Persimmon Growing Guide: Planting, Care & Harvest

Nettle Caterpillars

MajorPest

From summer into autumn they cluster on leaf undersides and graze the tissue so the leaves turn translucent white. Larger larvae riddle the leaves with holes and strip the branches bare.

Powdery Mildew

MajorDisease

White patches appear scattered on the upper leaf surface at first, then the whole leaf is coated in a white powder. Leaves later yellow, brown and die back, and reduced photosynthesis cuts growth and yield.

Stink Bugs

MajorPest

Small feeding punctures on fruit become sunken or turn spongy and discolored. On legumes the pods fail to fill, and fruit drop and deformity increase.

Fruit Borers

MajorPest

Small entry holes with gummy exudate and frass appear on the fruit surface. On new shoots the tips wilt and die back and the inside is hollowed out.

Anthracnose

MajorDisease

Light brown to dark brown round lesions with sharp margins form on leaves and fruit, slightly sunken in the center. In wet weather salmon-pink slimy spore masses ooze out on the lesions.

Fruit Drop Disease

MajorDisease

Scale Insects

CommonPest

Small white or brown shell-like insects dot the shoots and leaves. The plant loses vigor and honeydew-fed sooty mold blackens the shoots and foliage.

Black Spot

CommonDisease

On roses, dark brown lesions with radiating edges form on the leaves, which yellow around them and drop. On pear, sooty black lesions appear on leaves, fruit and the calyx of young fruit, deforming the fruit.

Peach Leaf Curl

CommonDisease

New leaves thicken and pucker into waves and turn red to pale pink. They later bloom with a white powder, brown, and drop, weakening the tree.

Sooty Mold

CommonDisease

A thin black sooty mold spreads over the upper leaf surface, shoots and fruit. It does not invade the tissue itself, but it blocks photosynthesis and badly spoils appearance.

Late Blight

Disease

Dark green water-soaked lesions appear on the leaves and expand quickly into brown dead tissue. White mold forms on the underside and at the lesion edge, and dark brown lesions spread to stems and fruit.

Citrus Melanose

Disease

Tiny dark brown specks are scattered over fruit and leaves, sometimes clustering into tear-streaks or a sandpaper texture. Heavy infection makes the rind rough and badly cuts appearance value.

Crown Gall

Disease

Irregular galls form at the crown and on the roots, gradually enlarging and turning woody. They block the flow of water and nutrients, so the plant loses vigor and may die.

Root-knot Nematode

Pest

The plant wilts in the daytime and does not recover with feeding or watering. Pull it up and the roots carry beaded chains of galls of varying size with few fine roots.

Gray Mold

Disease

Water-soaked brown lesions form on flowers, fruit and leaves, densely covered by a fuzzy gray mold. Fruit rots and drops, and decay continues in storage after harvest.

Leaf Spot

Disease

Small round brown to gray-white lesions appear on the lower leaves, the centers turning gray with tiny black specks. As they multiply the leaf yellows and drops early.