Asian Persimmon
- Hardiness
- 7-10
- Mature size
- 15-30 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Chill requirement
- 100-200
- Pollination
- Usually self-fertile/parthenocarpic; pollination can add seeds and improve set
Persimmon
Family Ebenaceae
Wait for a persimmon to turn fully soft and it repays you with spoon-sweet, honeyed flesh — one of autumn's great rewards, and one the impatient never meet, since only dead-ripe fruit loses its pucker. This entry covers both the Asian persimmon and the native American type.
Across the two types hardiness spans zones 4-10, so one persimmon or another suits almost any yard, in full sun or part shade. The fruit hangs on like ornaments after leaf drop, feeding whoever waits longest — pick your type, plant it, and learn patience deliciously.
Full Sun to Part Shade
Excellent edible
From the print shop
Growing persimmon? Hang it.
Our Plant Library collection carries persimmon — Diospyros kaki, print Nº 363, “Asian Persimmon.”
526 designsfrom $12.99white or black backgroundmatte poster, unframed
Which persimmon do you have?
Hardiness differs across the 2 persimmons in this guide, so pick yours and this panel answers for that one.
Enter it once; every plant page remembers.
Asian Persimmon
- Mature size
- 15-30 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Chill requirement
- 100-200
- Pollination
- Usually self-fertile/parthenocarpic; pollination can add seeds and improve set
Persimmon · Common problems
Common persimmon problems
Pests, diseases and weather to keep an eye on.
Nothing common enough to list for persimmon. Watch it like anything else in the garden, and check the plants growing next to it.
Persimmon · Which one do you have?
The 2 types this guide covers
Where these differ, the key facts above give the span across all of them. Each type’s own figures, as the catalogue records them:
American Persimmon (Native)
- Hardiness
- 4-9
- Mature size
- 35-60 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow-Moderate
- Pollination
- Most need male + female; some cultivars self-fertile
Persimmon · Growing & propagation
Growing persimmon
Light, water, soil, propagation and the season’s jobs.
What it needsThe details
- Light
- Full Sun to Part Shade
Pruning- Late Winter
How to plant & propagate persimmon
- Propagate
- Grafted, or from cuttings/layering
Seed won't come true
Persimmon · Harvest & keeping
What you get from persimmon
How long before it bears, how much it gives, how you know it is ready, and how long it keeps once picked.
Years to first harvest- 3 to 6 years
- Typical yield
- 30–80 lbs
- What you eat
- Fruit
How to tell it is ready- Fully colored
Asian types firm-ripe or soft depending on cultivar
How long it keeps- weeks refrigerated
Persimmon · Seasonal care & spray guidance
The persimmon growing playbook
Field-tested instructions for every job persimmon asks of you, compiled from university extension guidance — in the order the season brings them. This guide covers more than one plant, and their programmes are not interchangeable — spray timings in particular are set by the species. Each instruction below names the one it was written for.
While it is dormant
winter, before growth starts
3 jobsPruningIn winterAsian PersimmonWinter pruning: open the tree, but keep the branch tips
Prune while the tree is dormant. Take out dead, diseased, and crossing limbs, branches bent to the ground, and spindly wood that would snap under a load of fruit. Open the canopy by removing a few whole old branches and heading the tallest ones, rather than shearing every branch back to the same length. Prune what remains lightly. Persimmon fruits on new wood and on one-year-old wood, and the buds nearest the branch tips are the most productive, so uniform heading cuts remove next season's crop and provoke a thicket of regrowth at every cut.
PruningIn February and MarchAmerican Persimmon (Native)Dormant-prune lightly, and make every cut clean
While the tree is fully dormant in late winter, take out dead, broken, and crossing wood and train to a modified central leader, which also keeps the tree from getting too tall. Cut back to the branch collar with a clean, smooth cut and leave no stubs. This tree needs little pruning once it reaches bearing size if you set the form early, so resist the urge to cut more. Persimmon wilt spores are wind-borne and a wound is what lets them in — the Forest Service tells you to cover bruises on healthy trees to keep spores out, so every cut is a door. Cutting while the tree is dormant means fewer open wounds standing through the season when the fungus is active.
SprayingIn winterAsian PersimmonDormant oil for scale, just before bud swell
If scale showed up last season, spray horticultural dormant oil over the trunk, scaffolds, and twigs in late winter, shortly before the buds swell. Cover the bark thoroughly; the oil only works where it lands. Scale overwinters on the bark as immobile, armored insects, and the oil kills by smothering them, which is why it must go on before growth starts and while the insects are still exposed and stationary.
