Persimmons

Double Tap

Yearling... With promise
I'm looking to plant several (4-5) persimmon trees for an early season drop. Our archery opener here is early September so I'm looking for a late august to mid September dropping tree (in GA) that consistently fruits, produces good yields and is a vigorous growing tree.

After several hours of searching I think I'm aiming towards the Matsumoto, Nishumura Wase, Izu and Saijo varieties.

I'm looking for anyone with experience with these varieties or knows of a better variety for early season crops.
 
They are all Asian varieties. I would not recommend any for deer because they don't drop from the tree. Climbing animals will get to them. If trees are dwarfed so deer can reach them, you will likely get damage to the tree as they try to get them. These American persimmons are early: Prok and I-94 and J-59, I-115 and I'm sure there are others. They are all American and will fall from the tree.

Thanks,

Jack
 
They are all Asian varieties. I would not recommend any for deer because they don't drop from the tree. Climbing animals will get to them. If trees are dwarfed so deer can reach them, you will likely get damage to the tree as they try to get them. These American persimmons are early: Prok and I-94 and J-59, I-115 and I'm sure there are others. They are all American and will fall from the tree.

Thanks,

Jack
Is this an American/Asian variety issue or due to the American varieties being astringent?

Thank you I will look into the varieties you listed in the meantime
 
The issue is whether they drop from the tree or not. I know of no Asian varieties that drop. They hang on the tree. Astringency is a second issue. All American persimmons are Astringent. Some oriental persimmons are astringent and some are not. Astringency protects persimmons from critters before they are ripe. Non-astringent persimmons are subject to being eaten before they are ripe. So, the worst case, in my opinion, is the combination of non-astringent and non-dropping. Climbing creatures have a long time to get at them.

The best case is American persimmons. They are protected from climbing animals before they are ripe by astringency. Once ripe, the fall and sweeten. This gives deer much better access to them.

There is one hybrid called Nikita's Gift. It is a KxV cross. It is astringent. I have had conflicting reports as to whether they drop or not. It may depend on conditions or location. I decided to graft a few of these to American Persimmon rootstock a couple years ago. The trees are still young, so I don't think they are a good indicator yet. I had two trees produce 1 persimmon each this year. They have not yet fallen. These seem to form more of a bush than a tree. (Something I didn't realize when I started with them). So far, nothing has eaten either of these persimmons and they have not dropped. They are low and in easy reach of any animal, so unless I see them on the ground, I won't know if they were picked by an animal or dropped and then were eaten. I'm not sure when they ripen.
Thanks,

Jack
 
As usual thank you for the insightful information Yoder, I'll ditch the Asian persimmon idea altogether. Keep us posted on your Nikita grafts and maybe there could be an Asian hybrid in the future for deer managers. For the meantime I'll stick to the American persimmons
 
Top