Diospyros kaki
persimmon
Common names: kaki, Sharon fruit
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −15 °C
- Harvest
- Oct–Nov
- Spacing
- 400 cm, rows 400 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Sphl · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The persimmon bears bright orange fruits in late autumn that hang on the bare tree for a long time and decorate it. In mild wine-growing regions it is now winter-hardy enough for the garden, but at harsh sites it needs protection. Cultivars such as 'Tipo' ripen early enough to be harvested before the hard winter.
Care instructions
Plant the persimmon in a full-sun, wind-protected spot, ideally on a warm south-facing wall. Plant it in spring, April week 16, so that it establishes well over the summer. Harvest the fruits from October when they are deep orange, and let them ripen to full sweetness at room temperature.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestOct–Nov
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained
Plant the persimmon tree in loose, well-drained soil, best sandy-loamy with a good humus content and neutral pH. It does not tolerate waterlogging; loosen heavy clay soils with sand and compost before planting; a wind-sheltered south-facing position or south wall is ideal in the Central European lowlands.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar–Jul
In spring, spread mature compost on the tree's root zone and rake it in shallowly, together with horn shavings for slow nitrogen supply. By the end of July at the latest, a second, restrained organic dose can follow; potassium-rich organic material promotes fruit formation. From August no more feeding, so the wood ripens and becomes frost-hardy. Persimmons react sensitively to overfeeding: too much nitrogen drives leaves at the expense of fruit and lowers winter hardiness.
Overwintering
In late autumn, mound leaves or bark mulch over the root zone, lay brushwood over it and wrap the trunk and young shoots in the first winters with a hessian or coir mat; choose a sheltered site for this, such as against a south wall. Bring young container plants in cool and frost-free before the first night frost (a cellar or garage is enough, as the persimmon sheds its leaves and needs hardly any light); older containers overwinter outdoors on a polystyrene board with the pot and trunk wrapped.
Propagation
Methods
- Grafting
- Cuttings
- From seed
Grafting (recommended method for fruit true to type): Use Diospyros lotus (date plum) as rootstock; it is sufficiently hardy in Central Europe and compatible with D. kaki. D. virginiana tends to produce root suckers and shows incompatibilities more often in the long term. Raise the rootstock from seed for 1 to 2 years beforehand. Grafting works best in May or June, when the rootstock has already sprouted and sap flow is active. Suitable methods are cleft grafting, bark grafting or chip budding. You cut the scion in January to March while it is still leafless and store it cool and slightly moist until the grafting date. Alternatively, chip budding in late summer also works.
Cuttings (demanding, only moderately promising for hobbyists): Persimmon roots with difficulty, which is why rootstocks are usually raised from seed rather than from cuttings. If you want to try, cut one-year-old, woody shoots (hardwood cuttings) in late winter to early spring, before the buds swell; the rooting rate is markedly higher early in the season than later. Length about 15 to 20 cm, cut just below a bud. Insert them into an airy, well-drained substrate (e.g. a sand-perlite mix), keep humidity high with a cover and provide gentle bottom warmth. Rooting can take one to two months; expect a low success rate compared with grafting.
Sowing (only for rootstocks or natural forms, not true to type): Take the seeds from ripe fruit in autumn, wash them and stratify them cool for around 8 to 10 weeks at about 4 to 5 °C (e.g. in the fridge in moist sand or between damp cloths). From spring, sow in loose, well-drained substrate and keep it warm. Germination can take weeks to months. Note: plants raised from seed bear only after several years (about 6 to 8 years) and do not match the parent variety; this method is therefore mainly suited to raising grafting rootstocks.
For your garden
Grow persimmon yourself
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