As growth begins
early spring
2 jobs
FeedingIn springAsian PersimmonFeed lightly in early spring, and resist the urge to do more
In late winter or very early spring, apply about three-quarters of a pound (roughly 1.5 cups) of 13-13-13 per inch of trunk diameter measured at the soil line, spread under the canopy. Judge whether the tree needs it at all first: if the leaves were not dark green last year and the tree put on less than 10 to 12 inches of shoot growth, it needs feeding. If it is dark green and grew more than that, skip it. Persimmon is a light feeder, and excess nitrogen pushes leafy growth at the expense of fruit and triggers premature fruit drop, so overfeeding costs you the crop you were trying to grow.
FeedingIn springAmerican Persimmon (Native)Feed lightly in spring, if at all
If growth is weak, broadcast a balanced 10-10-10 evenly on the ground beneath the canopy at about a half to one pound per year of the tree's age, capping out around eight to ten pounds on an old tree. Skip the spiked fertilizer stakes. Give a newly planted tree nothing until it has leafed out and is growing. A persimmon pushed too hard drops its fruit, so this is a tree where restraint outyields generosity. Most trees in decent soil, especially ones surrounded by fed lawn, need nothing at all.
Just after bloom
as the fruit sets
1 jobThinningAt petal fallAsian PersimmonThin to 6 inches within a month of bloom in a heavy year
In a year when the tree sets heavily, thin the young fruit to about 6 inches apart, breaking up any clusters. Do it within a month after bloom, while the fruit is still small. A heavy set makes small, clustered fruit, and it exhausts the tree into alternate bearing, where this year's glut buys next year's blank. Thinning early, while the fruit is still cheap for the tree to drop, is what resets that cycle.
Through summer
the growing season
4 jobsPruningIn summerAmerican Persimmon (Native)Cut root suckers before they become a thicket
Native persimmon throws suckers from its roots, sometimes well out from the trunk. Cut them off at ground level as they appear through the growing season, while they are still soft and small. This tree sprouts vigorously from roots and the stump, and left alone a mature tree turns its own dripline into a thicket that competes with the tree and with everything planted under it.
What to watch forThrough summerAsian PersimmonCheck for scale and mealybug on the sticky evidence
Through the growing season, look over twigs and leaf undersides for scale bumps and cottony mealybugs. The tell is honeydew: sticky leaves and trails of ants running the trunk. Banding material and an insect barrier on the trunk help keep ants from farming them. Note what you find so you know whether a dormant oil spray is warranted next winter. Persimmon has few serious pests, so scouting is mostly about catching the two that do turn up, and because scale is far easier to kill with dormant oil in winter than with anything sprayed in season.
What to watch forIn summerAmerican Persimmon (Native)Watch for persimmon wilt, top down
Walk the tree and look for leaves wilting and dropping while the branches die back from the top down. Cut into a suspect branch and look for dark streaking in the wood. There is no cure, so remove and burn a confirmed infected tree rather than leaving it standing as a spore source. Cephalosporium diospyri plugs the water-conducting wood, and an infected tree lives only one or two years after wilting starts. It is the one disease with real potential to kill a native persimmon.
What to watch forIn summerAmerican Persimmon (Native)Clip out fall webworm nests on young trees
Look for silk webs enclosing the leaves at branch ends. Where you can reach them, prune the webbed tips out and drown or bury them. If webs are too many to prune on a small tree, spray Bacillus thuringiensis while the caterpillars are still small, wetting the foliage next to the web rather than the web itself. Webworms colonize branch ends and can genuinely set back a small young tree. On a big established persimmon the feeding lands so close to natural leaf drop that it does not hurt the tree, and the webs are mostly an eyesore.
Harvest time
as it ripens, and picking
2 jobsHarvestingAt harvestAsian PersimmonHarvest on color, not on frost, and clip the stem
Pick by color, not by the calendar. Harvest astringent types like Hachiya and Tanenashi once the color has fully developed but while the fruit is still hard, then ripen them soft indoors. Non-astringent types like Fuyu and Jiro are ready to eat firm, once they color up. Cut the fruit from the tree with shears, taking the calyx and a small portion of stem with it, rather than pulling the fruit off. Waiting for frost is folk advice that backfires: frost will ruin immature fruit on the tree, and persimmons lose astringency as they ripen rather than because of a freeze. Pulling fruit tears it loose at the calyx and opens the wound that rots it in storage.
