Puzzled by persimmons? Never fear
Autumn in Southern California is not known for its beauty. Along the East Coast, the brilliant fall colors make the hills look like they are on fire. Here, the hills are actually on fire.
Most fruit trees have finished producing by the end of October, and citrus doesn’t really come until later in the winter. The persimmon tree can fill this gap with its attractive form and colorful fruit.
Persimmons are easy to grow here. They tolerate our mediocre soil and can put up with wet roots for a limited time. They don’t require a lot of water and can take the heat. They don’t like sub-zero temperatures, but that’s not a concern here.
The persimmon tree changes appearance throughout the growing season. In the early spring, the new leaves are fuzzy, pale green and almost translucent. They become dark green and leathery by early summer. The fruit remains green throughout the summer, then turns orange mid-fall. They will remain on the tree long after all the leaves have dropped and must be clipped off for harvest.
Most persimmons are self-fertile, but they will develop seeds if cross-pollinated.
The most commonly grown persimmons are Fuyu and Hachiya. American persimmons are harder to find, but they perform reasonably well here and produce a smaller fruit.
Fuyu persimmons are
Many varieties of persimmons are easy to grow in Southern California, like Fuyu and Hachiya, since they do fine with mediocre soil, hot weather and limited water.
round, flat and firm when ripe. They are OK for fresh eating but are best when sliced and dried. I find them addictive!
Hachiyas are soft when ripe, larger than Fuyu and lantern-shaped. They
are horribly astringent when not completely ripe. (Astringency can be described as “mouth-puckering,” since it makes you feel like your entire face wants to retract into your mouth.) They can be harvested when still firm, then allowed to ripen indoors. Place them upsidedown on the counter to avoid bruising. Once they are completely soft and ripe, the pulp will have the unappetizing texture of snot. They can be peeled and the pulp run through a food mill to remove any seeds, then used in recipes or frozen for later use. Any recipe that calls for persimmon pulp requires Hachiya persimmons.
They can be dried as well, but their high moisture content and larger size can make this tricky. Peel the fruit, leaving the stem end intact, and dry in the oven or dehydrator. We tried the traditional method of hanging them and ended up with something that looked like shrunken heads and tasted like fermented persimmons.
Persimmon trees can be superproductive when fully mature. One of my husband’s co-workers had a full-grown Hachiya that gave him hundreds of persimmons. Jim loves persimmon cookies, so he offered to take the fruit. He came home with about 150 pounds of persimmons. We froze the pulp and had enough to last us two years. Surprisingly, he still really likes persimmon cookies.
Have questions? Email gardening@scng.com. For more master gardening resources, visit ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG for Riverside County; mgsb.ucanr.edu for San Bernardino County; celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program for Los Angeles County; and mgorange.ucanr.edu for Orange County.