A Detailed Guide to Growing Potted Persimmon Trees

The persimmon tree has a graceful shape and bright-colored fruit, and in late autumn the whole tree turns red with leaves, which is even more gorgeous and moving, making it highly ornamental. It can be grown in pots for viewing or used to make bonsai, placed in courtyards, balconies, terraces and other places. So, how do you grow a potted persimmon tree?

Persimmon tree growing methods

In fact, the growing methods for persimmon trees are very simple. They are both drought-tolerant and moisture-tolerant. Growing them at home is effortless. But if they grow in a warm, sunny environment, they will be even healthier.

Planting time: The best planting time for persimmon trees is after leaf fall in autumn and before everything sprouts in spring. When planting, pay attention to the spacing; do not plant too densely, to prevent it from affecting flowering and fruiting.

Branch pruning: The best time for pruning is after leaf fall. Dry, excessively branched, and sparse-noded parts can be pruned back as appropriate. According to its environment, prune it into a suitable tree shape.

Watering management: The soil moisture content for growing persimmon trees is best kept at around 35%; this moisture content can allow the persimmon tree to reach its optimal growth state.

How to make a persimmon tree bonsai

Seedlings of Date Plum (Diospyros lotus), wild persimmon, and oil persimmon can be used as rootstock, and persimmon tree varieties with high ornamental value such as Mopan persimmon, Fire persimmon, Pomegranate persimmon, and Luofu persimmon can be used as scions, grafted in spring by cleft grafting or cut grafting. You can also dig up Date Plum (Diospyros lotus) tree stumps that have grown for many years and are quaint and vigorous in the wild after leaf fall in autumn and before sprouting in spring; after they survive, they are “cultivated for a year”, and grafting is carried out in the spring of the second year.