Kaki tree - an ebony tree native to Japan and China - is a very old cultivated plant. Diospyros kaki grows up to 15 meters high, has elongated oval leaves, yellowish to white, monoecious flowers and apple-sized fruits.
How to grow persimmon plants in Central Europe?
Kaki plants prefer sunny locations and neutral to loamy soil. In Central European wine-growing regions they can be planted outdoors, but they are not completely frost-resistant and should be cultivated in containers for the first few years.
The persimmon tree is cultivated as a useful but also as an ornamental and container plant. Its large, shiny leaves turn an intense yellow to orange-red in autumn. The berry fruit of the persimmon tree is also called persimmon, Chinese persimmon, and Japanese persimmon. The fruits are yellow to orange and (when fully ripe) very juicy and sweet. When unripe they contain bitter tannins. One cultivated form is the Sharon fruit, which comes from Israel and is smaller and contains no bitter tannins.
Are persimmon trees suitable for planting outdoors?
As a fruit tree, the persimmon is cultivated in many tropical and subtropical areas. The persimmon trees are not sufficiently frost-resistant for the Central European climate, but cultivation is also possible in Germany in the mild-winter wine-growing regions. It is recommended to keep the persimmons in pots for the first 2-3 years and only plant the older plants in the garden.
What site and soil conditions are required?
The persimmon trees should be kept outside as sunny as possible during the warm season. The plants can cope well with occasional night frosts as long as they can warm up again during the day. The persimmon tree in the pot should be kept dark and frost-free over the winter. The persimmon tree thrives on neutral and loamy soil. A little horn shavings (€52.00 at Amazon) in the planting hole helps the tree get off to a good start.
Propagation
The persimmons can be propagated generatively and vegetatively. There are hardly any seeds on the commercially available fruits, so you would have to buy them to sow. The finished, refined plants from specialist retailers are more useful for yield. Numerous varieties with different frost resistance and on weak or strong-growing rootstocks are offered on the Internet.
Flowering and harvest time
The monoecious persimmon tree blooms in May and June. The decorative golden yellow flowers consist of four sepals; the fruit later develops from the calyx. The fruits ripen in late autumn between October and November on the now leafless tree.
Tips & Tricks
The persimmon plant can be cultivated as a pot plant, on a trellis or as a half or standard stem.
