These are Ruby x Early Golden (bagged and hand pollinated). The sun burned ones germinated indoors; the greener ones germinated outdoors. Ruby and EG are my two favorite persimmons, so hopefully get a decent one in the bunch.
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The tap roots on mine were 8" when they were that size! Nice!
Hello, any cultivar of American persimmon should do great in the piedmont of NC.
Hi John. I have been a bit of a lurker on this Persimmon post for a while but this winter result post of yours really peaked my interest and I felt I just had to join the forum and respond.
I own and operate a very diverse orchard in Missoula MT. Listed as a 5a but we get zone 4 weather every once in a while. Like you, we get variable weather(warmups followed by cold) in the spring that hurt fruit like persimmons. We also get weather like that in the fall, so persimmons can get damaged twice in some seasons. I have tried many seedlings/cultivars over the last 6 years and they grow well until they experience one of these weather events on the shoulder season(they are killed to the ground). It really doesnât seem to be the cold mid-winter temps that injure them and yet almost no one really knows which ones can handle this type of treatment best. A âhardyâ persimmon in this regard would not be fooled into coming out too early by spring warm spells and harden off early in the fall. Which leads me to a question:
Out of all the female cultivars you have tried, which one seems to be the best at avoiding damage from variable shoulder season weather? I know you mentioned in once in a post that WS8-10 seemed to be the best at this but I am wondering if you have any more data now.
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What varieties have you tried Sapp? And welcome to the forum as an active poster!
I would suggest Mohler is one that seems to have better adaptability in spring/fall fluctuations, but this is based on reading and not on first-hand experience.
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Meader is also noted for itâs cold tolerance.
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To my knowledge many kaki persimmons are astringent and the most commonly found type in supermarkets, Hichiya, is astringent. When I was young I thought all persimmons had to be soft to be edible. Fuyus didnât come into my focus until I was an adult and at first could only be found at Asian markets. That is still the best place to go for affordable Fuyus, unless you live in CA. They often sell them by the box. Well, Costco sometimes carries them by the box for a very good price. Trader Joeâs sells them by the piece for a reasonable one.
I just harvested 3 Great Wall persimmons for my first harvest from that tree. They will presumably be astringent until soft. I just hope they are sweet- they are deep orange, so Iâm hopeful.
Maybe you mean that American persimmons always have a touch of astringency even when ripe. I donât know if that is true or not. My tree does, though. Just a touch but still delicious to my palate.
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I didnât mean it literally is what they are but rather what the classification are called " American persimmon is a type of astringent persimmon ." I should have said nearly all, since the majority of kaki are non astringent but there are some exceptions. I should not have said all . Nothing is ever that cut and dry Astringent vs Non-Astringent Persimmons: Whatâs the Difference? â The Fruit Grove
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Sorry, late to the discussion.
What about hybrids? Do they easily cross to Americans?
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Once the cross has been made, further crosses in either parental direction have generally been viable. Yes, hybrids cross readily with American persimmon so long as we are referring to 90 chromosome varieties.
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Thank you for the clarification. And Iâm guessing from that answer there hasnât been any hybrids made with 60 chromosome?
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60 chromosome persimmon is kind of the odd man out when it comes to making crosses. Crossed with hexaploid persimmon would give a pentaploid which is non-viable due to pachytene pairing problems. Crossed with D. lotus - a diploid - would give a triploid offspring with the same issue.
In theory, D. lotus could be crossed with a hexaploid variety yielding a tetraploid which could then be crossed with 60 chromosome American persimmon. It would be difficult with repeated embryo rescue required to make the crosses.
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