Persimmon Fall Color

A lot of the new grafts grew well this year. The ones I did last year went nuts after I put them in the ground this past spring. I was rewarded with 2 spurts of vigorous growth. The seedlings were kind of pricey at $6 a pop compared to other things like pear rootstocks.

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A couple more varieties are showing color this year.


Saijo

Tam Kam

Picudo

Nishimura Wase

A few dropped leaves without any color changes such as Smith’s Best and 20th Century.

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Below is my Saijo and Matsumoto. These have not fruited yet. I have several Hachiya. they are still hard at what point can I bring them in and let them ripen on the counter.

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Giant Fuyu, amongst some perennials
This is the first season since planting bare root, we ate the first fruit out of impatience, second and last is hanging hidden on the other side (should have gotten a better angle!)

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Hello Dax,

Since I am rather new to Growing Fruit and concentrating on persimmons as my post-retirement hobby, I’ve quickly learned from perusing the discussions that you know your 'simmons! I’ve interacted a bit with @PharmerDrewee (who lives not far from me in SE Pennsylvania), @SMC_zone6, @KYnuttrees and @aap, and wanted to make your acquaintance as well.

As a rank novice I started off by ordering already grafted persimmons right and left last winter, and they are now arriving. Got four different kakis planted plus five virginiana rootstock seedlings for grafting experiemention so far, with a few more kakis arriving in the near future. I also have accrued several scions to probably kill, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I reckon I will eventually take the approach of Bob Vanno and narrow down to a few favorites, but don’t know yet what they are! What I need is some TASTE experience, but not sure how to get it except from the passing of years and the maturing of my own trees. Maybe I have to pay a personal visit to Andrew Nguyen’s orchard…

So anyway, hello from a rookie! Wish me luck as I learn, and don’t be surprised if I ask you a question now and then. Actually, here is one. I am not on Facebook and don’t really want to start, so I can’t access the world of Persimmon World there, which you mentioned in an October 2020 post under the Persimmon Fall Color thread. Is there a comparable venue that does not require being a Facebook member, or is Growing Fruit the best choice?

Thanks for being here and sharing your hard-earned wisdom,

Rick Lanser (@Yoda )

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this is the place
i rarely use facebook

ill be around but got one arm to type right now

thank you for your greeting,

Dax

I agree VIncent. Traditionally in the PNW, the early Americans ripen more reliably than any Asian persimmons. But, hey, the climate is changing, so I don’t know.
John s
PDX OR

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I might remove all my Asian persimmon trees, because of disappointing of theirs fruit quality. Never sweet enough.

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I started with an Izu, because it would ripen earlier than other Asians. Then I decided that I liked the complex flavor of the Americans more, so now I only grow them. Plus, they all always ripen.
John S
PDX OR

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Hybrids like Nikita’s gift are also excellent just like American persimmons. H63a is already changing color. H63A may be a winner here but still early to say.

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Most of my H118 dropped from the heat this year. There are a handful left, just beginning to get a little color so are more visible in the foliage. yesterday I found one on the ground, looks about ripe. Forgot to eat it. Last year the fruit didn’t ripen well. Wouldn’t consistently lose astringency and/or had bitterness in the skin. Hopefully these few are better.

I’ve got 1 Nikita’s Gift fruit on my branch, the first. I’ve only tried NG once before. They were fruit for sale at One Green World. Probably picked too early or something because they weren’t great. Store bought Hachiya were much better for example. I assume those were anomalous since so many sing its praises.

My NOT Izu is loaded this year. I’m hoping with the hot summer they will be better than last year. Last year they were never palatable. By the time they turned orange the texture was rubbery and they tasted like nothing. I cut off more than half of the fruiting limbs when I grafted real Izu scions to the tree, but left the lower branches drooping with fruit. If they aren’t better I’ll prune them off in the spring.

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you can rehome them with me if you need to sell them off.

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my NG wasn’t that early or impressive as the store bought hachiya you mention. however it was productive for its size! still looking for a good flavor and reliable astringent variety for PNW.

Too many micro climates even in the Seattle area. I think my location might be warmer than some others. My persimmons appear further along.
Very surprised that NG would rank below store bought Hachiya. To my taste, it is the best persimmon I’ve tried. American H118 is very good too and I would rank it also above Hachiya.

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I don’t know how easy for the job plus I have the problem with my right hand now. The nerve is too bad. Could not carry heavy more than 10 pounds. I need a break a couple months hopefully getting better. They’re very big size for relocating but will try KT.

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What varieties are the ones you have? The only one I have tasted that doesn’t have any taste or sweetness is Tamopan.

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@Ruben . The problem not because of varieties. Just the climate where I live. Very cool weather in Seattle areas.

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What’s is American persimmon performs well in our areas? I prefer medium + fruit size, quality, and self fertile. Any idea Ram?

Early Jewel aka H118 is very good.
I also have H63a which is fruiting for the first time this year.
Both are much earlier than Asian persimmons.

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With the heat stress here in PNW, all of my persimmons took a hit. We had temps of 108, 112, 116, and I think 107 F. Like Murky, my H118 Prairie Star lost its fruit. Early Golden also has lost nearly all its fruit. Campbells/NC 10 has a few, but they aren’t ripening. Garretson did much better than the others and kept almost all of its fruit. The quality isn’t quite as good as most years, but American persimmons are used to rainy hot humidity, not desert scorching like this year. I was very excited about grafting so many of the new persimmons this year, but I may graft over some of the H118’s, as it seems like I will get a lot of years of no fruit.
John S
PDX OR

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