Wherever I go, if there are persimmons, I buy them. It is hard to describe their flavor; there's just something about them. While in Japan and South Korea this fall, persimmon season, the fruits were everywhere, and I ate a lot of them. However, I have yet to find one that beats a Maui persimmon. Each year, locals and off-island residents journey up Kula Road to buy fresh persimmons.

I like to eat persimmons when they're crunchy; others eat them when they're really ripe and puddinglike.

In Hawai'i, the Japanese persimmon Diospyros kaki, commonly known as kaki, is often grown in high-elevation areas (above 2,000 feet) such as Kula, Kamuela and Tantalus. But the sweet, orange fruit thrives equally well in cool, low-elevation areas such as Wahiawa, Kane'ohe and Manoa.

People here cultivate several varieties — hachiya, maru, hyakumu — but the most popular is fuyu. Its lack of astringency makes it ideal for home gardens.

Persimmons thrive in well- drained, sandy loam with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. Trees are grafted and should be spaced 15 to 20 feet apart. Depending on the variety, persimmon trees take three to five years to bear fruit. With proper care, a tree can live more than 60 years.

Apply a complete fertilizer such as 10-20-20 or 16-16-16 two to three times per year. Fertilize approximately 1 pound per every inch of trunk diameter annually. Prune and maintain the trees to avoid crowding of fruit, promote outward branch development, remove damaged or weak limbs, and minimize narrow limbs that provide inadequate branch support.

Mediterranean and oriental fruit flies attack persimmon trees in home gardens. To learn how to combat the insects, visit the Hawaii Areawide Fruit Fly Pest Management Program's Web site, www.fruitfly.hawaii .edu. Other persimmon pests include cercospora leaf spot, mealy bugs, anthracnose, thrips and mites.

Fruits are set in clusters and are ready for harvest from October to December. When green fuyu persimmons turn orange, they're ripe. Carefully harvest them with clippers, leaving the calyx and a small stem attached. Fuyu persimmons can be eaten when orange and firm. Astringent varieties, such as the acorn-shaped hachiya, need to be very ripe and soft or treated (by freezing or exposure to alcohol, carbon dioxide or ethylene), otherwise your mouth will pucker from the extreme tartness.

You can find Maui-grown persimmons at the farmers market at Kapi'olani Community College. It'll save you the cost of an interisland trip.

Jari Sugano is an extension agent with the University of Hawai'i-Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Reach her at suganoj@ctahr.hawaii.edu.