HarvestingAt harvestAmerican Persimmon (Native)Pick only when it is jelly-soft, not when the calendar says so
Test by feel, not by date. Take fruit only when it has gone deep orange and squishy-soft, so soft it feels overripe and pulls free with no resistance. The tree ripens unevenly, so pick it over every few days for weeks rather than stripping it once. The fruit is loaded with soluble tannins until it is thoroughly ripe, and it is softening, not frost, that finally binds those tannins up. Ripe fruit often arrives around your first frost, which is how the frost story got started, but a hard persimmon is astringent in any weather.
After harvest
autumn, and putting it to bed
2 jobsWhat to watch forIn autumnAmerican Persimmon (Native)Gather the girdled twigs off the ground
Once twigs the thickness of a pencil start dropping with a neat, chewed-through cut at one end, rake them up and destroy them by burning, burying, or bagging. Get the ones still hung up in the canopy too. Do this through fall and winter and finish before spring. The female twig girdler girdles the twig on purpose and lays her egg in the part beyond the cut, because her larva cannot develop in healthy sapwood. The grub overwinters in that fallen twig, so hauling the twigs away is what actually breaks the cycle.
HarvestingAfter harvestAsian PersimmonPull the astringency out of hard-picked fruit
Astringent persimmons picked hard need to soften before they are edible. Left on the counter they will ripen on their own. To hurry it, bury the fruit in uncooked dry rice for 3 to 5 days, or freeze it for 24 hours and then thaw. The pucker is soluble tannin, and it does not wash out or cook out. It only becomes insoluble as the fruit softens, which is why an astringent persimmon eaten firm is inedible and the same fruit eaten soft is not.
Persimmon · Calculators & field guides
A little help in the garden.
Calculators for the figures. Field guides for the hands-on work.
Persimmon · Yearly calendar
The persimmon year, month by month
What persimmon asks for, month by month.
Jan
No calendar activity is listed for this month.
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
BloomPruneHarvestBloomMay
PruneFebruary to March
HarvestOctober to November
What each band means
- Bloom — flowers open — pollinators working, frost on blossoms is the danger.
- Prune — shape it now — cuts heal cleanly and structure is visible.
- Harvest — picking time — check ripeness every few days.
These are the species' typical months — expect them a few weeks earlier in warm zones and later in cold ones. Watch the plant, not just the calendar.
Persimmon · Ecology & uses
Ecology & uses
What it does for the garden, and what it is grown for.
Persimmon in the garden system
Deer- Browsed
Protect young plants
What persimmon is grown for
✓ Commonly eatenSafe when ripe; unripe astringent fruit is unpleasant · Safe RIPE; unripe = mouth-puckering astringent (never eat firm)
- Edible value
- 4/5
Edibility, identification, and traditional-use notes here are general reference — not medical or veterinary advice, and not a claim that any plant treats or prevents anything. Medicinal ratings record how strongly a plant features in herbal tradition, nothing more. Never eat or dose a plant you have not positively identified. More on how to use this library.
Persimmon · Varieties & cultivars
Best persimmon varieties & cultivars
There are far more than these — the ones below are the named varieties of persimmon people actually plant.
Named varieties of persimmon differ in winter-chill needs, ripening time, hardiness, and whether they set fruit on their own — pick one that fits your climate.
20 varieties
Fuyu
Also known as Fuyugaki; note Jiro is often sold under the Fuyu name
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Oct-Nov
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good (few serious pests or diseases)
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft, easily kept smaller with pruning
sweet, mild; eaten firm and crisp like an apple — The classic non-astringent (PCNA) persimmon eaten while still hard. Self-fruitful and sets seedless fruit without a pollinizer; the best all-around choice for most home growers.
Where to buy ‘Fuyu’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Jiro
Also known as Maekawa Jiro; often marketed alongside or as Fuyu
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Mid-Oct to mid-Nov
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft, prunable
sweet, crunchy when ripe; eat firm — A flatter, blockier non-astringent (PCNA) cousin of Fuyu that ripens slightly earlier. Self-fruitful; a distinct cultivar from Fuyu despite shared marketing.
