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Perennial Fruit Tree · zones 4–10 · 37 varieties

Persimmon

Diospyros kaki (Asian/Japanese persimmon) and Diospyros virginiana (American persimmon)

Ebenaceae — the only crop in its plant family here.

Persimmon (Diospyros kaki (Asian/Japanese persimmon) and Diospyros virginiana (American persimmon)) is a perennial fruit tree for USDA zones 4–10. It wants full sun and pH 6–8 soil, with about 1 in of water weekly. First real harvest comes in 3–6 yr on a grafted nursery tree. Watch for scale and leaf spot. Below: its full sourced profile from 6 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.

Zones 4–10 — USDA USDA
Sun Full sun
Water Moderate
First harvest 3–6 yr — graftedest grafted
Mature size 10–40 ft
Spacing 180–216 in
Soil pH 6–8
Frost Hardy
When to plant persimmontypical · zone 6b
Your zone
…or your ZIP, for your real frost dates

Dormant
Establishing
Flowering
Fruit set
Ripening
Harvest

Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.

Growing persimmonevery fact says where it came from

What we will not put a number on

We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.

We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.

Site & soil

Hardiness zones
4–10
Sun
Full sun
Soil pH
6–8
Soil texture
Clay, Loam, Sandy, Well drained
Frost tolerance
Hardy

No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.

The plant

Mature height
10–40 ft
Mature spread
15–35 ft
Growth rate
Moderateest
Spacing in row
180–216 in
Between rows
240 in
Planting depth
At soil level
Container size
15–25 gal — start at the low end, pot up as it growsest
Support
Self-supporting
Grown from
Grafting, Budding, Seed, Root cutting

Water & feeding

Water needs
Moderate
Water per week
1 in/wkest
Critical water
Establishment, Fruit setest
Feeding
Low

Timing & fruiting

Years to first harvest
3–6 yrest
That is the grafted nursery tree, which is what a nursery sells.
Chill hours
200–400 hrs
Pollination
Needs pollinizer
Harvest cues
Fruit coloring
Winter kill below
10 °F

Edible parts per source: fruit.

What tends to go wrongmost-cited first
PestsScalePersimmon psyllidCaterpillarsPersimmon borerMealybugs
DiseasesLeaf spotTwig diebackPowdery mildewCrown gallAnthracnose

Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.

All 37 varietiesthe ones with their own page are linked
Variety TypeHabit DaysColorSizeWhat it is known for
Chocolate Heirloom Pollination Variant — Bicolor Medium Raintree Nursery describes this astakes the heat
Claypool Astringent — Large England's Orchard & Nursery describes this asgives a heavy crop
Coffee Cake Heirloom Pollination Variant — Large
Early Golden Heirloom Astringent — Orange SymbiOp Garden Shop describes this asgives a heavy crop
Fuyu Heirloom Non Astringent — Red Medium
Garretson Heirloom Astringent — University of Illinois Extension records this astakes the cold · gives a heavy crop
Giant Fuyu Non Astringent — Large
Gosho Heirloom Non Astringent —
Great Wall Heirloom Astringent — Bicolor Small
H-118 Astringent — Red Large England's Orchard & Nursery describes this asno seeds · gives a heavy crop
Hachiya Heirloom Astringent — Orange Large
Hana Fuyu Non Astringent — Bicolor Very Large
Izu Non Astringent — Orange
Jiro Heirloom Non Astringent — Orange
John Rick Heirloom Astringent — University of Georgia Extension records this asgives a heavy crop
JT-02 Astringent Compact — Large England's Orchard & Nursery describes this astakes the cold · gives a heavy crop
Juhl Heirloom Astringent — Large Red Fern Farm describes this asgives a heavy crop
Killen Heirloom Astringent — Orange Medium NC State Extension records this asgrown to look at
Lena Heirloom Astringent — Red Medium
Maru Heirloom — Bicolor Medium
Matsumoto Wase Fuyu Non Astringent — Mississippi State University Extension Service records this asgives a heavy crop
Meader Astringent — Orange Medium NC State Extension records this astakes the cold · no seeds
Miller Heirloom Astringent — Large University of Georgia Extension records this asgives a heavy crop
Mohler Heirloom Astringent — Orange Medium
Morris Burton Heirloom Astringent — Bicolor Small NC State Extension records this astakes the cold
Nikita's Gift Astringent — Bicolor Large Raintree Nursery describes this astakes the cold
Prok Astringent — Orange Large NC State Extension records this astakes the cold
Rosseyanka — Orange Large Stark Bro's Nurseries & Orchards describes this astakes the cold
Saijo Heirloom Astringent — Raintree Nursery describes this astakes the cold
Sheng Heirloom Astringent — Bicolor Large
Suruga Heirloom Non Astringent — Red Large
Szukis Heirloom Astringent — Orange Small
Tam Kam Heirloom Non Astringent — Orange Large Edible Landscaping describes this asno seeds
Tanenashi Heirloom Astringent — Orange Large University of Georgia Extension records this asno seeds
Woolbright Heirloom Astringent — University of Georgia Extension records this asgives a heavy crop
WS8-10 Astringent — Large England's Orchard & Nursery describes this asgives a heavy crop
Yates Heirloom Astringent — Yellow Large England's Orchard & Nursery describes this asgives a heavy crop
Sources6 cited · 5 organizations
  • Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center
  • Mississippi State University Extension
  • North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
  • University of Georgia Cooperative Extension

We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 18 of the 23 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.

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