'Nikita's Gift' persimmons are wonderful

Only thing I don’t like about them is they are kinda small. But they sure make up for their small size with a bumper crop of fruit.



The tray of fruit is nothing. It did not make a dent on the fruit on the tree. When the fruit is jelly like, it is fantastic.

Do you do anything with persimmons other than fresh eating?

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I used to make popsicles out of them. Very nice in the summer. There are plenty of recipes out there for about anything persimmon it looks like. Persimmon bread sounds awesome personally.

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Its such a great persimmon. This is one i ate today



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My tree produced its first fruit this year and I can concur. What a wonderful fruit

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My NG is still hanging; it doesn’t look ripe yet.

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This looks awesome. Did you have to winter protect it when it was first planted? I had one that I planted and it died back over the winter, thankfully not below the graft due to heavy mulch. I’m just wondering if it’s ever going to make it on its own and get established? I live in zone 6b-7

Cookies and wine👍

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Nice, i always read NG drop alot of fruit, but doesn’t seem so in your case.
I saw recently someone did Hoshigaki on facebook with various hybrid persimmon and raved about it.
Im too lazy to do that technique worrying I won’t do it correctly. But maybe you can just dehydrate them, try it both in the jelly phase and the harder orange stage. should clear up astringency in the hard phase in the dehydrator, and would be interesting to compare both ways after done dehydrating (don’t over do it where it ends up too dry and crispy; you want it more dry but still moist like a date [which usually is somewhere between a day to 2 days I think to get to that consistency]).
Note: here is the one i have (slightly more upgraded one than the other NESCO one i used to have: Amazon.com: NESCO Gardenmaster Pro Food Dehydrator, 8 Trays, White: Home & Kitchen )

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Don’t do it yet! Patience! Mine are almost all still hanging. It will soften when it’s ready. I have been checking ours every few days.

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Woah looks beautiful! I forgot there were hybrid persimmons hardy to zone 5… I need this if it does so good for you in zone 6 what a crop! :slight_smile:

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No, did not protect it. This tree was planted maybe 2009.

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Nikita’s is not generally hardy to z5. There are more reliable options. Mine had significant dieback in zone 5 temperatures during the polar vortex.

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They do seem to drop lots of fruit. But once they are done dropping, you have to cut them or twist them off to get the fruit. Very hard to get the fruit off the branch. If you use a fruit harvester on a pole it rips the branch down.

I didn’t know that when planting. If I did, I would have planted it on level ground. It is on a slight hill, and it is hard to use a ladder. But it produces so much fruit I don’t need to get to the top part most years anyway. I just planted a 2nd Nakita’s Gift this year. I probably don’t need it, but I wanted to make sure I always get some persimmons. In the Rustbelt persimmons are $2.50 each for the pointy ones, and that is if you can even find them.

Are all persimmons hard to pick?

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Years ago, this one had some dieback on one branch after winter. What else is out there for cold hardy persimmons?

The COOP had some Z7 persimmons they were selling for Z6. They don’t care that they put out for sale. You have to do your own homework.

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Has anyone tried or grown Smiths Best. A friend of mine stopped by Edible landscaping, during their persimmon festival and raved about the flavor. She tried every persimmon they have(amazing collection of fruit bearing persimmon trees), and said Smiths Best has unforgettable flavor. Kinda wish, I had not missed the festival now.

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That is a beautiful sight!!

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Diospyros virginiana typically drop its fruit while D. kaki typically holds it. Hybrids decide which one they want to follow, but from what I’ve seen they tend to hold on.

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Chuchupaka seems to drop atleast some of its fruit when ripe.
H118 seems to hold most of its later fruit even if it is ripe. I like it that it doesn’t drop.

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Yes, Smith’s Best AKA Giboshi has fabulous taste.

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