This is the oriental persimmon, ichi ki kei jiro, that I bought from Edible Landscaping. I thought that I planted it in October of 2003, but my husband makes a convincing case that it was October, 2002. Last year it had 2 or 5 small fruit that fell off early in the summer. This year it dropped some fruit but most stayed attached. I really am pleased with it. Has any one else grown this variety?
I grow these and have had a few this year already. Although ok to eat, I think the American Persimmon have them beat in taste.
Those big orange fruit look pretty on the tree don't they? I decided to try these a few years ago when Lucky said that somebody nearby had them. So far I'm really pleased with the tree. I don't know what I'll do in a few years though when the tree really gets going in production. What are your plans? Got any good Persommon recipes?
Before she moved to NC, my aunt had a really good American persimmon and I may have had persimmons from her tree but I honestly don't remember. When I first tried oriental persimmons a few years ago, they tasted vaguely familiar and GREAT! I wish I knew where to get American persimmons now so I could compare them.
I've tried these but they aren't ready to eat yet. They need to hang on the tree a little longer.
Bettydee(Veronica) recommended peeling, cutting them into slices, and drying them. That sounds good to me.
I'd like to try them frozen as persimmon popsicles too.
I'm looking forward to a report when your "Ichi" persimmons ripen! I think we need a persimmon tree...
I like the idea of drying them, and I'll bet if you pureed them they'd make great fruit leather as well as popsicles, sorbet, etc. Or how about cooking them down into persimmon butter or preserves for canning?
I can only dream of having trees produce more fruit than we can eat fresh... I'm sure they'll mature eventually, but our little trees are taking their own sweet time about it.
I too have this same variety of persimmon, bought from Stark Bros. nine years ago. At first it was a struggle just keeping its leaves on. This spring it suddenly bloomed all over, and we thought we would be inundated with fruit, but now that the leaves have fallen it is easy to count that we have 9 fruits left on it. Since we had long given up on this tree, we are very pleased.
We more recently bought another persimmon from Miller, but it has not done anything yet.
Esther! Good to see you. I'll look forward to a report on how those persimmons tast... :-)
Critterologist, I am trying to be patient and wait before trying the persimmons again. The tree is so beautiful with its glossy green leaves and golden orange fruit.
Esther, what was the name of the variety that you bought from Miller?
I can now answer that question after scouring through my computer. I keep records of a lot of stuff, but it is hard to find them after a while.
Saijo Persimmon March, 2000 for $23.65. Maybe next year it will produce.
I see I got an American Persimmon in April, 1998 from Bear Creek Nursery for $2.25. Wonder where that is now. (DH has complained about how I buy more than he has time to plant, as a result we have several overgrown "nurseries" here and there. But that was when we just moved here and I wanted to get started, this very hard clay soil is impossible for me to dig into myself though).
I see we had total failures, and lots of blooms, leaves and vines but no fruit.
Thanks Esther, I've tried two more persimmons. They don't come off easily. Each one has been better than the last, so the trick seems to be to leave them on the tree as long as you can.
Ah, Bear Creek. Boy, do I miss those guys. They had some great stuff, at unbeatable prices - one of the reasons they went out of business; they didn't charge enough.
I suspect your(Esther's) American persimmon was probably a seedling of John Rick or Early Golden - I seem to recall them selling those - and I think I bought one of each, but have since then grafted both over to named varieties - and both have fruited; I might still be waiting on a seedling to do so, and there's a 50-50 chance that any seedling may be a non-fruiting male.
In zone 6, 'Great Wall' and 'Sheng' are two more Asians that I know are hardy & productive, as are the hybrids, Rosseyanka(Nikita's Gift) and Keener(though its ancestry is open to dispute).
Thanks Lucky, I made a note of your suggestions. At present I am pursuing jujubes, and may order some more persimmons at the same time.
I see where they will send you 20 piece (9 lbs) of persimmons for $49.95 including shipping and handling and smaller fruit 24 piece (8 lbs) for $46.95. I do like persimmons, but not at that price.