Where to buy ‘Jiro’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Ichi Ki Kei Jiro
Also known as Ichikikei Jiro, Early Jiro
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Mid-Oct to mid-Nov
- Zones
- 6-9
- Disease
- good
- Size
- naturally compact/semi-dwarf, roughly 6-10 ft
sweet, crisp non-astringent (PCNA); eat firm — A compact, cold-hardy non-astringent sport of Jiro, widely sold as one of the hardiest PCNA kaki and a good pick for smaller yards and colder sites (protect young trees). Zone 6 is the tested edge.
Where to buy ‘Ichi Ki Kei Jiro’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Izu
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Late Sept to Oct
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good
- Size
- naturally small/low-vigor, ~8-12 ft
sweet, mild non-astringent (PCNA); eat firm — One of the earliest-ripening non-astringent varieties on a naturally small tree; good where the season is short or space is tight.
Where to buy ‘Izu’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Hachiya
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Oct-Nov
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft
rich, sweet, custardy; only edible when fully soft-ripe — The classic acorn-shaped astringent (PCA) persimmon prized for baking and drying. Sets seedless parthenocarpic fruit without a pollinizer, but must be fully soft or it is intensely astringent.
Where to buy ‘Hachiya’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Saijo
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Sept-Oct
- Zones
- 6-9
- Disease
- good
- Size
- vigorous, upright, 20-25 ft (prunable)
exceptionally sweet, jelly-like; astringent (PCA) until soft — One of the sweetest persimmons and among the hardier astringent kaki. Some sources rate it to zone 6, but it performs best in zone 6b or warmer; wait for soft fruit.
Where to buy ‘Saijo’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Giombo
Also known as Gionbo
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Oct
- Zones
- 7-9
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft
sweet, juicy, jelly flesh; astringent until soft; excellent dried — A large-fruited astringent variety with Saijo-quality flavor on much bigger fruit; one of the best for drying. Classed as a pollination-variant astringent, so unlike PVNA types it stays astringent even when seeded — eat only when fully soft.
Where to buy ‘Giombo’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Tanenashi
Self-fertile
- Ripens
- Sept-Nov
- Zones
- 7-9
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 12-15 ft
sweet when soft-ripe; astringent (PCA) when firm; seedless — A popular Southeast astringent persimmon (the name means 'seedless') that reliably sets heavy crops of large seedless fruit with no pollinizer. Flavor is good but not top-tier among astringents.
Where to buy ‘Tanenashi’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Chocolate
Also known as Tsurunoko
Partly self-fertile
- Ripens
- Oct-Nov
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft
- Pollination
- pollination-variant (PVNA); can set fruit alone but is astringent unless pollinated/seeded. Produces its own male flowers and is itself a good pollinizer for other kaki (e.g. Coffeecake).
spicy, rich; cinnamon-brown flesh when seeded — A pollination-variant type whose signature spice-brown, non-astringent flesh develops only when the fruit is seeded. It bears many male flowers so it can partly pollinate itself; grown truly alone the fruit tends to stay astringent.
Where to buy ‘Chocolate’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Coffeecake
Also known as Nishimura Wase
Partly self-fertile
- Ripens
- Sept-Oct
- Zones
- 7-10
- Disease
- good
- Size
- standard 15-20 ft
- Pollination
- needs a pollinizer to be non-astringent; Chocolate is the recommended pollinizer (Izu, Giant Fuyu, and Early Jiro also cited)
sweet, brown-sugar/spice; crunchy brown flesh only when fully seeded — An early-ripening (about a month ahead of Fuyu types) pollination-variant (PVNA) persimmon. It must be fully seeded by a pollinizer to lose astringency — unpollinated fruit behaves like an astringent type — so plant a pollen source such as Chocolate alongside it.
Where to buy ‘Coffeecake’verified
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Eureka
Self-fertile
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Medium, flat
Astringent until soft, very high quality, red-orange — Heavy producer on a relatively small, self-fruitful tree, which suits a home yard. Unusual among Oriental persimmons in that its fruit is seeded rather than seedless. Long regarded as the best commercial variety in Texas.
Where to buy ‘Eureka’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Tamopan
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Very large, flat
Astringent, must be soft to eat; juicy, watery and stringy, with a thick peel — Distinctive ring constriction around the top third of the fruit, nearest the stem. The most vigorous and upright of the varieties grown in the South, so give it room and prune for structure early.
