Persimmon Cold Hardiness Resource

Paul, what persimmons do you have that are already leafing out. I need to check mine, but I know early golden and one other has started for me, I need to check which one it is. None of the hybrids are ahead of early golden. The other is either meader or wabash.

3 Likes

For what it’s worth, a few of the hybrid and pure kaki survivors this year with a low of -1.5 in Mass were: Inchon, Saijo, Kassandra, Rosseyanka, Okja, JT-02, Chuchupaka, Maekawa Jiro, and most of my own seedling hybrids.
Giombo had quite a bit of dieback.

12 Likes

I have better luck with establishment from seed too and with the droughts we get, I hope the deep tap roots will help. Those seedlings can grow fast with the right conditions (many are 24-30" after the first year without doing anything too crazy) and produce some nice roots. Here’s a stunted seedling I had pulled to thin an area I over planted. Nice deep roots though. If I had been thinking, I would have selectively pulled them based on which ones had their leaves fried by the late freeze last year, rather than which ones were necessarily the biggest. We hit -29F (at least) this winter, so I’ll see what’s what with my seedlings and grafts.

8 Likes

I have made a few adjustments to the excellent list that you have made available but only a few that I have had long term time of Observations since the conception of some of these Cultivars Here is Kentucky

COLD hardiness for Persimmons.docx (13.1 KB)

11 Likes

I can add that with all the die back I had on all my varieties from the precipitous cold event here that Miss Kim and Tecumseh were basically unaffected. It may have slowed their exit from dormancy but very minimal tip die back on Tecumseh (3 year graft) and none on a Miss Kim (2 year graft).

6 Likes

@KYnuttrees Hi Cliff. Thanks for your input. Where would you place Cheong Pyong, Jin Yong, and Il Mok Jae Cha Ryang? I grafted some trees of those from your scions.

@aap Did you mention your KBS surviving the polar vortex at your location?

4 Likes

My area in Northwest Omaha Z5 got down to -29F for one night on 2-16-21. That was super cold for Hybrid persimmons. I will know how many of my 15 JT-02 hybrid trees will survive in about a month from now. Majority of the 5 -7 years old JT-02 passed the green bark scratch test. The 6 years old Cassandra hybrid probably got the top half fried.

7 Likes

Cold hardiness , ?
This is very complex I believe.
More than just a matter of winter low temps when fully dormant. that’s a good place to start and a good list.
Some varieties start to grow earlier than others , and are damaged by late spring frost. Such as what is being reported by others,
I can see a wide difference in growth stages and frost damage of varieties here . Still assessing damage. May not have time for a full report. Some still dormant, some leafed out and black from frost. Twig damage unknown.

8 Likes

@PharmerDrewee Those would be in the range of -5 to -10 F as with these three there is other Factors that are involved due to the Planting Location

4 Likes

@tonyOmahaz5 WOW Sir that Id Very COLD

4 Likes

Several of the others showing some live but most side branches are dead. Check Giombo, my favorite, dead to the laterals, don’t know about 6 feet lower. Will use the chainsaw. Roya Brilliante same. Both can’t handle below 7 for a couple nights and 5 during the day. Previous F/V of one or zero were ok. All my Asian persimmons were ok since 2012, no dieback.

4 Likes

Gora Goverla woke up a couple days ago after -17 here for a night this winter. Chuchupaka woke up today. Still waiting on Kassandra, JT-02 , Rosseyanka, and a few other hybrids to wake up. I haven’t given everything a scratch test, but the ones I did are showing green. All the Americans have already woke up. I did cover some of my small hybrids in wheat straw on that -17 night.

5 Likes

I agree that leafing out is a big problem because persimmons have no tolerance to frost. Which ones were latest to leaf out for you?

3 Likes

Keep us posted, Tony. that’s a true test your persimmons went through.

5 Likes

@KYnuttrees Thank you Mr Cliff for your excellent feedback on this list! It is very appreciated! I am going to study it and update my notes.

@tonyOmahaz5 Tony that is very interesting, I look forward to hearing your final report on how all of your trees fared! Thank you!

@Hillbillyhort Good thoughts, I agree, there are so many factors. In my location, I am hopeful that the more protected micro-climate location of my main planting will fare above average for the hardiest kaki etc. :slight_smile:

@ctduckhunter Clint that is great news! My youngest JT-02 and Davids Kandy small thin grafts from last summer are swelling so they look fine! Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your contributions to feedback!

3 Likes

Got to make a correction, my Giombo and KBS tree’s were much older. These tree’s were grafted around 2006. Roya Brilliante and others 2012 and after.

4 Likes

That’s good to hear! I’ve got my eye on Gora Goverla as another one to try.

1 Like

Jay, Gora Goverla is an early opener for a hybrid. Sosnovskaya is just thinking about opening this morning. It makes me wonder if the Americans are earlier at breaking buds than the hybrids because they are older trees or if it is just a variety thing.

3 Likes

I also think rootstock variation may play a part. I have a very small sample size of personal experience, but I did notice that there was about a 2 week spread of waking up for the 4 little Prok trees that I brought in to graft over to Chinebuli. That being said, all the remaining Prok and JT-02 that are still outside seem to be in lockstep with each other. Just starting to swell buds the last few days.

4 Likes

I don’t want to spoil your hopes but Gora Goverla and all goras for that matter are less hardy than Nikita…-5 F at best. Why? Because they are offspring of Nikita backcrossed with kaki.

6 Likes