Andrew
If you have to pick two PCNA persimmons to grow, which are the two and why (not counting their cold hardiness).
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I like Il Mok Jae Cha Ryang and 20th Century. They’re precocious, productive, have large fruit size, ripen early enough for my climate and very tasty.
Tam Kam has all the above mentioned traits but seems to ripen later which could be problematic in your climate.
Jin Yong is earlier than my two choices and is very tasty but hasn’t been as productive despite being a larger tree.
I’m sure there are other high quality varieties but I just haven’t fruited them or acquired them yet.
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I did not know that 20th century is PCNA.
I definitely like to grow PCNA that ripen early and tasty enough to worth put them in pots and drag them in and out every year. Need to be worth the effort.
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Yes. By far and I’m have problems keeping the height in check. If you let them go Saijo are very big trees.
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In my climate all D. kaki can become very large over decades.
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Update: 5 days later, my first ever PCA (Saiyo) grown here has ripened. It was non-astringent and delicious. I know that for many of you in warmer climates, this event would be no big deal. But for me it’s proof of the possibility of growing and ripening PCA Kakis here in southern New England. I’m not implying that others haven’t done it before, just conscious that I haven’t myself.
I have one young Saiyo tree in the ground and one in a pot. I’m hoping for many more fruits next year.
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Any comparisons with your Kassandra? Is Saijo truly “the best” for you as well?
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Honestly I have a hard time answering such questions unless I can do a side-by-side taste test, as I did recently for 3 Americans. My Kassandras are still on the tree; JT-02 also – and I’m just not going to trust my memory of last year. I’m not going to pick these hybrids until seriously cold weather is forecasted. Maybe that’ll be around Veteran’s Day. I’ll report later, so stay tuned.
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Have only one Matsumato fuyu, heavy producer on a small tree. About 450-500 this year. In VA, tree is about 6-7 years old.
Can you do anything to speed up the ripening process?
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@jrd51 … that saijo is still tempting me. Looks great.
I will be looking forward to your flavor comparisons with hybrids.
That is what I am wondering… is it really worth adding saijo… if you have Kassandra, JT02, NG, SG, Zima Khurma.
SIze wise saijo looks appealing to me… but SG is supposed to make 100-150 g persimmons … sounds like all the size I will need.
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I just ordered a Saijo. My Eureka doesn’t look good. So this is kind of a backup but also sounds hard to beat.
My next decision will be greenhouse or outside.
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Saijo seems naturally vigorous and upright. Growing it in your greenhouse would likely take some effort to maintain the tree’s height like how some Japanese orchards manage their trees. There are some example small orchard Saijo tree pictures in the 2 links.
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Sure seems that way! A friend had a seedling DV that had shown up in her yard and I taught her how to graft, gave her the scions, plus parafilm, loaned tools, etc. and she put on Saijo, Jiro and Dave’s Candy. Jiro (middle) grew well, but blem off in a thunderstorm, Dave’s Candy failed (right side) so I regrafted 100-46 for her and it took but is way behind, but Saijo (left) took off and never looked back. The tree is probably 3 feet taller than when we topped it to graft and just look how the two bark grafts have practically merged - I’ve go no idea whether to tell her to prune it to one or just leave it and hope it isn’t a problem later.
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I’m still amazed every time I hear about how these seedlings just pop up naturally in some places. That graft might flower next year or the year after given how much growth it has.
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Yes, between this one and the one I grafted at my inlaws in WV, it is pretty amazing that they showed up in a place they were left long enough to become this big. This one actually started as a seedling right by my friend’s house and they cut it down, then it put up a sucker further out from the root system. They didn’t know what it was and were about to cut it down until I talked them into grafting it to a nice fruiting variety.
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Will Saijo stand up to zone 7 with severe temperature swings? Persimmons don’t live too long here due to our fluctuating winter temperatures.
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I have a Saijo that is 4 years old on my farm in Hamilton Alabama. Last winter’s 0 degrees F did not kill it.
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@jrd51 You beat me to the punch. I was excited to tell you about how I have some Saijo already softening on the counter, and was going to try one today. Then encourage you to do your best to keep your tree alive so you can enjoy larger harvests in the future. You already found out how good it is.
The sweetness is high yet the flesh is refreshing. It’s not that thick sort of sweetness in virginiana cultivars or half dehydrated figs that make you feel like you’re already developing a cavity just by having it in your mouth.
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@fruitnut, in your climate, you can easily grow Nikita’s gift outdoors. It is much smaller in size and in my opinion ( and a few others) better than Saijo.
Better yet, grow both.
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