check that out! They are close by…
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