Who has started taking scionwood cutting now?

General Fruit Growing
#21

How much experience do you have with domestic varieties? I have hedge of a persimmon that was supposed to be Szukis, but it doesn’t fit the description because the fruit is small (very big seeds that I could live without), and when the first fruit ripens and starts to drop to the ground, some of them are too astringent, but once the hedge has lost its leaves the fully soft fruit tends to be really nice, but it is the only productive Virginiana I grow. The astringency in all but very soft fruit is what saved it from birds and squirrels this year and without any Oct. plums or other stonefruit it was great to have. Only when all the fruit were soft did a squirrel start foraging it. I have one on the edge of the woods that bears much bigger fruit- a Meader maybe but maybe not, that only bears a few fruit on years it bears any.

I’m looking forward to a couple of varieties I got from England’s nursery that may have fruit next season. Virginiana has more flavor than Kaki, at least the Kakis available in this country that I’ve tasted, although I do love the non-astringent Fuji types that can be eaten firm. I’m just in too cold of a spot for them. Have you ever actually harvested any non-astringents? I’m thinking animal pressure might be high.

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#22

Not too much- I’ve had a couple (H120 and a different one a long time ago) and wasn’t satisfied with the lingering astringency, even when they were quite soft. I have mixed feelings on Nikita’s Gift (a hybrid). I did have a perfectly tree ripened one in the high 30’s brix which was pretty good, but it is very hard to know when it will be completely non astringent. I had some in the 40 brix area last year which were still astringent, even though they were pretty soft.

I don’t actually like the flavor on the H120, even when I managed to get rid of the astringency. But I can see what you mean about Nikita’s Gift- a lot more flavor than a crunchy 18 brix non-astringent. I’m growing somewhere between 4-6 NA (some are likely the same with different names). The last few winters have been warm enough, though it may not last forever. Even with GW, we may get a polar vortex that kills them all one of these years. But, in general, I like the simplicity of a NA- no need to jump through hoops trying to get it soft enough without going bad. And no risk of a mouth full of astringent persimmon. I generally only try to eat them if my wife is around, as she is more tolerant of it, so when I guess wrong I can give it to her…

I’ve been harvesting Il Mok Jae Cha Ryang for a couple years now, without knowing it was NA. Only a few weeks ago did I notice a comment in the Persimmons 2022 thread where someone mentioned it. Last year, I tossed it in with he other astringents without realizing. It wasn’t super flavorful, but it is indeed NA. I’ll probably counter ripening a few to see if they get better when not rock hard.

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Note- I have a slightly off name in this one, based on my reading of the tape on the scionwood. I fixed it at the same time I found out it was NA.

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I’m also growing Jiro, IKKJ, Tam Kam, Chinibel (likely Jiro), and Gwang Yang. I’ve harvested 1 IKKJ from a 1st year graft (small, OK), and a Jiro from a freshly planted potted tree (medium and pretty good). I also got 2 fruit from the same Jiro (very good) the previous year when it was still in a pot.

I lost a Chinibel and a few IKKJ from rental properties. Could be animals or just tenants :slight_smile:

But, they (and the ones I picked in November) hung a lot longer than peaches or something like that would have. I suspect that the animals are a bit squeamish about stuff they don’t recognize. Similar to jujubes, which only started disappearing in the last part of the season.

Though interestingly, I’ve seen animals eat astringent persimmons. At least part of it and not very often…

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And I think I know why the Il Mok Jae Cha Ryang hasn’t been touched. It is grafted at the top of a tree containing astringent persimmons. I bet any animals would get to the astringents before the IMJCR and decide to try their luck on another tree.

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#23

Fresher is better–not just in the produce aisle at the market.

(For cuttings you’re going to stick and root…go for it. But hold off if you have the option on apples, pears, peaches, etc.)

