Family-Owned and Operated Since 1978
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Cold Hardy (10°)-(5°)
Grafted Yes, on Native American Persimmon 'Diospyros virginiana"
Growing Zone 6A - 9BSmith’s Best Persimmon Tree – Astringent Kaki Persimmon
Smith’s Best (Giboshi) persimmon tree is a dwarf, compact persimmon that was found growing in J.Russell Smith’s homestead in Front Royal, Virginia. Mr. Smith wrote “Tree Crops: A Permanent Agriculture†and was an economist, geographer who saw that trees were important for food and soil preservation. He cultivated many varieties of persimmons and this one is his best! Small acorn shaped fruit, custard-like texture sweet and spicy. Somewhat self-fertile, but bears better with a pollinator. Use the Chocolate Persimmon as a pollinator for heavier crops. Fruit ripens in November.
| Cold Hardy | (10°)-(5°) |
|---|---|
| Container Plant | No |
| Grafted | Yes, on Native American Persimmon 'Diospyros virginiana" |
| Growing Zone | 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B |
| Mature Height | 8-10FT |
| Mature Width | 6-8FT |
| Pollinator | Self Fertile (Fruits better with Chocolate Persimmon) |
| Spacing | 6-8FT |
| Sunlight | Full |
Persimmons are one of the loveliest trees to be found. They have smooth, gray to tan bark, and broad, leathery, jade-green leaves (2-3 inches wide and 4-6 inches long). The large varieties average 25 to 30 feet at maturity, a good size for lining driveways and paths, or as a specimen or accent tree.
The small ones are usually very heavy bearers, and are great in small groups in the shrubbery border, with low annuals or ground-cover beneath them. All persimmons have spectacular fall colors — bright yellows to clear oranges, light pinks to fire-engine reds — and the whole show happens just as the fruit colors up!
Persimmon fruits look like translucent orange orbs, hanging amongst leathery green foliage. They are still something of a rarity in this country, but those in the know agree there is no more beautiful sight than a group of golden persimmons ripening to a sweet perfection on a sunny windowsill. The smooth, custard-textured flesh closely resembles sweet bananas and mangos. Enjoy persimmons fresh in fruit salads or sliced and served with cheese and wine, They are wonderful for cooking used as a sweetener in  sauces and marinades. Think of them like bananas when you bake them in breads, pies and puddings. We have found the astringents to be the best for drying, Dried, they taste like maple syrup.
View Our Full Persimmon Trees Planting and Growing Guide
The trees, very hardy and well adapted to our area, are known to live upwards of 75 years. They require little attention once established and often reward high nitrogen feeding by dropping their fruit.
Over 500 varieties have been developed throughout the Orient, with fruit ranging from small plum-sized to football-sized, with just as many flavors and textures. We’ve narrowed it down to what we feel are the very best varieties. All the persimmons we offer have been grown in university test orchards in Northern and Central Florida, and have proven to be solid, consistent bearers.
There are two basic types of persimmon fruit — astringent and non-astringent, or puckered versus non-puckered. You can be easily fooled into eating an astringent persimmon, because the astringent varieties turn orange and look ripe long before they really are. They should be eaten only when completely jelly soft to the touch. Non-astringent persimmons may be eaten while still firm and crisp. As a group, the astringent varieties are sweeter, richer, and juicier, while the non-astringent types are crispy, mellower and more sugarcane or cantaloupe-flavored.
Dried Persimmon Recipe
1. Don’t wait until your Astringent persimmons are ripe (mushy). For less mess in the dehydrator, choose persimmons that are slightly soft. You can also dehydrate Non-astringent persimmons with these same instructions.
2. Wash the persimmons and cut the “cap†off the top. Slice the persimmons 1/4″ – 3/8″ thick. You don’t have to peel them – the peel is yummy too!
3. Place your persimmon slices on your dehydrator trays. Fill the trays but don’t overlap the persimmon slices.
4. Stack the trays in the dehydrator. Turn it on and set the dehydrator to 155 F.
5. Check every 8-12 hours and turn the persimmons (flip them over) when you do.
It should take 24 hours to dehydrate a full batch of persimmons (5 trays full). Once completely cooled, place dried persimmons in a zipped freezer bag and put in the refrigerator or freezer for long term storage. Dried persimmons are best when eaten at room temperature.
We’re so sorry… but due to agricultural restrictions we cannot ship any plants outside of the United States, or to the states of California, Hawaii and Alaska. Also, citrus trees cannot be shipped outside of the state of Florida.
Unpacking Your Plants Guide:  Prior to receiving our plants, please click this link to read our Unpacking Your Plants Guide to get to know the steps to keeping your plant healthy after receiving it.
We do NOT ship bare root:  Our trees are shipped in the same exact containers they are grown in, for the most healthy transition. The plants are watered well before they are packed and wrapped in a shipping bag to ensure they stay moist during transit. It’s as if you came and picked them up right from our nursery yourself!
Why do we not offer free shipping? At Just Fruits, we price all of our plants online exactly as we do in the nursery. Therefore, the shipping cost is simply what it costs for us to get your order from the nursery to you. Many competitors may increase the plants’ prices in order to hide shipping costs… we do not do that. We want our customers to see exactly what the plant costs are, separate from what the shipping costs are. That way if you decided to come visit the nursery to pick up your plants instead, you would know how much you save in shipping.
Weather Watching:  We now ship all year round! However, we do watch for extreme weather. If there is extremely cold or hot weather expected around your shipment date and on your path of shipment, we will contact you and notify you that we plan to hold the shipment for the next possible shipping date with better conditions. If you ask us to still ship it, through the conditions, we will not be responsible for any damage caused to the plant & UPS will not refund any claims. We love our plants, and do not want to see them die, so we would rather wait until it’s the right time to ship it, than risk losing a plant in transit.
Autumn months bring their own bounty from fruitscapes, and today we’re learning all about persimmons, including growing and eating your own. They bear fruit just in time for Halloween, through the Christmas season, making them great additions to holiday decorations. Check out this partnership blog post showcasing their decorative possibilities. But keep in mind, one […]
