Yes tons of fruit great color tastes good but there is no wow factor. I grafted other varieties in its place.
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I can grow japanese persimmons here, but after seeing the size of Nikitas gift im giving it a second thought. Am i right in thinking that NG can hold its weight against japanese persimmons?
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It’s as good tasting or better than any of the kaki varieties I’ve tasted so far. It has slightly smaller fruit than them, but if you can grow it seedless then it probably won’t matter much in my opinion. Depends on what you are going for. I prefer better taste over size.
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Which varieties have a ‘wow’ factor for you, Ed?
Yes I am curious too- which varieties have the wow factor? I got NG for my parents. First one died and then a few years later I got them a replacement and it seems to be doing ok but no fruit yet.
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That is unfortunate, I could probably put it by a south facing wall to stop the windchill but I might pass as its a harder to find, more expensive tree from most nurserys.
I guess zone5b it might survive ok but yes, best to look for more options I guess. I think I saw a tree by the road here I’ve been wanting to check out
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I recommend the cold hardiness resource thread I linked above. JT-02 is the easy answer currently if you are z5 looking for a hybrid.
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I planted my Nikita’s Gift last year (fall 2023) just one week before a hard feeze. I had the 3 foot tree wrapped during the winter and it came through the cold weather fine. I has had leaves all summer and grew a small shoot, but is about the same size as when planted. I will wrap it again in a week or two. Hope it grows faster next summer. Mid-Missouri zone 6b
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Dessication from wind appears to be a large factor in cold hardiness for some zone pushing persimmon growers I’ve talked to. I have yet to experiment with a control myself.
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Is Nikita’s gift edible (or tasty) when firm and crisp, or is it too astringent?
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I’ve never tried them firm but I’m sure they are too astringent as they are an astringent variety. All the hybrids need to be soft to become non astringent
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I succeeded in removing astringency from firm Nakita’s gift persimmons, along with Gora Goverla, using an alcohol treatment. It took 5 days, which was 2 days longer than kaki astringent varieties seem to need. It was nicely colored when I began and still firm when finished. It was very tasty, perhaps a bit less fully flavored than soft ripe, but still delicious and a nice eating experience.
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Remarkable. That’s the first I’ve heard of a hybrid able to remove astringency while firm. I’m curious now to learn of other methods may work too.
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Here’s the 4 Gora Goverla and the one Nikita in a bag with a dish of alcohol (gin since it was what I had).
And here is my report of the process/results from another thread.
Both varieties I was successful with are in the 75% kaki or higher range, so I am hopeful other hybrids of similarly higher kaki percentage parentage should work. It will be interesting to see if those with less kaki parentage will work at all or if they do will they require a longer treatment time. Next year I hope to try with some Sestronka if it holds fruit and Chuchupaka if my tiny tree makes any fruit.
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Thanks Walter
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I planted one last fall I bought online from the “orange colored big box store”. They were the only ones that had one and the tree is doing fine.
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Thank you for sharing from the other thread. I love it.
My Nikita’s Gift has only 2 intact fruit remaining and they aren’t yet orange.
But I have a CO2 chamber based on the rodent euthenasia devices that I’d love to try on it.
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Let us know if you try the CO2. I’ve never tried it and have always used the alcohol method (primarily on Hachiya from the market) which is pretty easy to make sure I’m doing right.
I think there is a lot more testing to figure out what hybrids might respond to treatment as well as if any of the various treatments are more effective than others.
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