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American Persimmon
A tough, drought-hardy native fruit tree bearing small, intensely sweet orange persimmons in fall - a beloved wild delicacy for puddings and fresh eating, and a wildlife magnet - with the famous catch that unripe fruit is mouth-puckeringly astringent.
Safety notes Ripe American persimmons are delicious and safe - among the sweetest of native fruits. The one hard rule is ripeness: UNRIPE persimmons are intensely astringent (mouth-puckering) from tannins and are unpleasant, not truly toxic, but eating many unripe fruits has rarely been linked to hard indigestible masses (bezoars) in the stomach, so eat them only fully soft and ripe. This native persimmon is distinct from the larger Asian 'kaki' persimmon sold in stores.
Overview
The American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is one of the great native fruits of the eastern and southern United States - a tough, adaptable medium tree - typically 30-40 feet in the open, taller (to 60 feet) drawn up in woods - that bears small, round, deep-orange fruits of extraordinary sweetness. A fully ripe wild persimmon tastes like a soft, rich date or brown-sugar custard, and it's the star of traditional Southern and Midwestern persimmon pudding, breads, jams, and country wines. It's a different (and to many, better-flavored) fruit than the larger, firmer Asian 'kaki' persimmon sold in stores - a separate, less cold-hardy species (Diospyros kaki) with both astringent and eat-firm 'Fuyu' types, which has its own entry in this catalog under persimmon. If you want the store fruit, grow that one; if you want the native, you're in the right place.
The one thing to knowA fully ripe wild persimmon tastes like a soft, rich date or brown-sugar custard, and it's the star of traditional Southern and Midwestern persimmon pudding, breads, jams, and country wines.
Quick facts
- Sprouts in
- 60 daysRange: 30–120 days
- Soil temperature
- 70 °FRange: 60–80 °F
- Height
- 33.3 ftRange: 20–60 ft
- Spread
- 25 ftRange: 20–35 ft
- Cold
- Takes hard frostdamaged below -25°F
- Heat
- Struggles above 105°F
- Life cycle
- Perennial, lives about 75 years
- Save seeds
- About 180 days after plantingRange: 150–210 days
- Self-sows
- Yes, expect volunteers
- Soil
- Well-drained
- Water
- Medium
- Plant spacing
- 30 ftRange: 20–40 ft
When to plant
Fall sowing is open for 19 more days. Next: spring, Mar 27 to May 22.
- Direct sow Sep 27 – Nov 8 Open now · 19 days leftAbout 4 weeks before to 2 weeks after your first frost (Oct 25 here)Plant cleaned seed from fully ripe fruit in fall right where the tree will grow; it needs cold stratification and germinates in spring. Seedlings grow a strong taproot but you won't know their sex (or fruit quality) for years.
- Transplant Mar 27 – May 22 Opens in 158 daysAbout 2 weeks before to 6 weeks after your last frost (Apr 10 here)Plant a young container persimmon in early spring into well-drained soil in full sun; plant small, since the taproot resents disturbance. Include a male tree (or a self-fruitful cultivar) for fruit on female trees.
- Transplant Aug 26 – Oct 4 Opens in 310 daysAbout 9 weeks before to 3 weeks before your first frost (Oct 25 here)Fall planting works in milder zones; keep roots moist and disturb them as little as possible, as persimmon dislikes being moved.
Frost here: last around Apr 10 (Mar 27 to Apr 24 most years), first around Oct 25. Zone averages, your own yard may run a week or two either way.
Life stages
Establish, grow, repeat
Getting established and returning each season are different parts of the story.
Stage 1 of 5 · Getting established
Years 1-3 - young tree
About the first 3 years after planting
Care at this stage
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Water while establishing, then leave it tough
Water a young American persimmon deeply and regularly through its first 2-3 years. It grows a deep taproot and resents transplanting once established, so plant it SMALL (or from seed in place) and disturb it as little as possible - once rooted in, it's remarkably drought- and poor-soil-tolerant.
-
Mulch the root zone
A wide mulch ring conserves moisture and keeps mowers away; keep it back from the trunk. Persimmon tolerates poor, dry, clay, and rocky soils that defeat many fruit trees.
-
Plan for pollination - you usually need a male
American persimmon is typically dioecious: most trees are either male or female, and only females bear fruit, usually needing a male tree within a few hundred feet to pollinate them (though some cultivars set fruit without one). Plan to plant a male and a female, or a self-fruitful named cultivar, if you want a crop.
Months are typical seasonal windows; climate, variety, and plant age can shift them.
Harvest
- Fruit fully deep orange, soft, and almost jelly-like - often after dropping or a frost
- The fruit yields completely to gentle pressure and tastes sweet, not astringent
- Hard, firm, or slightly underripe fruit is intensely astringent - wait longer
- Female trees only, and only with a male pollinator nearby (or a self-fruitful cultivar)
- Harvest only fully soft, ripe fruit · every 2 days
- Race the wildlife for the crop
Per plant 100 to 2000 persimmons, 5 to 100 lbPicking pick as they ripen
Cook with persimmons
Watch out for
3 to know. None are high-risk for persimmons. 1 is active in October.
Astringency (Underripe Fruit)Severity Medium DisordernowSeason: Sep–NovFirm or slightly soft fruit that dries and puckers the mouth; hard, orange-but-not-jelly-soft fruit picked too early.
Firm or slightly soft fruit that dries and puckers the mouth; hard, orange-but-not-jelly-soft fruit picked too early.
