putting some RB with several ripe bananas in a plastic container and closed the container tightly. After 4-5 days, the persimmons lost astringency and tasted fine. I cannot tell if they tasted better after the treatment because they were too astringent to eat before that.
putting two small dishes of vodka in a plastic container. Then placing RB in the container and closing the container tightly.
I made a mistake by spilling the vodka on the bottom of the container and the fruit absorbed it. The area of each fruit that touched the alcohol turned brown. Worse, the whole fruit tasted bitter.
Are you happy with your choice of RB for growing? I’m considering one non-astringent and (possibly) one astringent if I can find one I think I’ll like. I see RB can handle the weather here. (I’m in zone 6b)
@wardog
I think your zone is too cold for Rojo Brillante. Bob aka @aap grows RB in zone 7 (I think). Any zone lower than 7 is too cold. I like the fruit it tastes good and larger than all the American and the hybrids I have eaten.
That seems very optimistic for any kaki and I don’t think RB is considered particularly hardy compared to others. If you want a larger fruit that you can remove astringency from, I think something like the hybrid Gora Roman Kosh is a much better choice for your zone, but you’d probably need to graft your own.
I don’t advise you. If you know how to prune and keep the below 6 feet, bring it in the garage for the winter. You need a tall container 20gl, because they have a long taproot which is normal for persimmon. If you want to start with persimmon, I would suggest to start growing with rootstock growing from seed.
Native seeds are easy to obtain on this forum, only if you are nice.
I think it’s unlikely it’s a true PCNA. New PCNA cultivars are hard to breed. Most, if not all, of the existing PCNA varieties are extremely inbred and don’t produce healthy offspring amongst themselves. If you try outcross with PCA or PVNA genetics to reinvigorate, it takes several generations of backcrossing with low odds of generating a PCNA tree, let alone one with good quality fruit. That kind of breeding work is more likely to come from a public institution or crazed hobbyist with extensive resources than a business.
It’s much easier to either take an existing, treatable astringent variety and rebrand it. Or even breed a new, treatable astringent (but this is less likely). I don’t think marketing fruit like this as non-astringent is dishonest practice. Keep in mind, they’re just telling the consumer what they can expect from the fruit in the supermarket, not what they can expect to pick from the tree.
Thanks for the responses, everyone. Still no response from Brandt farms yet.
I guess no Rojo Brillante for me. I’m in Central Kentucky, listed as 6b for years but now borderline 7a. Though with us hitting -7 last year, I can’t say I’d feel comfortable planting 7a trees yet.
Any recommendations for persimmons that do fine in 6a/6b? I see a local place sells Ichi Ki Kei Jiro. I do want a good non-astringent. But the fruit tree addict in me says get one of each, so I’m looking at astringent ones too. Any cold hardy recommendations are welcome.
I’ve had three IKKJs since 2015. I was on the border of Z6B/7A. With the new guidance, I’m now solidly Z7A. That implies an average low temperature of 0-5 F, which most persimmons will survive. Unfortunately, it’s the deviations that matter.
Last February, we had two nights at -5 to -7 F, briefly – just like you! In May, all three IKKJs looked dead. Same for trees owned by friends. Many of them cut down their trees. I’m a procrastinator, so I left my skeletons standing. After ~8 weeks, they began to sprout buds from older wood. Bottom line: All the wood <3 years old was dead. All the older wood survived. The trees regrew enough that I expect a crop next year, if this winter is not too severe.
My take-away from this near-death experience is that -5 F marks the boundary of cold-hardiness for IKKJ.
In 6B (or even 7A) you will definitely endure nights below -5 F. It may happen only once every 3-5 years, but it will happen. Thus, I think you need more cold-hardy varieties. Or you need to protect your trees over the winter.
I’m not aware of a non-astringent Kaki (PCNA) that is hardier than IKKJ. Some PCNA varieties have been advertised as more hardy (e.g., Chinebuli) but those trees are apparently all dead now. The pollination-variant non-astringent (PVNA) Giboshi is supposed about as hardy as IKKJ but not moreso.
Your best bet would seem to be a Kaki/Virginiana hybrid such as Kasandra or JT-02/Mikkusu. Both appear to tolerate -10 F or worse. Both are astringent until fully ripe but they are sweet and tasty. Nikita’s Gift is another popular choice but it probably ripens too late for your area.
impressive yield. might just have to do that myself. also very tempted to plant one in ground either in the high tunnel or against the south side of my house and give it some winter protection. I dont know much about kaki varieties but I understand many of them are naturally quite dwarf in form.
Hmm, that still makes it tempting. I lived in Central FL for 10 years and was totally used to covering my mango trees. It would only be a few nights of covering it. Worth considering at least. How big do the trees get?
Aaaand it’s a predictable response from Honeys (Brandt Farms):
Hi,
Thanks for trying our Honeys, I’m happy you liked them!
Unfortunately the details are proprietary and considered a trade secret. I can tell you that the Honeys are a hachiya persimmon like variety, but you are unable to grow your own Honeys.
Best,
Josh
