In Asia , Oriental persimmon tree trees ( Diospyros kaki ) have been cultivated for M of year . The vulgar , or American persimmon ( Diospyros virginiana ) was feeding Native American tribes long before the first European settler arrived . Today , China accounts for 75 pct of the universe ’s cultivated persimmons , while American persimmon are largely leave to grow wild from New England west to Oklahoma and south Florida and Texas .
Top Persimmon-Producing Countries
Most of the persimmons not get in China come from ( in descend Holy Order of production ):
U.S. Growers
Although the U.S. does n’t make the Top Ten lean , California , Florida and southeastern Texas all have commercial-grade surgical procedure . But 99 percent of the U.S. harvest come from these four California counties :
Persimmon Growing Requirements
Oriental persimmon last winter cold in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10 , depending on the cultivar . Minimum temperatures in those zone rove from 0 ° to 35 ° F ( -17.7 ° to 1.6 ° C ) . Much more cold - tolerant American persimmon grow in USDA zones 4 through 9 , with winter depression from -30 ° to 20 ° F ( -34.4 to -6.7 ° C ) .
Both varieties need from 3 to 4 foot of piss per yr , with irrigation render what rain does n’t . And neither cope well with desert heating .
Persimmon trees are n’t too picky about soil , but they ’ll fruit most heavily in sandy , well - enfeeble loam with a gently acidic to neutral pH of 6.0 to 7.0 . Just do n’t plant them where the dirt can stay waterlogged for an protracted fourth dimension . They also call for six or more hours of daily Lord’s Day .
Time to Fruit
distaff American persimmon tree growing in the waste need from seven to 10 days to producefruit . menage gardeners who do n’t want to wait that long can establish an already - started ‘ Meader ’ cultivar and have a harvest in just three to four years .
Oriental persimmon started from seed should fruit within seven year , while grafted ace need only three to five .
Widely Available Persimmons
Only a little portion of the more than 2 thousand Oriental persimmon tree cultivar are available to home gardeners . They admit astringent varieties too acerb to rust until fully good and non - astringent ones ediblepickedstraight off the tree .
wide available acerbic persimmon let in ‘ Hayichi , ’ ‘ Honan Red , ’ ‘ Ormond ’ and ‘ Lindy ’s Giant . ’ For non - astringent fruit , await to ‘ Fuyu , ’ ‘ Giant Hanafuyu , ’ ‘ Jiro ’ and ‘ Izu . ’
Expert gardener ’s crest : Astringent persimmons ripen most quickly when seal off in a plastic bagful with ethylene - raise apples , banana or love apple .
