It’s always something and we’re always trying something different. Sorry about your Apple graft! I found I have two apples side by side with galls on the rootstock. It’s really sad when the tree itself looks soo good. So I say farewell to Goldrush and King David. The two apples that are supposedly suited to my climate (Hunge and Reverend Morgan) are so far still okay. And also the Bramley’s (which I think is on a different rootstock) and the Honeycrisp is okay. If I can keep these going I’ll be okay. And I guess I can always put persimmons and jujubes there!! 
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If you need Gold Rush scionwood, PM me in the winter.
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Tippy- Just a few days ago you were offering me condolences for some of my bad luck and losses. Now the shoe is unfortunately on the other foot and I must offer my sympathy for the loss of your tree. I’m sorry for your bad luck with the tree and with fruit drops. Fruit growing is hard!
Kevin,
Thank you. I wish I knew what killed a newly grafted apple so I could prevent it. It’d be the black pot in full sun was too much for it.
Re. Fruit drops, except for Nikita’s Gift persimmon, I blame Mother Nature 
NG, I blame its genetics. What a finicky tree to drop so many fruit 3
years in a row.
I grow diverse fruit so that I won’t lose all in the same year. That…would be really bad.
Did you know I bought a Nikita’s gift last year? You have me worried! Do most people have problems with NG dropping fruit? My fuyu drops a tony of fruit, but also still ripens a lot of fruit. have you ever gotten any NG fruit?
Many people have experienced excessive amount of fruit drop of NG. Here is one of the thread.
@tonyOmahaz5 used to have NG and experienced fruit drop. Tony can chime in how he resolve the issue.
Yes, Nikita’s Gift dropped all the fruits for me the first 3 years and held on to 3 or so fruits in the fourth year. Plus I was tired of Winter protection and decided to top work it last year to Rossyanka at the age of Eight. I found out that my real rich and tasty JT-02 or Mikkusu Hybrid persimmon survived the -20F without any Winter protection so I topworked it again to JT-02. So long Nikita’s Gift.
Tony
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Tony, you did the right thing considering NG is a zone pusher for you. NG grows well here in NJ with no winter damage. The fruit drop stinks, but I’m afraid of ‘starting over’. Plus, I’m always rooting for it to defy its fruit drop history. I think the biggest factor in NG fruit drop is precipitation… I didn’t fertilize my lawn last year at all, so I don’t think N is a factor for me. I’m hoping it will be a dry summer.
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So far, the theories on why NG readily drops fruit include too much nitrogen, too much precipitation, not having a male nearby to pollinate, and overall genetics.
I bought a NG last year and planted this spring… consider me regretful.
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Do not regret.
Plant or replant it in a sunny spot.
Use native soil.
Do not add compost
Do not fertilizer
Do not mulch.
Water it the first to years for it to establish.
Graft a male to it the second year.
Stop watering the 3rd year ( mine started flowering the 3rd year)
You will likely to be successful.
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I already planted in a good sunny spot in my native well-draining soil. I put composted manure and mulch on top of the soil afterwards, like I do with all my trees. I guess I could rake out the manure and most of the mulch. I don’t have any male persimmons but even if I did would it be worth having male flowers that might pollinate the rest of my persimmons (Yates, Prok, Rosseyanka, & Lehman’s Delight)? I assumed that, without a male, those trees will produce seedless fruits, but I definitely could be wrong there.
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I feel like I spend so much time here reading, yet I’m constantly surprised at how much I miss on here! I never saw anything about NG having issues dropping fruit, so thanks for the linke @mamuang and others for your comments. Between those comments and the ones above, I’m very disappointed and a bit worried about my Nakita’s gift. But after seeing @tonyOmahaz5 's comments, I’ve been reading up on Rossyanka and it sounds great alternative so perhaps I should get one going in case my NG doesn’t work out well. I didn’t see a lot on JT-02 or Mikkusu but I’d love to hear more about them too. Remember, Saijo is one of my all-time favorite fruits and I’m not a fan on non-astringents, so I’d love to know about anything that fits between those two. Thanks.
BTW, Tony, I’m a bit confused by that awesome graft. OK, so I assume the very large bottom part (looks to be 8 inches or so) was the original tree. Then it looks like you bark grafted the Rossyanka to that stump. But what throws me is how big and thick that scion seems to be, especially in comparision with the new growth. I mean, the scion comming out of the original tree looks to be an inch or so thick. Did you someone graft such a large scion to the stump? If not, and if you just used regular pencil sized scion, and it has grown to the thickness we see now over the last year or two, then it seems like the new growth would be much larger- MUCH larger. Seems like you have 2 months of new growth comming out of a 2 year old thick scion, on top of a 4 year old original tree. Can you explain what I’m really seeing here? Perhaps you’ve just kept new growth cut back a year or two in order to let the scion stick thicken as it has, but I can’t see signs of new growth being cut back. What is going on here? ha
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Didn’t mean to scare you off. NG tastes great, and I believe would be hardy for your zone. Like anything, you have to weigh the positives and negatives…
There was a poster on here who had great NG yield. Could be a good variety for you.
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Grafting a male branch will eventually give you seeded fruit when it is mature enough to flower. There is nothing wrong at all with seeded fruit, unless the seeds really bother you.
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Thanks. A lot of people have been talking about this issue with NG lately, so that’s why I’m getting skeptical.
I don’t mind the seeds much, but if I plan to sell the fruits at farmers markets in the future, then seedless would be preferred.
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The Nikita’s Gift was eight years old when I topworked it to the Rossyanka last May and it grew to 6 feet tall in one season with the Iarge Nikita’s Gift understock. I then topworked it this May of 2019 with a 5 inches tip scion of JT-02 with 5 buds on it. I believe by late summer it will be 5 feet tall with a nice vase form with those 5 buds. I will follow up with a photo in September.
Tony
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I am happy to report that the Syrphid fly larva on my pear tree did great job of controlling the aphids . There were a lot of aphids and ants on top of one branch few days ago, it doesn’t have any aphids now . Although the leafs are still little curved.due to aphids infections. But the new grow leafs will be back to normal. I am so glad I have waited and didn’t spray with chemicals. Thanks Hillbillyhort for identity the Syrphid fly larva. I learned one more good bug. BTW still didn’t see any Ladybugs.
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Yes, syrphid flys are good to have around .
Carrot family pants blossoms attract them , ( dill , parsley carrot parsnip , etc )alyssum, mints aster family, others…
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A link to benifital plants / bugs
For many years I did not pay much attention to this…
I do now !
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I do grow parsley, mints, aster for years, of course Queen Anne’s lace too, it grows itself.
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