I’m wondering what the best strategy would be for this. probably 5 gallon buckets with warm water and pop the lids on with a fill tube to get the remaining air out? I have some DEF buckets that have built in caps that would probably work well.
I was kind of hoping somebody would crock pot a test batch. 
I’m not sure what temp the “Keep Warm” setting actually is though.
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The other open would be pressure cookers or canning equipment that can hold temperature, like a yogurt setting.
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Probably too hot. @disc4tw so long as they are submerged, it should be anoxic enough. The two simplest ways to hold the temp would be a picnic cooler or a sous vide recirculator. With the cooler, you’d put the water in at somewhat higher than target, as the persimmons and cooler will suck up some of that heat. It should have no problem holding 120, 140 for an hour or two.
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You may want to look at your H-118 grafts. My new graft has just under 10 flowers on it. I’m going to let them go and see what happens. I grafted a tree and some back up branches in case of failure, but all are growing.
Thanks. The H-118s were grafted only 3 weeks ago. None of them has popped yet.
In any case, I wouldn’t let persimmons develop on a newly grafted tree. I’d be too afraid that the weight of the fruit would break the new graft. I’ve lost grafts to less – birds landing on the scion, winds blowing on the scion, woodchucks climbing on the scion. Well, maybe a woodchuck outweighs a pile of persimmons. But I’d generally treat a new graft very cautiously for the 1st season.
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My 6 year old hugged the persimmon tree that I added H-118 to, nearly squishing the graft. Good reminder to add a stake, but you never know what’s going to get your grafts!
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You could have took those pics here. Same cages and broke branches. They only seem to like the things I paid money for or put effort into. This year in addition to your pics, some kind of insect sawed off all the new grow the deer couldn’t reach. Every year brings some type of new and exciting anger.
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Same here. I need to get some finer mesh to put at their browsing height, they are getting better and better at putting their noses in through the 2” holes. I have an old roll of row cover, maybe I will try wrapping that around the cages.
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That cheap $5 dollar e-bay bird netting works great. Make 2-3 wraps. It only survives a couple years, but it’s dirt cheap. I was using it around the cages for a while, but I don’t have that many that need it anymore. They jump up over the cages and rip the branches down now.
Thanks that’s a great idea. I have a ton of that stuff stashed somewhere, all I have to do is remember where. It was snagging the birds and making a mess so I switched to corded netting at some point.
Help this little guy out, please:
2-year-old, 22-inch tall IKKJ persimmon sapling from Stark. Planted in the ground last fall. The main problem is that it is growing wider than it is tall, and there’s no central leader. Other than that, the leaves are nearly palm-size and healthy looking, and the plant currently has 14 flowers on it.
I cut back the central stem in late winter hoping that the bud would continue apical growth. There’s a bit of bud swell and green (barely visible in pics) but it’s not really growing.
What can I do to promote vertical growth? And should I remove the flowers? Thanks!
You’re not going to like my answer.
You need to create a central leader. I’ve identified one shoot (blue) in the 4th picture as a good candidate. IMO, the best way to create the central leader is to make a heading cut (red) just above the shoot. And then remove all the growth below the shoot. Yes, I’m sorry, this will feel like a massacre. It should have been done last year, when the tree was younger. Also remove any buds that pop. Let nothing grow but the central leader. Stake it vertical. By the end of the year you should have a 5-6’ trunk.
Next year you will grow scaffolds.
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Very interesting idea. Thanks! You’re right: I don’t like it.
But if I had the heart to do it, should I do that now or wait till the tree goes dormant?
Definitely now. Take advantage of the coming growing season.
If it makes you feel any better, I’m doing exactly the same to a bunch of new trees planted this year or late last – 5 Chinese chestnuts, 2 mulberries, 2 American persimmons, 2 pawpaws. One Asian persimmon arrived with good height but too many branches; now there are three – future scaffolds.
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I think H-118 is excellent. Really interesting good flavor. I guess I’d put Garretson just ahead of it, but my Garretson was much less precocious than H-118. It’s early here, and I’ve never noticed black spots on it, but we have very dry summers with low humidity. I also like Ruby, which is big, but not quite as great tasting IMO as the other two. I like all three better than Early Golden by a lot. Szukis became really great after I biocharred it. It wasn’t worth much before. NC-10 Campbells is way back compared to all the above.
John S
PDX OR
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I’ll soak my Giboshi in water this Fall and see what happens.
Guess that works if tannins are water leachable.
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Tannins are water soluble. The question is will it remove enough of the sugars also to impact the taste?
@hambone @ramv the tannins aren’t removed. Soaking the astringent persimmons in water works the same way that vacuum sealing or storing them in CO2 does. It allows the tannins to be converted to a form that isn’t astringent any more. As @jcguarneri said above:
It works in a different way. Creates an anoxic environment that favors the metabolic process to made the tannins insoluble.
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