Just saw this. I don’t have Saijo but I think @PharmerDrewee does. I would think it would be fine to hoshigaki them.
I seen posts somewhere with Saijo hoshigaki.
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Yes! I turned my Saijo into amazing hoshigaki. It’s one of the traditional varieties used in Japan for hoshigaki.
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What great news, thank you!
Do you have any tips that you would like to share on hoshigaki making?
In my garden here in PNWet, Szukis topped out at 8 feet. Garretson about 11 feet. None of my others (Yates, H-118, Campbell’s NC 1)have grown taller than that. Maybe I do need to add fertilizer.
John S
PDX OR
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I know of a persimmon that has seeded fruit that apparently has male flowers. No wild trees around. On my wife’s grandmother’s place. There was an old tree that died with the same trait. The living tree is a seedling of the former tree. Quite large now.
@JohnS … All my wild rootstocks here should be 60c persimmons… all the mature wild persimmons here display characteristics of 60c persimmons. I am in southern middle TN.
I have grafted 9 varieties of 90c american and hybrid persimmons to my wild 60c rootstock… and they both grow like gangbusters.
Most put on between 5 and 10 ft of growth the first season. Huge leaves.
The varieties I have now are…
H118 H63A WS810 Prok, Rich Tooie (Americans)
JT02 Kasandra Nakitas Gift Journey (Hybrids)
90C scion grows like crazy grafted to 60c rootstock here.
One of those (Rich Tooie) is a 60c female… and I am sure it will produce seeded fruit here since I have plenty of 60c males around.
I am hoping that the others produce seedless fruit… since my 60c males should not be able to pollinate with the 90c females.
Those are all 1 or 2 years old now and have not ripened fruit yet… hopefully a few will next season.
TNHunter
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Makes sense, @TNhunter. We use the rootstock to control size of tree, scion for flavor. You live in the area in which I would think Persimmon trees would grow very large. Up here in PNWet: not so much. I actually prefer a 10-12 foot tree to a 60 footer. We had a storm 1 year ago. Zillions of trees knocked over. Streets blocked, cars and houses damaged. One of my neighbors had his house destroyed because a 100 foot tall Douglas fir bisected the house. Jerry Lehman and many others said that seeded fruit is of a superior quality and normally larger. My experience is also that I get more fruit. I’m not saying that is 100% true, carefully researched conclusion. Just my experience.
JOhn S
PDX OR
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To add… I remembered coming across an older grove of D. virginiana in Tacoma. So perhaps they eventually establish and begin to grow in our climate. The trees seem to have been neglected for many years.
i always hear how Meader is one of the most cold hardy persimmon (zone 4), implying even some Americans may not handle the upper zone4 range.
For Zone 5b, will all (American) persimmon ripen, so no ripening issues??? (well minus the varied ripening time as seen in a few varieties in Blue Hill Wildlife’s drop chart:
I have a listing of early-ripening American persimmon that I’ll def graft/plant for my friend, but i was curious if any ones are too late (or those will all still ripen and hence just have names like Deer Magnet).
I think the answer is no, but I suppose it depends on how you define “ripen.”
IMO, a fruit that is not ripe when it freezes is not ripe when it thaws, even if it is then soft. Also, in my experience American persimmons lose astringency more slowly in cool temperatures, though freezing may hasten the process somewhat, so a fruit that is not non-astringent when it freezes is probably not fully non-astringent when it thaws.
So I’d draw a big red line at the first freeze. As a practical matter, I’d translate your question as: “Will all American persimmons that are grown in Z5B ripen before they freeze?” The answer to that question is clearly no. Here in Z7A, I pick early-ripening names such as Barbra’s Blush and H63A from late Sept to late October. The first hard frost comes somewhere between mid-October and mid-November.
That said, both deer and humans often eat persimmons that have endured repeated freeze/thaw cycles. For the deer in December, these fruit are a good source of calories. But having eaten a few such persimmons myself, I wouldn’t recommend that anybody plant a tree with that objective in mind.
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I agree with @jrd51. Awhile ago, we were zone 8b. The state ag people advised not growing late ripening varieties such as Ruby, as they might not ripen. 8b is a lot warmer than 5b!
Now, we’re 9a, and it makes a big difference. Some of the earlier varieties are all done and people might want some fresh fruit in October and November.
John S
PDX OR
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Thats wild that zone 8b wouldn’t ripen an american persimmon.
I would have thought that’s the upper zone range and ripen everything.
Here in PNWet, we specialize in chill hours. In the South, they specialize in heat units. The USDA zones only list coldest temperatures, not heat units. We are kind of the opposites, yet our USDA zones are remarkably similar. We are similar in USDA zones to Jacksonville, FL, Montgomery AL, and Shreveport LA.
John S
PDX OR
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It’s tricky because zones are not based on the hot months but on average minimum temperatures.
I’m in East Texas 8b and we don’t have any problem ripening them because we have so much heat… But then comes the winter and we can get pretty cold!
Zone does not tell the whole story.
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This year my H118 that were still on the tree for the first frosts/freeze were still astringent even though soft. I still have some fruit hanging that are abuzz with fruit flies. 
Fruit that were brought in as they just turned translucent in the fall softened and lost their astringency. I think full orange but still opaque may have done better. Hopefully I’ll pay more attention next year and benefit from a higher percentage of the crop.
It was by far our best year for non-astringent kaki production. The last few Coffeecake are super soft on our counter. Too soft for me but my wife seems to be eating them.
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I have a question that maybe someone can answer, do you know if Starkbros grafts their Asian persimmons in DV or DL?
I hope you get an answer, seems crazy that they don’t tell you and don’t know when you call.
I believe that Stark’s trees are grafted on DV. FWIW, in 2015 I bought one “Prok” (evidently mislabeled) and three IKKJ from Stark’s. All 4 trees grow on DV roots.
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