Where to buy ‘Tamopan’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Sheng
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Large, lobed
Astringent, bright orange, high jelly content — A well-spreading tree. The fruit is large with lobed sections that look somewhat like a four- or six-leaf clover viewed from the top. It will set many seeds when pollinated.
Where to buy ‘Sheng’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Great Wall
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Small, four-sided
Astringent, must soften; dry flesh similar to Tanenashi but of excellent quality — A strong, upright tree carrying small four-sided fruit. The flesh is dry in the manner of Tanenashi, which suits it to drying, but quality is excellent.
Where to buy ‘Great Wall’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Hana Fuyu
Also known as Giant Fuyu
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Large
Non-astringent, sweet, eaten firm — but may be slow to lose astringency — A large-fruited non-astringent type in the Fuyu group, of medium vigor, that regulates its own crop load well — a good homeowner cultivar. Fruit are slightly larger than most and generally free of imperfections, but can be slow to lose astringency, so give them time to colour fully before eating firm.
Where to buy ‘Hana Fuyu’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Gosho
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Medium to large
Non-astringent, sweet, eaten firm; seeded fruit has better flavor — Non-astringent type adapted to the Southeast. Unseeded fruit may still reach good size, but seeded fruit has better flavor — and seeded fruit requires a pollinator, so plant a pollinizer such as Gailey if flavor is the goal.
Where to buy ‘Gosho’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Suruga
- Ripens
- Late
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Medium to large
Non-astringent, very sweet — A late non-astringent type, which means it needs a long enough autumn to color up before hard freezes.
Where to buy ‘Suruga’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Matsumoto Wase Fuyu
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Medium
Non-astringent, sweet, eaten firm — An earlier-ripening Fuyu sport. Recommended as the midseason non-astringent choice for Florida, bridging the gap between Izu and Fuyu.
Where to buy ‘Matsumoto Wase Fuyu’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Ormond
Also known as Christmas persimmon
- Ripens
- Late
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Medium, long and conic
Astringent, must be soft to eat; juicy, with large seeds — A late astringent cultivar for Florida, sometimes called the Christmas persimmon because fruit are often harvested in January. Persimmons grow and fruit best in central and northern Florida. Caution: the tree begins growing early in spring, which increases its chances of freeze injury — a poor choice for a site prone to late frosts.
Where to buy ‘Ormond’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Gailey
- Ripens
- Midseason
- Zones
- 7-10
- Size
- Small to medium
Astringent; very dark flesh, even with few seeds — Grown as a pollinizer rather than for its own fruit — extension names Fuyu or Gailey as the pollen sources for Oriental persimmons. Concentric ring cracking of the fruit is common. Note that native American persimmon will not cross-pollinate Oriental types, so it cannot substitute.
Where to buy ‘Gailey’
Story Thyme Farms may earn a small commission from these links, at no cost to you — it never changes what we recommend.
Sources & plant identity
Know what you’re growing.
See where the knowledge comes from.
Persimmon
The plant, at a glance.
- Plant family
- Ebenaceae
- Growth habit
- Tree · Perennial
- Invasive risk
- Low
Every garden is different.
Hardiness, size and timing vary with your cultivar, soil and climate.
Rooted in research.
University extension research, brought together with hands-on growing experience at Story Thyme Farms.
Explore Persimmon’s sources22 reference links
for Persimmon
for Persimmon
Research from these sources
Clemson University
Mississippi State University
NC State Extension
University of California ANR
University of Florida
USDA PLANTS Database
University of Georgia
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Texas A&M AgriLife
Alabama Cooperative Extension
Purdue UniversityVirginia Cooperative Extension / Virginia Tech (Publication 354-313), with USDA Forest Service National Agroforestry Center
University of Missouri
Stark Bro?sPublisher marks identify sources, not sponsorship or endorsement.
Questions
Persimmon questions, answered straight.
Is persimmon safe for kids and pets?
Persimmon is commonly eaten and isn't considered toxic, but "commonly eaten" isn't a guarantee for any particular person or animal — allergies, quantity, and which part you eat all matter. One caveat on this one: Safe when ripe; unripe astringent fruit is unpleasant · Safe RIPE; unripe = mouth-puckering astringent (never eat firm. Never eat a plant you haven't positively identified, and check with a vet before letting pets or livestock graze anything new.
How do you propagate persimmon?
Grafted, or from cuttings/layering (seed won't come true).
Elsewhere
Where persimmon sits in the library.
Apple
Peach
Plum
Pluot