Fruit · Ebenaceae
When to plant persimmons
Holds its fruit on bare branches into winter, which makes it one of the few genuinely ornamental fruit trees in the cold months. Astringent varieties need frost or full softening before they are edible.
First worthwhile crop
Year 4
After planting, not after sowing.
Hardy in USDA zones
7a to 10a
Winter cold sets the limit here, not the calendar.
Frost tolerance
Hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Nothing about a standing crop is sown to a calendar. Once planted, persimmons stay in the ground for years, so the question is not when to sow but whether your winter is survivable and your planting window is open. Both answers come from your frost dates.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 4 after planting.
- Needs roughly 200 chill hours below 7.2°C (45°F)45°F (7.2°C) over winter to set fruit, which rules out the warmest climates.
- Hardy in USDA zones 7a–10a.
Getting the timing right
Plant dormant. Fruit is picked late, often after leaf fall, and the astringent types are left until they are almost jelly-soft before eating.
Classified as hardy.