Diospyros lotus originates in the Caucasus region. This region has very specific climate with warm summers and frosty, but short winters. Winter temperatures drop usually for a very short time to -15 and -20°C.
Diospyrus lotus is used in almost every subtropical country as a perfect rootstock; it is even better rootstock for warmer climates than Diospyrus kaki. The most typical characteristic of this persimmon is extremely vigorous growth and longer vegetation period than Diospyros virginiana; it starts shooting 3 weeks earlier and goes dormant 2-3 weeks later. The same cultivars grafted on D. virginiana ripen and have excellent flavor, whereas the fruits on D. lotus rootstock don’t ripen and its fruit is very bitter.
D. lotus fruit is smaller than other persimmons with almost no pulp and lots of seeds. It is usually cultivated only for seeds that are sown and after germinating used as rootstocks in subtropical countries. Trees grafted on D. lotus can be successfully cultivated in warmest areas of Morava and Polabí the sum of vegetation warmth exceeding 2800°C. It can also be used as a rootstock for almost any cultivar that will be grown in greenhouses or indoors. Almost all varieties can be grafted on D. kaki very easily, except for the CFNA subgroup and therefore a special graft (from VFNA, VFA or CFA subgroup) between both of these persimmons must be used.
