Persimmons 2025

[TNHunter]

@Janey… I have been working on establishing my persimmon collection the last 3 springs (grafting scion to my wild persimmon rootstocks).

I also bought a couple asian (non astringent) persimmons and planted them… and grafted one astringent asian… Saijo to my wild rootstock this spring.

So far only a few of those have set and ripened fruit.

Americans H63A and Barbaras Blush ripened fruit this year… they have quite different flavor with H63A being more fruity and BB bring more rich.

I am glad I have both since they are quite different on flavor and both quite delicious.

Kasandra is the only hybrid to ripen fruit here so far… and my year 3 tree produced 30+ fruits. We are eating them almost daily now and they are absolutely delicious. The mix of asian and american flavor is just awesome.

My year 3 IKKJiro asian non astringent … is working on ripening 20+ fruits now… we have eaten 6 or so… and i am really impressed at how good they are. If you let them fully ripen… they change from deep orange to red… and get very soft… and are absolutely delicious… and larger… and have no seeds.

We have had a few taste test with family members… and my Wife and Son have proclaimed IKKJiro as the best… but myself and my son in law have proclaimed Kasandra as the best.

But honestly we all love them both… no complaints about eating any of those.

Hopefully next year I have a few more americans and hybrids and asians to try.
I think I have 10 varieties in all.

TNHunter

[jrd51]

@TNHunter

My IKKJiro in its first winter

sorry I thought you were speaking about the present season.

[TNHunter]

@jrd51 … presently we are having highs in the low 80s, upper 70s… and lows in the upper 50s to mid 60s.

Usually we get a few light frosts early to late November… my fig normally dropps all leaves by early December.

TNHunter

[scottfsmith]

It looked just like a native persimmon in shape. It didn’t taste like a native and the flesh was not like a native, it was more translucent than the natives I have run in to.

I’d post a picture but I already ate them all. Hopefully next year I will be able to figure it out.

[zendog]

Any US growers who have what they think is the correct version of Gora Roman Kosh? If so, any pictures of fruit and how they’re ripening. Like a lot of newer types, there are a bunch of incorrect versions that have spread around and I’m not sure who even has the correct one at this point.

[Dom]

I can tell you there are definitely multiple versions floating around.

I have two from two different sources and they are very different in leaf form and fruit.

They both set this year but dropped fruit. They are very young.

One version even displays male and female flowers.

By next growing season I should be able to report back more.

Dom

[Ahouse422]

Here’s the current persimmon report from my place:

Prok: Largest American I have gotten and the texture is nice. The flavor is the worst (most bland). Everyone in my family is in agreement about Prok. We’ll eat it, but we don’t get excited about it.

Barbara’s Blush: Nice size, decent texture, flavor is ok, just not very strong. 2 out of 3 are production beasts. The 3rd hasn’t flowered at all.

Lehman’s Delight: Nice size, not as large as BB. Flavor seemed better than BB this year. Deer ate most of them off of the limbs.

Yates: Ended up not matching the description of Yates. I got this from Taylor Yowell and am sure I labeled it right, as it doesn’t match anything else I ordered from him. I emailed him about what else it could be and never heard back. Size is about average for a medium sized wild one, flavor is also about the same as an average wild one. I’ll probably graft it over.

Claypool: Not as big as BB, WAY more seeded than any other persimmons. Some had the best flavor of any American this year, but quality was hit and miss. Small young trees in a less than great spot. It’s grafted out several other spots.

Nikita’s Gift: Large, flavor not much different than most of my Americans. Hopefully it improves in subsequent years.

Kasandra: My family is in total agreement that Kasandra is top notch here. Although size is just ~60 grams, it’s flavor easily puts it above all the others. I can’t pick out any stand out flavors, but the flavor is just simply much stronger.

I’m still waiting on Rosseyanka and JT - 02 to ripen.

On a fun note, I had heard that turtles love persimmons in years past. I saw two turtles last week under a wild tree that was starting to drop some, and last weekend I found this little guy chewing on a persimmon seed under one of my trees:

[tonyOmahaz5]

Here is my own crossed of Prok X Jerry Lehman 400-5 cold hardy male. The leaves look more Asian than D.V American persimmon.

Tony

Kunjinaja PVNA hybrid crossed with Rossy male. The leaves also more Asian persimmon like.