There's no good way to remove astringency from underripe native persimmons at home (unlike some Asian types) - simply wait for full ripeness. Fully ripe fruit is sweet and free of astringency.
Harvest only fully soft, dead-ripe fruit - deep orange and almost jelly-like, often after it drops or a frost; never eat firm persimmons.
Not a pest but the defining issue with the fruit: American persimmons are intensely astringent (mouth-drying, puckering) from tannins until they are fully soft-ripe. Underripe fruit is essentially inedible, and eating quantities of unripe persimmons has rarely been linked to hard indigestible stomach masses (bezoars).
No Berries (Dioecious / No Pollinator)Severity Medium DisorderSeason: May–JunA healthy, flowering tree that never sets fruit year after year - either a male tree, or a female with no male nearby.
A healthy, flowering tree that never sets fruit year after year - either a male tree, or a female with no male nearby.
Add a male pollinator (or graft a male branch onto a female tree, or plant a self-fruitful cultivar); nothing else will make a lone female or a male tree fruit.
Plant both a male and a female (or a self-fruitful cultivar like 'Meader'); when buying seedlings, expect roughly half to be non-fruiting males, and site a known male within pollination range of females.
American persimmon is usually dioecious - trees are male or female, and only females bear fruit, generally needing a male within a few hundred feet to pollinate them. A lone male, or a female with no pollinator, produces no crop, a common surprise for new growers.
Persimmon Leaf SpotSeverity Low DiseaseSeason: Jul–SepBrown, black, or angular spots and blotches on the leaves, worse in humid summers, sometimes causing some early leaf drop.
Brown, black, or angular spots and blotches on the leaves, worse in humid summers, sometimes causing some early leaf drop.
None usually needed - it's cosmetic on a healthy tree; leaf sanitation reduces it. Fungicides are not warranted for a landscape fruit tree.
Ensure good air circulation, avoid overhead watering, and rake up and remove fallen infected leaves to reduce overwintering spores.
Several fungi cause leaf spots and blotches on persimmon foliage in warm, humid, wet weather, sometimes with early leaf drop - unsightly but essentially harmless to this tough tree's health and fruiting.
Good & bad neighbors
Plant nearby
-
Two native fruit trees of the eastern woods edge that fruit in fall and love similar tough conditions - a natural native-fruit pairing for a backyard forest garden, both feeding people and wildlife.
-
Another native edible-fruit small tree; serviceberry fruits in June and persimmon in fall, extending the native-fruit season, and both draw pollinators and birds in a woodland-edge planting.
- Traditional pairings, thin evidence
-
A clover understory beneath a young persimmon fixes nitrogen, suppresses competing grass, and feeds pollinators - a useful living groundcover for a low-input native fruit tree.
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Persimmon naturally grows as a small tree at the sunny edge of oak woodland; pairing it near an oak mirrors its wild habitat and layers a native woodland-edge planting for wildlife.
Varieties · 5
You pick one when you add American Persimmon to your garden. Its days to maturity set your harvest window.
American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) - wild seedling
The wild native: a tough tree of 30-40 feet in the open (up to 60 drawn up in woods), bearing small, intensely sweet orange fruit in fall.
Variety details for American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) - wild seedling
Medium tree with blocky 'alligator' bark and small round orange fall fruit.
speciesnativedioeciousneeds-pollinatorWild seedlings are dioecious and genuinely need a male within a few hundred feet to pollinate a female - and you won't know a seedling's sex for years. Fruit quality and ripening vary tree to tree, but the best wild persimmons are unmatched in sweetness. Extremely drought- and poor-soil-tolerant.
Meader
A popular self-fruitful cultivar that sets fruit without a male pollinator, cold-hardy and early-ripening for northern gardens, with sweet, often nearly seedless fruit - the go-to choice where you want a single reliable fruiting tree.
Variety details for Meader
Productive tree bearing sweet, early, often seedless orange fruit without a pollinator.
cultivarself-fruitfulcold-hardyearly-ripeningEarly Golden
A classic old cultivar prized for richly flavored, sweet, early-ripening golden-orange fruit and reliable production; often needs a male pollinator, and is a parent of many other named selections.
Variety details for Early Golden
Medium tree with abundant sweet, early, golden-orange fruit.
cultivarflavorfulearly-ripeningheirloomProk
A vigorous, productive cultivar bearing unusually large, sweet native persimmons and generally reliable, well-flavored crops - a favorite among native-fruit growers for size and dependability.
Variety details for Prok
Productive tree with large, sweet, deep-orange fruit, usually seedless when grown without a male.
cultivarlarge-fruitproductivecold-hardyLike 'Meader', it is parthenocarpic: it commonly sets seedless fruit on its own, with no male tree needed, which makes it one of the few American persimmons you can plant as a single tree and still pick from. A male nearby is not required, though on some sites one improves fruit size and consistency (and gives seeded fruit). Grafted trees typically start bearing in about 3-6 years.
Yates (Juhl)
An old Indiana heirloom, sold under both names - 'Yates' and 'Juhl' are the same tree.
Variety details for Yates (Juhl)
Upright, productive tree with medium, deep-orange, richly flavored fruit ripening mid-season.
cultivarheirloomneeds-pollinatorflavorfulIt bears heavy crops of medium, richly flavored orange fruit that ripens mid-season, and it is well regarded for hardiness and consistency in the Midwest and upper South. Unlike 'Meader' and 'Prok' it is not reliably self-fruitful: plan on a male seedling or a pollinating cultivar within a few hundred feet if you want a full crop, and expect seeded fruit when you have one.
Grower tips
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