I stopped by one of the local persimmon trees today and gathered a few ripe fruit. They are delicious! I was thinking of bringing some with me on a trip up the trace and dropping by TNhunter’s place so he can sample.
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Its’s persimmon time in Texas…almost. Just a few ripening ones here and there of the earliest ones.
Pen: @Mulleteer Second year to bear. Not ripe yet but looks as if getting close
Eureka: Second year to bear for this tree. A few ripe ones so far
Giombo: None ripe yet
Tam Kam: These are usually pretty late ripening
Have also been eating Saijo.
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Nice Pictures! How is Eureka? It’s recommended for the South but I don’t hear too many home growers talk about the favor and production…
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Not every story is about success. A few years ago, I grafted Miss Kim to an established DV tree. I started with 3-4 grafts close together on a branch. Over time, all but one of them withered. The best interpretation I could attach was that the other grafts were ceding dominance to the one survivor.
This spring, the surviving branch set fruit so I was looking forwards to eating it, finally. Then sadly a couple weeks ago, the branch broke off. The fruits were all totally green.
To my surprise, as the branch sat on the orchard floor, the fruits started to show color. This is today. I’m gonna give them a chance to get soft and lose astringency.
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Reporting on David’s Kandy, I planted David’s Kandy in 2019 and it fruited in 2022, very few fruit in 2023 and this year about 40-50 will ripen fingers crossed.
Tastes more like an Asian persimmon that American and my palate is fairly partial to American persimmons. Like Cliff mentioned it is a very nice looking and balanced ornamental tree, I see it’s use in edible landscaping,
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After dropping 100% of its fruit for several years Nakitas Gift has finally produced some fruit.
Zone 6 northern Kentucky.
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This is my older Eureka tree on its third year producing. The first year it gave me 5 fruits; the second year almost a hundred and this was third year and was about 200 total. I think the taste is good when ripe and I like to dry them before the turn soft for great “candy”.
These pictures were in 2020 and then the vortex arrived in Feb 2021 and I almost lost the tree. It came back and this year I will have a pretty good crop. I will make sure I always have a Eureka.
Three weeks later(some had been picked
Ripe
Candy
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Congrats! Now what about the taste?!? 
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I really like it. It reminds me of Kassandra a bit but a bit bigger. It was my first time trying NG but if they are all that good it will be my favorite persimmon. I have a couple NG trees but its always dropped the fruit until this year it held onto some.
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I’ve noticed that Kassandra has long enough stems to make it easy to cut them off. My one JT-02 has a very short stem holding it close to the branch. Are all JT-02 fruits so short stemmed? If yes, that seems like a major convenience win for Kass. over JT-02.
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I hesitate to say “all” and have only limited experience with JT-02 (maybe 100 fruits), but I think that’s right. Kasandra (maybe 2000 fruits) definitely has a good stem. For both of them, I like the fact that the calyx holds to the fruit – like an Asian – so you harvest from the tree rather than the ground.
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Good to know details like that about Kasandra and JT02.
Sounds like Kasandra ripens before JT02 ?
At least I am seeing several pics of ripe Kasandra in this thread now… but not JT02.
I have both grafted to wild dv rootstock in year 2… no fruit yet.
I will have to transplant my JT02 to my new orchard or it will sell with our current home.
I am planning to do that this winter.
Are there any other differences in Kassandra and JT02… that you feel would support the need to have both ?
Fruit size ?
Quality ?
Flavor differences ?
Production ?
Etc…
Thanks
TNHunter
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How hardy is Eureka? If I can grow IKKJ and Incheon do you think Eureka might work? Or is it less hardy than some?
I lost IKKJ completely when our temps went to around - 4-5°F. I don’t have history of cold with Inchon. Eureka came back but it was a hard pull and looks like there is permanent damage to the trunk even though it’s growing well and producing. This is third year after the vortex. About half the tree sprouted rootstock growth and I grafted Eureka back onto it in 2023.
Taken in 2003 but from the other side so the grafted area is to the right in this photo. Grafted area is producing a couple of fruits this year.
So it did not completely succumb to the cold.
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These are definitely different.
Kasandra definitely ripens well before JT-02. My Kasandra are now very orange; I’m guessing that they’ll start ripening in a couple weeks, depending on weather – they seem to ripen faster in warmth. That’s roughly two weeks ahead of last year. Meanwhile, my JT-02 are only hinting at orange. I don’t expect them to ripen for at least a month – retarded by October cold. Last year I picked them on 11/6 and finished them inside.
Size differs. Kasandra is the size of a large American, roughly the size of an egg but round. JT-02 is the size of a small PCNA Kaki. So JT-02 is much larger (and more flat).
Flavor differs. Kasandra shows its American roots, so it has rich flavor. JT-02 shows its PCNA Kaki roots; it’s like an enhanced Jiro.
Productivity seems good for both. I picked >1000 fruits off my Kasandra tree a few years ago, though 300-500 seems more sustainable and maybe 200 would be ideal for fruit quality after thinning. Meanwhile, I picked 75 fruits off my JT-02 grafts – two branches – last year. I think a mature tree would yield 200 or more or maybe 100 after thinning. Remember, JT-02 is larger.
Both are hardy against winter cold, but JT-02 seems to leave dormancy early so it seems susceptible to damage from late frosts. I’ve had zero damage on Kasandra but some severe tip / new growth damage on JT-02.
Both produce quality fruit but I have to say that Kasandra fruits are pristine – unblemished skin and flesh. I can post some pictures, if you like.
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Thanks for the details @jrd51 … appreciate it and you definately confirmed my need to transplant JT02 this winter.
Would love to see some pics of JT02.
@Ahouse422 posted pics of Kasandra above… georgious fruit. I cant wait to try those.
Hopefully I get to try some of those at Englands orchard… that is coming up quick.
TNHunter
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Did some foraging at the Hershey trees in PA
Alright size, but the seeds fill out decent chunk of space inside, makes you appreciate Lehmans Delights size. Although smaller size i assume advantageous when hits ground wont go splat.
Here is a tree i found local park. Almost same sized fruits.
Oh yeh. Any idea what these two nuts found there are?
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@armyofda12mnkeys … nice fruit haul and those are some nice sized persimmon trees.
I think those may be Bur Oak acorns (the larger ones)… and hickory nuts the smaller ones.
I have a red hickory down here that looks similar to that but not exactly the same.
It does not look like pignut, mocker, shag or shell… to me.
If you taste one and it is extremely astringent… bitter nut hickory.
@Lucky_P is a nut expert… I bet he knows.
TNHunter
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Looks like Bur oak acorns and bitternut hickory nuts, to me.
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