Calvin, no I'm not growing persimmons here... Yet. I know some others that are trying, and not having much luck. I am enjoying the fuyu at the local Asian market for $0.88 per pound though.

Aaron, the blue ones are pretty cool. Checkout England's list of scion as well if you are thinking of grafting some. I think they will do custom grafts too.

Great video, Aaron.  I am growing Fuyu (still have some hanging on the tree) but planted a Saijo last year, an astringent type that I want to use for drying.  Saijo means "the best" (or something like that) in Japanese and a friend that dried several different varieties a few years ago said they came out the best.  He hangs them up inside his house (extra bedroom, I believe) to dry them. I had no idea that soaking in 38F water for 24 hours was a method to remove the astringent taste, I will give that a try.  I have a chest freezer that I have hooked up to an auxiliary thermostat which I can set to whatever temperature I want (for storing cuttings, fruits, etc. while some use for brewing beer).

Rich, I'm aware of that and that's how we would sometimes eat them, but I really prefer the texture when crisp.  I know some people like them fully ripe, but I kind of find them disgusting.

My son takes a bag lunch to school a few days a week and at this time of year he often takes Fuyu persimmon in his lunch.  I cut them up into wedges for him and will sometime include extra as he's got some friends who acquired a taste for them.

I can't remember who, but a new member from Long Island posted this past summer that he had some persimmons that were as large as softballs.  I'd like to see a photo of those and know more about them.

Here is a picture of my Hachiya. Like Paully's, it seems to bear heavily in alternate years. I also have a Chocolate and Fuyu (Jiro). I planted them a good distance from the Hachiya, as I prefer the Hachiya to be seedless. I am adding Saijo and Coffee Cake this winter. I dehydrate most, as it's easier to store, but I like the freezing idea.  

Has anyone had any experience rooting persimmon cuttings? What was your success rate? Do you use the same method you use to start fig cuttings?


Gary, really beautiful tree and a nice-sized crop! How far away did you have to plant your Hachiya to prevent cross pollination? 

Thank you, Ogorodnitsa. Say that 5 times fast:)) The Hachiya is about 10 years old, and the newer ones I am planting several hundred feet away. Not sure if that much distance is necessary, but I have the room, and it's worked so far.

Congratulations, Gary! Very nice Hachiya!
I see a lot of low hanging fruit. You have no animals on the property?
You are a lucky guy!

Ogorodnitsa, my success rooting the cuttings has been so far 0%.
The only thing I managed to accomplish was to grow some leaves but I couldn't get any roots out.

Thanks Igor. There are plenty of critters, and the quail and robins just let me know that the fruit is ready. I picked a 5 gallon bucket a few minutes ago, and the rest will be tomorrow. This area has so many orchards and vineyards, that the animals get plenty without wiping out the whole tree. My neighbor up the road has 5 or 6 Persimmons fully loaded right now, and there are still a lot of apples everywhere.

I've heard that Persimmons don't root from cuttings, and to graft them, the best time is in May, here at least.

strudeldog,
what a nice collection you have. Havva Fuyu looks very tempting.

Andy, 
custom grafting? Awesome marketing concept. I'm definitely going to find out about that. I want only one Persimmon tree but it would be awesome if it carried several varieties.

Harvey,
What a great idea, auxiliary Thermostat for the Freezer Chest. I have a freezer chest that we used for movie's milk for my kids, ugh...don't ask, LOL
Anyway, I still have that chest running, for frozen veggies and extra great, and meat etc...Now I know what to do with it when I redo the kitchen and the pantry.

Gary,
you have a beautiful garden, the Persimmon tree ads so much beauty.
Are you growing the Olive tree for the Olives or is it a male?
Rosemary bush is another special touch, it's giving a Mediterranean feel to the entire garden.

Rich,
it's funny you mentioned ...that's exactly what my kids called it when I served them the ripe persimmons in the bowls with spoon. Jello fruit. Well, my daughter said YUCK but she finished it at the end.

Charlie,
I read, long time ago, somewhere that you could separate suckers with root from Persimmon trees successfully.
Has anyone tried that?

My dad has propagated D. virginiana using suckers with reasonable success. Remember though, a sucker from a grafted tree will just give you a rootstock.

oh yes...the modern trees.

Thanks, Igor and Charlie, for sharing your experiences with rooting...This means I need to learn grafting. I guess I'll make it a New Year's resolution :-)

Maybe you guys read the other thread that I had to go buy Rat poison? anyway...
On my way home I stopped by at the local Korean Market called HK Market to buy cooked seafood (they prep it really well) and saw these humongous Persimmons.
The price was $1.20/Lbs and it was labeled "Hachiya". I was glad to recognize thanks to you all :)
I couldn't resist so I brought some home. I ate one there (was too tempting not to, and left one out on top of the fridge to ripen by itself  (has some tear on the skin) the rest f'em are in the freezer. 8 of them weighed 7Lbs + I payed $9.

 

I also tried air-layering  my Hachiya. No luck--just a  big knob where I hoped to see roots. They are very easy to graft, though--I've had excellent success using Joe Real's "bark graft" technique. Joe Real's bark grafting tutorial I think this link will work--if not, google it. You have to register as a member of the Citrus Growers Forum to see the photos.

Now my real reason for posting today:
A few years ago I grafted Saijo onto a 1-gal American Persimmon seedling, and also top-worked it onto a 15+ year old Hachiya. Both trees produced their first Saijo fruits this year--dinky things maturing about the size of my thumb joint. The taste is okay, but not as good as Hachiya. Slightly grainy. So, Saijo experts--is the small size/low quality due to the young age of the graft, and will they get bigger and better with the years, or is this as good as it's likely to get?

Is anyone growing any of England's persimmons? Hokkaido, Shin na da, Steiermark, Korea kaki or any of his hybrids? I have his Kassandra and am looking to add another next year.

I just read an interesting article about propagating persimmons from root cuttings. I found the article on permies.com
The article came from a USDA Native Persimmon Bulletin I, dated 1915. It is a very good article for other methods and uses for
native persimmons but I assume it would work for other Asian persimmons as well.

I don't know of any selected cultivar available on it's own root, unless folks have had more success on cuttings than I am aware, I have had no success with airlayer but some have I understand and on those the the plant would come true but almost every named cultivar you find would be grafted and what would be propagated would be the root stock. I am saving my Kaki and hybrid seeds this year if something was impressive in a few years That would be an option.

Yes, i know what u mean about waiting...lol. My persimmon fruited about 10 yrs ago but never again. Not sure why. Any idea why please tell me. I miss having persimmons from my tree. Im STILL waiting. The store bought are so expensive. Thanks for any input.