I am in 7a in VA and my persimmon (fuyu) made it through both polar vortex events a few years ago. No damage at all. It killed my cold hardy figs to the ground, but they have grown back up. My fuyu is grafted on american persimmon stock, that gives it a bit more sturdiness (mostly to disease and soil tolerance, but maybe to cold as well). I think the big thing is that the weather has to cooperate - and be cold. If there is a multi-day(week long) warm up that tricks the plants into thinking spring, and the sap starts flowing and buds start then the cold comes back, you'll get massive die back - even on cold hardy trees.

This winter has been very odd for us. Average day time temperature is in the 40s and night time is around 25-30. And guess what? I see azaleas and forsythias partially blooming already. So I guess they will experience massive dieback or entire death in the plant:(

anyways back on topic, are grafted persimmons better than ungrafted ones? I heard that ungrafted ones live longer.

I think an ungrafted is better if all conditions are ideal. The grafting onto American persimmon, i know overcomes the poor performance in clay soil (which mine is). On native roots, supposedly, the Asian variety performs poorly. That said, graft incompatibility isn't something I've heard of in persimmons - which causes poor performance or premature death of the scion. I do tinker in citrus grafting, and there are plenty of poor or incompatible root stocks.

As for dieback with mid twenties, shouldn't be a problem. When it gets to the low teens or single digits after warm period... that causes loss. You may lose some buds and tips, but probably not.. just the open blooms at 25-30.

Hmm I see.. so do you get a lot of fruit on yours? If so, how are they? Do they have a lot of inedible seeds in them?

I know mid 20s is the warmer side. My zone 7 is supposed to really be getting to the 10s or lower in nighttime winter but hasn't happened yet

My tree is about 6 years old - 4 in ground for me... 2 year old from nursery. Been setting fruiting for the last 2 years - last year, I got 5 (tree rats got 4 before I caged the fruit) and some number got dropped or eaten before I really tracked them . Prior to the last 2 years, flowers set and fruit dropped. My tree is about 7 feet (diameter and height). I'd think I get 10-15 this year.

Seed formation... one fruit had twi seeds, the rest did not. I also have a Hayachi - 2 years with me, 2 years from nursery which had one fruit - had 5 seeds.

Oh I see. Do they taste as good as the store bought ones?

They are very good. More sweet than from the store. Especially if you get them ripe off the tree - if you can keep birds, squirrels, raccoons, and other pests away. I had to cage the fruit in hardwire (.5 mesh).

I'd say it's worth growing with a fair chance that you'll get a number of productive years out of the tree, though as above, squirrels and other animals can present a challenge for growing non-astringent persimmon varieties in certain areas.

Oh nice! I am actually thinking of getting a ichikikei jiro persimmon since I don't want a tree that big and supposedly its hardier as well. The squirrels eating the fruits... eh I guess I'll get a dog in the future to guard it or somethin

Creekweb, you seemed to imply that squirrels and other animals mostly leave astringent persimmons alone, presumably until they're at least far enough along to dehydrate or finish ripening off the tree. Am I reading into your comment correctly?

Heruga and all, I have a non-astringent (Wase Fuyu) persimmon that I planted here in zone 7 NC in 2013, probably two years from grafting and about 2-3' tall when I planted it, and without any special care it produced its first fruits, about 5, in 2015 and about 40 last year (2016). It's still not a very big tree, probably about the size of Fruity Paw's tree.