What it is
Persimmon (Diospyros species) is in the Ebenaceae family. American persimmon is a tough native; Asian types give bigger fruit. Astringent until fully soft-ripe.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it low once established, and give it tolerant soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–7.5. Space plants about 20 ft apart. Expect roughly 3–5 yr to bear. Hardy tree.
How it's used
Persimmon is used: fresh (fully ripe), dried, baked.
🔎 How to identify it
- Oval glossy leaves
- Small bell flowers
- Orange fruit clinging after leaf-drop
Edibility
How to grow & propagate persimmon
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate persimmon
Native persimmon grows from seed (cold-stratified over winter) but seedlings are variable, so named varieties are grafted. Established trees also throw up root suckers you can dig and transplant. You'll need a male and a female tree for fruit.
Growing persimmon in Texas
Give it full sun and tolerant soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
Because it's a perennial, the work is mostly up front. Get it sited and established and it comes back on its own year after year — one of the best returns on effort in the whole garden.
Once it's rooted in, this is a low-water plant — overwatering does more harm than drought here. Water deeply to establish, then back off and let it prove how tough it is.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly 3–5 yr to bear before you're harvesting. Let fruit ripen on the plant where you can — it's where the sugars finish — and pick gently to avoid bruising what you don't eat right away. The part you're after: ripe fruit.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.