Gast Growing Trees Fuyu Persimmon Tree Shine your way!

Don’t Wait 9 Years for Persimmons

Pick as soon as your 1st year
All Persimmon Trees are NOT created equal. Many nurseries grow persimmons from seed. These trees will look good but will take 6-9 years to start fruiting. Even worse, they will likely cross-pollinate with other varieties, giving you a “Mutt”, not a true Fuyu. So their customers can wait up to 9 years to discover they have bad tasting fruit.

We take cuttings from a Fuyu mother tree, proven to make great tasting fruit. We graft that on to a hardy rootstock. The result: you get a tree that thinks it’s mature and will start producing almost immediately. You’re also ensured that you’ll get great tasting fruit just like the mother tree. Our grafting process has been proven for hundreds of years. It’s all natural, non-GMO and is used for most commercial persimmon orchards. It is difficult and time consuming to graft persimmons, which is why many nurseries don’t do it. But the difference for you is huge.

Amazing Flavor and Long Shelf Life
These Fuyu persimmons are sweet and non-astringent. You won’t have to set them out for weeks, waiting for them to ripen. You can eat them right off the tree, like a sweet apple. Fuyu is the most popular persimmon in the world, accounting for 80% of the market. A mature Persimmon tree can produce over 300 lbs of fruit. Your Persimmons will typically start to ripen in September and can stay on the tree through the end of the year. Fuyu can then store for several months.

One of the Easiest Fruit Trees to Plant
This tree is naturally pest and disease resistant. It can tolerate a wide variety of soils and climates. Once established, it is drought tolerant. In fact, it has a long tap root that searches out its own water source. It’s self-pollinating, which means it can fruit all by itself. However, it will produce more fruit with a second Fuyu to cross-pollinate with.

Some nurseries advertise a tall height, then chop 1/3rd off. This reduces their shipping cost but leaves you with a stick that is shorter than you paid for. We prune your tree throughout its life… not just before shipping. This gives you more branches lower on the tree. Resulting in: Quicker production…More fruit at a safe picking height… and more fruit over the life of your tree.

Order Now
Enjoy a lifetime of sweet delicious fruit. Order your Fuyu Persimmon trees today, while they’re still available.

Planting & Care

The Fuyu Persimmon tree (or Diospyros kaki ??Fuyu??) is a fruit bearing tree native to the Orient. It has been nicknamed ??divine fruit,?? ??God??s pear,?? or ??Nettle tree?? from the Greeks believing this tree to have been mentioned by Homer in The Odyssey. There are many different varieties of persimmon trees but the one thing they share in common more than anything is the sour fruit if picked prematurely. When this fruit is fully ripened, it is a delectable treat. The Fuyu is a self pollinating tree but is known to give a much larger fruit yield by having two near one another. The trees are quite tolerant to zones 7 through 11, require very little care and are very ornamental with their red/orange fall foliage. Once fully established and mature, a single tree can produce up to 300 lbs. of fruit!

Choosing a location: Persimmons are widely adaptable when it comes to their soil types. Once they??ve established, they??re incredibly drought resistant as well. Try to select a location where the persimmon will receive full to partial sun and water will not collect or have trouble completely draining. Try to avoid areas prone to heavy winds.

Planting directions (in ground):
1) Make your hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep.
2) Arrange your Fuyu 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 level. The soil will settle after you??ve planted.
3) Water the planting site generously so the soil can fully settle and then spread a 2 inch layer of mulch around to preserve moisture as well as combat competing weeds that may try to grow nearby.
4) You may want to utilize stakes for proper support as the tree is acclimating and getting settled.

Planting directions (potted):
1) Water the tree??s root ball thoroughly before transplanting. This should help reduce the risk of shock.
2) 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 and with plenty of space for several years of growth.
3) Line the bottom of the pot with a couple inches of gravel to ensure there will always be proper drainage, and then cover with a good layer of potting soil.
4) Comb your hands along the edge of the root ball to gently free up the roots.
5) 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.
6) 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.

Watering: Newly ground planted Fuyu Persimmons will require a DEEP watering once weekly typically from May to October. Place a garden hose on a slow trickle next to the base of the tree and leave it there for about 20 minutes minutes. This will allow a deep penetration of moisture to a deeper depth. Potted persimmons will need to be monitored to determine how often to add more water. During the hot season, they may need to be watered every day whereas once every several days in the cooler climates. Since you are using a pot that the tree will be living in for some time, try lifting it. If the tree is heavy then chances are that there is still an adequate amount of moisture to the soil. If it??s light, give it some water.

Pruning: Allow at least one full year of growth before attempting to thin the tree out at all. When the time does come to prune, your primary focus is to make sure that there is proper light penetration as well as air circulation. In the summer, when new growth is about 4 inches long, choose 6 to 8 shoots for the tree??s main scaffolding. Try to think of the appearance as you would on the face of a wall clock allowing lots of space for the branching. The lowest of the branches should be about 28-32 inches from the ground . Remove all other branches/shoots at the same time as your pruning. The following winter, cut back about a third of the length of the scaffolding branches. Make these cuts just past outward facing buds on the branch. During dormancy, cut off any dead or damaged branches to maintain health.

Fertilizing: Fertilize your persimmon with an organic fertilizer formula, such as 10-10-10, when you observe fresh growth beginning on the tree. This is usually in the late winter and early spring seasons. The tree will need the highest amount of nutrients when it is starting to push out new growth. Fertilizing is also beneficial to the fruiting process as the nutrients can bolster energy to the tree. The easiest way to determine exactly how much fertilizer to use is by measuring the trunk of the persimmon. Every one inch of diameter will require 1 pound of fertilizer.

FAQs

Do you need 2 persimmon trees to produce fruit?

No, one persimmon is self fertile on its own. However, persimmons will greatly benefit from having other persimmons nearby to boost pollination.

Where do persimmon trees grow best?

Persimmon trees grow best in Zones 7-11 with partial to full sun or 6-8 hours of sun daily. They do well in rich soil that??s evenly moist and not overly wet.

How long does it take a persimmon tree to bear fruit?

Fruiting depends on many factors like the environment, pollinators and nutrients, not just age. Younger trees have the ability to produce fruit around 5 years of age, and as the tree grows you can expect more regular and larger harvests, provided that the needs of the tree are met.

Can you eat the fruit of a persimmon tree?

Yes! For the Fuyu Persimmon, pick them when the skin turns an orange color and it feels firm. You can eat directly off the tree, but the taste might be very astringent, so we recommend picking your fruit and leaving it in a sunny window to let it ripen and bring the sweetness out.