American Persimmon Tree

Get a Fall Harvest in Your Backyard!

Harvest your very own fresh, sweet persimmons at home with the Yates American Persimmon Tree! A variety of American Persimmon Tree native to Indiana, you’ll get a consistent harvest of rich, delicious fruit with just one self-pollinating tree.

This unique fruit tree is low-maintenance and easy-growing, thanks to both cold- and heat-tolerance and adaptability to any soil type. In spring, you’ll see white blossoms emerge on your Persimmon Tree, followed by the Persimmon’s signature bright fruit in summer. The deep-orange fruits ripen in autumn – and they’re ready to eat when they fall off the tree.

Ripe Persimmons have all the flavors of fall – rich, sweet and apricot-like. They’re delicious when eaten fresh or baked into pies, cookies, bread or pudding – or used in savory salads, risottos and more.

For expert fruit growers and first-time gardeners alike, the easy-growing and consistently-producing American Persimmon is the perfect choice. Get your own American Persimmon Tree and start your backyard orchard today!

Planting & Care

1. Planting: Persimmons are quite adaptable to many different soil conditions but for the ideal growing conditions try and find a spot that will receive more full sun exposure with well-draining soil. Try to avoid areas where water has a tendency to pool. They aren’t too picky regarding their soil but do perform best in a pH range of 6.5 to 7.5.

After you have found an ideal location outside, make your hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep. Be sure you’re at least 12 feet from any structures. Arrange your tree in the hole at the same depth as it was in the shipping container/pot and begin to pack the soil around the roots until the soil is a little higher than ground level. The soil will settle after you’ve planted.

To plant in a pot, water the tree’s root ball thoroughly before transplanting. This should help reduce the risk of shock. Select a container that is three times the size of the root ball so it can be left undisturbed, will not require immediate re-potting. Line the bottom of the pot with a couple of inches of gravel to ensure there will always be proper drainage and then cover with a good layer of potting soil. Center the tree into the pot, spread the roots out a bit, and then fill in the remaining room with your potting mix. Tamp firmly but take care not to compact the soil or the root growth and water flow will be restricted.

Water generously and place the tree in a nice full sun spot where it will remain undisturbed for the growing season. Potted persimmons will need at least 8 hours of full sun exposure.

2. Watering: Newly planted trees will require deep watering. Persimmon trees have a taproot that can be difficult to water properly. The best thing to do is leave your garden hose on a slow trickle and place it next to the base of the tree. Leave it there for a good ten to twenty minutes so the water has a chance to properly penetrate the soil and get down to the taproot. Be sure to do this at least once a month and possibly twice monthly in the hotter seasons. Once they have developed for a few years, your natural rainfall should be sufficient in providing the tree water.

3. Fertilizing: As long as your American Persimmon has new growth measuring at least a foot, then there should be no need to fertilize the tree. If you do find the need to fertilize, try to avoid overdoing it on nitrogen. If the build-up has gone too far then it will cause an early fruit drop. The recommended approach is to fertilize in the late winter using about 5 to 10 pounds of compost to keep the tree growing well.

4. Pruning: Hold off on pruning your American Persimmon tree for the first couple of years. In the winter season of its third year, prune the tree into a modified central leader system and remove any suckers at the base.

5. Harvesting: Persimmons are typically ready for harvesting around September to December. You may need to use clippers to remove them, though the American Persimmon is a breed that will typically just drop the fruit when it has become fully ripened.