#24

I’m only interested in fruit that brings me bowls and bowls full. I don’t buy any on good years and this year all I’m buying so far are mandarins and some berries, raspberries if they happen to look like they might last a couple of days. I have enough frozen blueberries and peaches to last me through winter, maybe- but my wife doesn’t eat much of it- you’d probably need a freezer full to take care of the whole family.

Yes, I understand your revulsion with astringency, I am somewhat tolerant, but any detectable astringency is a detriment. I’m hoping Dave’s candy will be all sugar.

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#25

Most of the NA trees have only been in the ground (or grafted) for a year or two. I suspect that in 2-3 years time they will be similar to the Miss Kim below (astringent kaki, but loses the astringency a lot easier than the American persimmons). I got 40lbs from a relatively compact tree.

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Of course, for the NA persimmons to follow, we need at least another winter or two which don’t go below -4F. Last year ranged from about 0F to +6F depending on the property. The two winters before that were closer to +10F for lows, with one of them letting some figs (even in non-protected locations) survive. So, we’ve been fine, but 6-8 years ago, we got to -8F to -10F for a couple years in a row.

I’ve got a decent amount of persimmons and Korean Giant Asian pears stored still. An almost an entire refrigerator dedicated to jujubes. But, I’m still in the process of figuring out which ones store well and how long, so I’ll need to see if I can dry or otherwise use the ones which soften.

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#26

I stored 8 pounds of Li jujube in the refrigerator for a month now and the fruits starting to overripe and became mushy. Probably best to dehydrated them for longer shelf life.

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#27

Glad you posted this Alan. I started dividing scion into ziplocks and then putting the ziplocks into another bag, with good results. It’s only been a couple seasons, but your experience is reassuring.

@marknmt When grafting, I wrap the graft union and seal the tip by dipping it in latex paint. I just don’t find wrapping the entire scion in parafilm necessary or beneficial. My thought is bark is much better at controlling respiration than parafilm, which prevents respiration.

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#28

I just got notification that Fruitwood Nursery has their persimmon cuttings in stock again. So if anyone wants to purchase it, better order quickly. Some items are low in inventory. I placed my order today.

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#29

I got my varieties when I got my notification yesterday. Some of these varieties are quite low in inventory for sure.

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#30

I looked at fruitwoods inventory to get scion for Harrow Sweet pear. They don’t list it but do list a Halaws sweet pear. Wonder if that’s a misprint? I emailed them but haven’t heard back. Never heard of a Halaws variety.

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#31

There are a good number of scions listed on Fruitwood that I actually can’t find any information on. It makes me wonder if the ones that can’t be identified through other sources are from trees that they have named.

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#32

I have found very limited information regarding some Italian persimmon cultivars they have listed here.

Dom

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#33

very complicated nursery by the way…

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#34

@Luisport are you referring to the Italian nursery? Do you have experience ordering from them?

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#35

I hope lots of folks are buying these interesting new varieties and planning on grafting them I am keen to find out how they compare with the Japanese varieties.
Personally I will just be adding 2 varieties this year – both Japanese.

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#36

Yes i am. I have some trees from them. The problem is not the trees, they are great. The problem is that I’m trying to get more trees and they don’t reply to messages. It’s not easy to contact and buy from them.

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#37

I’m running out of space so I’m going to try a multi-grafted Kaki this spring. I have a D.V. rootstock growing out in a protected microclimate in corner of the yard. Sandwiched between a fence and the driveway. This spot receives sun all day.

I’m going to graft Chocolate, Yeddo-Ichi, Mikitani Gosho and Thieni.

I believe they are all PVNAs and it’s been confirmed chocolate produces male flowers.

Should be an interesting adventure.

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#38

I have started dipping the ends of scions in paraffin wax soon after collecting them. Would like to know any experience others have with this method.

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#39

I’ve been dipping the ends of my scion in wax for several years now and have seen no adverse effects.

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#40

I went to Fruit woods website immediately after getting the in stock notification for several scions. They have SweeTango listed but it’s always out of stock. Did I miss out or do they really never have any? I wasn’t even sure it was available to growers yet in the regular market. .

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