I’ve been fighting with the same problem. You might want to see if there are any video of someone using that pole. I’m thinking it would work, but not well. What I have been doing is to just cut the whole branch. That way I prune the tree and get the fruit all at the same time. Persimmon fruit on new wood anyways, so you’re not losing anything.
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In my last post I showed my green Sosnovskaya persimmon that I ripened until orange and soft. The two Sosnovskaya persimmons left on the tree ripened naturally and they both fell off the tree. The one I ate today I have photographs below. What a difference in color compared to my prior post. This persimmon was a deeper orange inside the fruit.
The flavor was different too. I didn’t taste any of the apricot flavor that I got in my prior post. This one was a tad bit sweeter. The flavor reminded me of an Asian, very ripe Hachiya persimmon, but with less complexity (I usually taste cinnamon/spices when I eat a very ripe Hachiya). There were 2 seeds in the fruit. The fruit had less structure to it than the green ripened persimmon. It was more of the gooey texture commonly found in Hachiya. But not as gooey as Hachiya can get. Lastly, it didn’t have any astringency in it.
This Sosnovskaya tree is very young. I’d guess based on the size that it’s a 2 year old tree. I’m sure the flavor of the fruit will change as the tree matures. I’ll try to document this variety as time passes.
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Is there a reason that the “normal” kind in the picture below doesn’t work for hybrid persimmons? I’ve used that kind on apple, peach, American persimmon, pear,… you have to be sort of careful with it not to poke the fruit, but it did work.
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Hybrid persimmons tend to have the Asian persimmon characteristic where the tough woody stem stays attached to the calyx on the top of the persimmon. If you were to yank down on a ripe hybrid persimmon that is soft, it would rip the fruit apart into a mess.
The ideal solution is to cut the stem right above the calyx. But that’s tough if your tree is 12ft+.
This might do the trick:
Also, Sosnovskaya might be one of the exceptions for hybrids. Mine fell down off the tree. I found a video of someone removing a Sosnovskaya persimmon without any effort here: (more of the characteristics of an American persimmon)
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Look like my nikita’s gift.
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Thank you very much!
Meader persimmons are getting ripe. About a month late. I get an occasional seed likely from an occasional male flower. I think it is only partially parthenocarpic as it blooms a lot but always has a light crop. I tried grafting a male branch this year but the one graft did not take. I will try again.
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First year getting fruit on my Maekawa jiro!! Does the fruit look ripe enough to eat crunchy? if not, how can one tell when they are ripe enough?
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The fruit color should be deep orange for it sweetened up and taste good. You can pick one and place it in a Ziploc bag with a ripe banana for a week. That should help ripen it quicker.
Tony
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Hello everyone,
I need some advice on my two potted persimmon trees, an Izu and a Sheng, located in the Andovers area, MA (Zone 6a/b). I bought them in May 2025 from Just Fruits & Exotics, and they are in 23-gallon pots. They broke dormancy a bit early in my grow room back in mid March. Izu has 40 fruits and Sheng has 12.
I expected the Izu to be ripe by now, but it looks like it still needs at least a couple more weeks. Is it normal for Izu to take this long to ripen, or is a 40-fruit crop load overloading a young tree and delaying the harvest?
Our overnight temperatures are starting to dip into the low 40s. The pots are on wheels, so I’m trying to figure out if I should start rolling them into the garage overnight, or if it’s better to just leave them outside.
Any thoughts on what to expect, or what I can do over the next couple of weeks to help these fruits ripen properly would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all,
MFJ
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wow journey is smaller than i thought. geneva long continues to interest based on size… whats the flavor liek for you ?
It’s fairly mild for an American persimmon. I like it enough that I grafted a second tree.
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This is not persimmon specific advice, but if you have room indoors, you can set up some lights on a timer (two normal LED floodlights, 100w equivalent is fine) with about 14-16 hours of light, and grow them indoors all winter then plant them outside. If they shade or their own lower leaves it’s probably better to remove them yourself because they’re not going through the natural fall cycle.
But you’d better do it quickly, because if they decide to drop their leaves then they have to go out in the cold and regulating moisture over winter in pots so that they don’t die is harder.
What a beautiful fruit Rosseyanka is! I didn’t know it is an early ripening variety.
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@SMC_zone6 … That red ripe Cardinal sure looks good.
Hopefully I get to have some of those next year.
Agree that Roseyanka is a good looking piece of fruit.
Anything special detected in the flavor of Journey yet ? Vanilla ?
Mine should fruit next year.
TNHunter
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A little vanilla. The flavor was good. But the fruit itself is smaller than improved American varieties. I’m not sure it will end up being one of top hybrids as more become available.
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Does Journey hang on the tree for you, or does it drop?
L93 (a?) - other than the small size, how does it taste to you?
FWIW, your Sheng is well ahead of mine, which is growing in the ground. Last year, as I recall, I picked it orange but not fully ripe in late October. So the head start appears to have made a dfference.
Gven that, t seems odd to me that your Izu isn’t further along. Forty is definitely too many for a new tree. I let my Izu overbear last year and the fruit were very bland.
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