Growing Persimmon

Persimmon seeds need a long cold period to break dormancy and germinate. I would plant the seed in a pot and leave it outdoors for the winter but keep it watered. You can also duplicate this in the fridge. Place the pot inside a plastic baggie and seal it. Keep it in the fridge (not the freezer) for at least 90 days. Bring it out in the warmth and wait a month or two for germination. If it still doesn't germinate throw it back in the fridge for another 3 or 4 months then repeat the warm period process. Many deciduous trees and shrubs require multiple cold/warm periods so hope you are patient.

I think this must be right. I lived in Gifu in Japan for 2 years and this is one of the main persimmon or kaki (italian and japanese!) or sharon fruit growing regions over there. There are endless orchards that drip with the fruit and still have beautiful dots of orange peeking through the snow in the winter. It gets very cold in this central region of Japan and I had to dig my car out of snow drifts every day for a good couple of weeks... probably not like a Russian winter but pretty chilly all the same.

In Japan they start eating persimmon earlier than we normally would so they are sometimes served quite hard rather than leaving them to go a bit soft first. I hope you are successful in your endeavours Chrispook!