Diospyros kaki
Persimmon, Japanese persimmon, kaki, date-plum: its genus name, Diospyros, means “wheat of Zeus” or “food of the gods” in Greek. In winter, when its leaves have fallen, its bright orange fruits remain suspended from the bare branches like lanterns—a sight worth planting it for alone.
Characteristics:
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Two-season spectacle: blazing orange to red foliage in autumn, followed by fruit suspended from the bare branches in winter.
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Medium-sized tree: 6 to 10 metres, deciduous, with a spreading, elegant shape.
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Sweet fruits: fleshy orange fruits, harvested late in the season when the orchard has emptied.
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Hardy and easy to grow: it withstands cold well and requires little care once established.
Good to know about astringency:
- Many persimmon varieties are astringent until fully soft: eaten too early, they leave a very unpleasant rough sensation in the mouth. Wait until the fruit is as soft as a pouch, almost translucent.
- Tip: one night in the freezer, or placing the fruit next to ripe apples in a sealed bag, significantly speeds up the disappearance of astringency.
Sowing advice:
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Position: sunny and sheltered from cold winds.
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Soil: deep, moist, well-drained and preferably neutral. It does not tolerate very chalky soils or stagnant moisture well. Adding compost at planting supports its growth.
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Method: 1 to 3 months of cold stratification is recommended (a moist mixture in the refrigerator). Then sow in a pot in spring, at 20–25 °C, in a light, well-drained growing medium. Germination in 4 to 8 weeks. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant into the ground after the last frosts, in a sunny position, allowing 4 to 5 metres of space.
- It also grows very well as a bonsai, where its miniature fruits make a real impression—see our guide creating a bonsai from a seed.
Care advice:
- Water regularly during the first few years, then less frequently: persimmon tolerates drought once it is well rooted.
- Minimal pruning in late winter: it fruits on one-year-old wood, and overly severe pruning compromises the harvest.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest in late autumn, after the leaves have fallen, cutting the fruit with a piece of stem attached. Then leave it to ripen at room temperature until it becomes soft.
Beneficial combinations:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its late-season fruits, often partly left on the tree, feed blackbirds, thrushes and warblers in the heart of winter—a rare resource at that time of year.
- Its discreet spring flowering is visited by bees, and its abundant leaf litter nourishes soil life.
Uses:
- Eat fresh with a spoon when fully soft, dry them Japanese-style (hoshigaki), or turn them into jam, jelly or fruit paste. The tree is also highly ornamental.
Symbolism:
The persimmon tree symbolises wisdom, patience and prosperity in many Asian cultures. It is often planted near homes for its longevity and the generosity of its fruit, which arrives when everything else has finished producing.
Harvesting your own seeds:
Remove the seeds from a fully ripe fruit, clean off all the pulp, dry them for a few days, then store them in a cool place until winter stratification. See how to store your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, tested for their germination rate, carefully sorted and packaged, with no chemical treatment. Our conviction: to give gardeners back the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
Orange lanterns on bare branches in the heart of winter.
