So I get a quite good description from Darren about Hershey’s Blue. It’s 99,99% true that we talk about ‘Buhrman’ and it’s 90n cause it had some seeds in the original orchard.
“It’s a very strange individual in that it has a yellow and blue skin and very flat wafer-like seeds. I assume it is a 90 chromosome simply because it has plenty of seeds…”
Next is ‘Ami’ , the mother tree is located near a shushi restaurant Ami in Bloomington IN, Darren’s friend highly recommend it. You could saw the original plant at google maps it’s probably from late 90’s.
Im looking forward to growing these! They sound like great varities! Are they pretty small or large persimmons? I think you will find this thread below interesting regarding those F series males that fruit.
There are no information about ‘Ami’ if we talk about any characteristics.
Buhrmann/Hershey’s Blue was describes by L.Gerardi as giving medium/large fruits. To compare it with common varieties, for him EG have large fruits and Garretson medium sized.
I use Szukis to pollinate other varieties, as it is mostly male. I decided to do this, because I read Claypool’s original writings, and the male pollen was just as important as the female in determining fruit quality. Szukis does pollinate my other persimmon trees.
John S
PDX OR
have you grown out seedlings sired by Szukis? Lehman was saying that the pollen is genetically “female” and would therefore produce “female” offspring. Again, I have no real world verification of this, but its a known phenomenon in other genera
I haven’t grown out the seedlings. That’s a great question. I don’t have a science degree, so some of these questions may be a bit above my understanding. I would think that male flowers would have male pollen. I get a lot of fruit. I also have female flowers, and therefore fruit on the same tree.
Anyway, my favorites: Garretson and H-118/Early Jewell/“Prairie Star”. Their flavor is a bit different, but both are delicious and distinctive. Garretson fruited more last year after giving it extra biochar. I gave H-118 extra biochar and mulch as well this year, partly because the South and Midwest have wet summers and we have dry ones. Szukis before biochar was basically inedible and had almost no fruit. Afterwards, it’s delicious and 7 times more productive.
I like Ruby. It tastes good, just a bit behind the first two, and the fruit is large. I didn’t plant it here in PNWet because we have limited heat and I wanted my fruit to ripen. Szukis is also just behind them, mainly because the fruit is quite small.
I like Early GOlden, but it’s IMHO just not quite as tasty as the others. I’m keeping the tree though.
And what is your soil? From what I’ve read, biochar works by binding nutrients so they cannot leach away. Lots of other substances can perform the same function, including humus. So I’m curious specifically whether your soil was deficient in organic matter before the application of biochar. Thx.
Yes, biochar creates a bank of tiny hotel rooms for different microbes, so the soil can create the best recipe it wants to with the exudates that the tree/bush is putting out.
Clay loamish. I dig the spade down all around the tree at the drip line and jimmy it back and forth, then fill that crevasse with biochar. It has already been crushed and inoculated. I charge it with a mix of ww flour, ag lime, compost, worm compost, rotten wood, rotten fruit, seaweed, and urine.
My soil was actually very high in organic matter before the biochar. I had it tested a few years ago. I really lay on the wood chips every year, and because it is a mature food forest, the diverse leaf litter adds to the organic matter. Yes, I think the holding of the nutrients may be one of the biggest factors. Apparently the surface area of crushed biochar is amazing, and it stays as it is in the soil for centuries. It also sequesters carbon that way. We get consistent drizzle here between Thanksgiving and April Fool’s Day, which is an inactive dormant period, so they can leach out without it. One of the reasons I started with persimmons and pie cherries with the biochar is because we have naturally acidic soils, and those two species prefer neutral to alkaline soils. They have had the biggest, most notable quick improvements among my fruit trees due to the biochar.
Id love to see pics of your setup. Im a big TLUD fan myself. Always wanted to make one, and have bought a couple of the little stainless chinese ones for cooking at camp. Theyre fun and amazing. What kind of lifespan do you get out of a drum? Also, how do you stop the reaction after pyrolysis is complete? If theres oxygen, the charcoal burns up too!
im a big believer in the “I can do that” school. looks pretty straightforward. The steel to elevate the lid is simple and clever. maybe one day soon ill try my hand at that.
i just buy the bulk hardwood charcoal at the big box stores for cheap. add a little at a time to a small barrel or big pot and pulverize with a 3in.wide 4ft long section of log until your desired consistency. i then inoculate with urine, bonemeal and some worm castings/ compost. if you have a woodchipper that would work even quicker. wear a mask to protect from the dust.
By chance, today I’ve been looking at the Claypool Orchard Records linked above. I’m confused.
Looking at ratings for varieties in Rows A-H, I see generally low to mediocre ratings. But these rows include most of the well-known selections. For example, one of the best rated varieties H-63A earns 48.5 points total, 7 (out of 10) for flavor, 5 for sugar. H-120 earns 51, 7, and 4. Most other varieties are way worse.
Now if I skip forward to Row I, I see lots of high ratings. Between I-54 and I-99 there are MANY varieties with total points 60-70, 7-10 for taste and 7-10 for sugar. Row J ain’t too shabby either.
So my questions are:
Are these ratings apples-to-apples, implying that I & J are generally way better?
Do these varieties still exist? If so where?
Why do these varieties not get more notice?
How do I get my hands on I-84A, which scores 8-10 in almost every category? Or any of the other varieties that seem nearly as good?
