This is fantastic year for persimmons. I'm just halfway through. I've had persimmons since last week of August.


By joereal at 2007-11-04

I have a total of 3 medium sized trees, just up to 8 ft high each.


By joereal at 2007-11-04

the fruits this year are so big and so dense!


By joereal at 2007-11-04

They are so heavily staked. Otherwise the trees will break apart!


By joereal at 2007-11-04

I have a total of about 45 persimmon cultivars, with 43 of them grafted together in one tree. A total of only 3 trees. All of the cultivars should fruit next year.


By joereal at 2007-11-04

I have harvested about 6 buckets so far, since end of August (5 gallon per buckets), and this is just last week's harvest. Already I have some Fukushu kumquat in the background, and some Miho Wase Fruits and some Valencias that were 'accidentally' picked by my dog, grrr!. The upper right, you can see various shaped seeds of persimmons from the many cultivars I have tasted almost daily to keep track of their qualities. I would try to germinate these seeds and hope to use them as rootstocks.

I still have about 4 buckets more to go with my persimmons. The astringent types hasn't softened up yet. The Jiro should be ripe soon. The Korean K-4 and K-5 are still slightly green but already edible and sweet, and I am the only one to have those cultivars here in the west, AFAIK. You can still drop by at our house and munch on them! Enjoy. If there's none left when you get here, you sure can enjoy a bottle of persimmon wine!



By joereal at 2007-11-04

Contrary to what many persimmon "gurus" have been suggesting, my over-abundant crop yield of persimmons, came from trees that have only about 4-6 hours of sunshine. They are shaded in the afternoon, receives only morning sunlight. I don't think you would need full sunlight to achieve full production as suggested by the experts. It isn't true in my case.

I recommend that if you receive at least 4 hours of sunshine, Japanese persimmon would still give you over abundant crops if you know how to care for them.

Joe:
Very impressive sight.
I am glad for you.

Benny

what do they tast like and what do you use them for? thanks

I have many cultivars and have varied taste, flavor, texture. This year, all were used for fresh eating, as is or with salad. 2 years ago I made wine and still have many bottles left.

I am looking for the 'Giombo' or 'Saijo' varieties in the Los Angeles are. Does anyone know a source?

Has anyone grown persimmon in a Zone 8??? Apparently the FUYU variety will grow in the PNW. Joe, thanks for the photos!!! (do you have a FUYU??)

Greg

Certainly I have Fuyu.

persimmon hybrids (native American x Oriental) can be productive down to zone 6.

Greg, I grow them in zone 8b and I am sure they are hardy in all of zone 8. This link has some useful info on growing them, and says they are hardy to Z-9: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/persimmon.html

I recently made Persimmon marmalade, using a recipe from the web. Basically a regular marmalade recipe with 1/2 cup lemon juice added. I think mixing in sour citrus, like calamondins, would work well too. The tart taste of citrus adds a lot to the persimmons.

Ned