I tried Prok this season from a friends orchard and I wasn't impressed by the flavor as it lacked over all character and sweetness. However the texture was nice compared to some of the other american persimmons i've tried, as well as the size. It was definitely more firm than others. I have heard from some sources that Prok has some asian in it, but I don't know if this is true. Here is a picture of one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25212487@N04/6224647515/in/photostream I also tried a claypool selection from another friends farm and again, compared to some of the other persimmons I've tried(which I'll explain next), it lacked over all flavor complexity. However it was sweeter than Prok. Here is a picture of that...unfortunately I don't remember the cultivar name, probably because it consisted of a few numbers and was easy to forget. Anyways, it was a claypool selection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25212487@N04/6271281968/in/photostream My best american persimmon experiences were all at Oikos Tree Crops in southwest, MI where I spent several months examining the american persimmons trees planted there. All of which are seedlings from good selections, i.e. yates, morris burton, etc. Ken Asmus has wonderful seedling planting with over 500 mature trees. There is incredible variation in fruit size, color, texture, flavor, and ripening time. Some don't even ripen in some years. We are working on developing a selection of cultivars from this planting that will be grafted and hopefully available in the nursery trade. These will be some of the northernmost american perisimmon selections, which is great for folks like me in MI where ripening can be a problem. One tree in particular was a seedling of Morris Burton and had AMAZINGLY delicious fruit with very high sugar content and a delectable flavor with butter scotchy notes..by far the sweetest I have ever tried. The flesh on this variety was a rich reddish color...very beautiful. Here is short video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iofe3u5pruY&list=UUsSu_6ip07ywsY37D35Cm8w&index=10&feature=plcp Out of the seedling population we also found a tree that produces blue skinned fruit. And not just a touch of blue but very blue! Here is a nice picture of it: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4083/5167939059_56e3a070e3_z.jpg If you're in Michigan or a similar climate where ripening can be an issue I would consider planting some seedlings from Oikos Tree Crops if you have the space. Sorry I don't have more info about specific cultivars, will have more to come. Cheers!

That's very good to hear about Ruby, particularly the dates you normally harvest the fruit. I have Ruby grafted in two places. Both trees are doing well, but one is further along than the other. I would guess I'll get my first taste of Ruby from the one tree this coming year. How long has it been since you planted your Ruby and how much fruit do you expect to get in an average year at this stage? I assume its productivity is about the same as the other varieties you grow, but I don't know what to expect from an average variety. Most of my trees either haven't hardly started to bear yet or they're wild trees that are quite large and bear abundantly. It seems like a good, large tree can yield at least a gallon/day, if not multiple gallons, daily for a month or more. I think the first persimmon I grafted was in 2009. It got off to a slow start (probably in part because I grafted too high on a rootstock that I could have let size up another year or two first), but it's probably 20' tall now (but spindly compared to other fruit and nut species that would be that tall), and I have yet to get anywhere near a gallon of fruit from it over a whole season. I had hoped for more from a tree as big as it is now.

Meader is not self-fertile... many catalogs tout it as fruitful (and seedless) without a pollenizer... In some areas, and under some climatic conditions, Meader - and many other D.virginianas - may produce seedless fruits, in absence of a pollenizer. But...if you have a male in the vicinity, Meader - and others - will be fully-seeded. All the varieties you've listed are essentially 'female', and will not pollenize one another... other than the fact that some, from the Garretson/Early Golden family(like Meader) may occasionally sprout limbs producing staminate (male) blossoms that may provide pollenization for nearby females. I'm relatively to vaguely familiar with most of those you listed. Yates is top quality here; I-94 also very good. Year-in/year-out, Early Golden is hard to beat, and typically prevails in blind taste tests.

I specialize in sprouting mostly tree seeds - and American Persimmons have been one of the easiest so far. I typically just repurpose a clear plastic drink cup and fill it with organic compost soil. I find such cups (vs wider pots) best for seedlings because they allow deeper root growth and are easier to transplant later from since you don't have to dig as wide a hole. Most tree seedling roots need more depth, and not so much width, in growing space. So, a lot of pot width is basically just wasted space. With narrower cups, you can store more of them together due to their smaller footprints. And plus, I'm using something that would otherwise just go into the recycle waste stream faster... Anyhow, after inserting a seed into each cup (without scarification needed), you then just have to wait about 3.5 months for them to finally sprout up. Only thing I might do during that waiting period is water the soil once in a while to keep it somewhat moist. Note that most tree seeds DO take much longer to sprout compared to say, annual vegetables. Quality generally takes more time! Now once these American Persimmon seedlings finally sprout, they are very robust and will grow fairly tall with a thin woody stem and large leaves early on... I mean, relatively-speaking, of course. It will still take probably around ~2 years+ from planting the seed to grow to a foot-tall seedling, to give you a rough idea. Again, these are trees, not "weeds!" But definitely a great native, fruit-bearing tree to propagate, though!!! I've found ripe American Persimmons to be the sweetest I've ever tasted! So, I really wish more people would plant a whole lot more!