Ukrainian 115-30 X open pollination. The leaves mode is real tight close also with Asian persimmon leaves. Very interesting looking tree. Very oremental.

Nikita #4 X Open pollination. Very cold hardy with -22F last winter. Grown from seed. Asian persimmon type of leaves with uneven leaf surface. Vigorous growth. 2 nd leaf and it is 7 feet tall.

Hybrid future are looking great for Z5 growers for sure.

[FlatwoodsGardener]

Does anybody have persimmons (asian or any kind) for sale in the Valdosta, Georgia area?

[Thazo1979]

Dawwww!! Cute turtle

[Boise30]

Look exactly like mine. The Yates outproduces our Prok. Usually let them hit the ground to ensure all tannins gone - very unique flavor. Amazing to introduce them to non fruit growers; how did God make such a delicious flavor they have never tried before?

[DennisD]

Your sick Dar Sophia has the same vein coloring that most of my grafts topworking my chocolate had this spring. Within only about 2 months all branches were showing this symptom so I cut the tree down and burned it. Now I’m not sure how the tree became diseased unless it started with one of the grafts being infected. Planted the Chocolate in 2014 from Willis orchards. It grew well and produced fruit that we did not like, so I began topworking it.
Now I’m debating whether I need to remove the roots and surrounding soil for offsite disposal? Any clues or experience, please advise.
Dennis
Kent, wa

[DennisD]

Took this pic of Coffee Cake fruit this week which measures about 3” diameter and 2” thick, the largest persimmon fruit that I’ve seen locally. It appears to be near ripe, but since this is the first year the 3 year old graft has fruited, I’m not sure when it can be tested for astringency. If Anyone here who grows this variety please advise when I should test the first one.
Dennis
Kent, wa

[Yurii]

Seedling from seeds Dar Sofiyivky (pollinated by Novokakhovsky pollinator X Dar Sofiyivky). I grafted it this same year onto Virginia rootstock, hoping to get flowering sooner. Hybrid Persimmons Future Look Great - #1790 by Yurii (1771)

Seedling from seeds Nikitas Gift

Seedling from seeds Sosnivska

[jrd51]

@DennisD

I’m not sure when it can be tested for astringency.

Coincidentally, mine here looks almost identical with maybe 2-4 weeks until serious cold.

My plan is to leave them on the tree until a hard freeze is threatened, then take them inside.

Re your question: Coffee Cake is a PVNA type, so if it is seeded then it should be non-astringent even if not fully ripe. At least that’s the theory. I haven’t tested it yet.

[ramv]

My coffee cake was completely non astringent already. But it is pollinated.
I like to get it softer and its flavor hugely improves.
If the fruit is bulged, it is pollinated.

[ramv]

If you have a low heat climate like the PNW and for some reason want to eat persimmons crunchy rather than on the soft side, you should be growing PVNA persimmons like Coffee cake.

None of the PCNA persimmons lose astringency until fully soft. This includes Izu and Jiro.

Ditch all PCNA varieties. This is a PSA to those that are enamored of PCNA varieties in climates that are not hot.

[snarfing]

For those like me who read the above, nodded thoughtfully and then went to google what that meant.

PCA / PCNA / PVA / PVNA / persimmons and what this all means

This is my way of understanding this: P = Pollen C = Consistent N = Non A = Astringent J = Japan (kaki from Japan are known to ripen on the grafted-trees) C = Chinese (kaki from China are known to be ripened mainly with CO2 gas) PCA = Pollen Consistent Astringent No matter the pollen had at it, it will always need ripening off the tree. PCNA = Pollen Consistent Non Astringent This means that pollen does nothing. And that the fruit ripens on the tree. Now, when pollen is introduced to…

[TNHunter]

In researching Kolhospnytsya or as Harbin spells it… Kolhospnitsa (mother of Dar Sofiyivky) as a possible late ripening persimmon for me here in southern TN… I ran across this.

“A pollinator is needed, there is no periodicity of fruiting…”

What exactly does that mean ?
I have to have a male ? and the fruit has to be seeded ?

Thanks
TNHunter

[jrd51]

@ramv

My coffee cake was completely non astringent already. But it is pollinated.

MIne too. I picked one that was slightly damaged but not quite ripe. it was totally non astringent. I picked out 6 seeds.