Persimmons here in the PNW do not require spraying, but you may be in another region that has other diseases. Persimmon fruit are subject to predation by birds and squirrels, just like other tree fruits.

The main thing is, do you like to eat persimmons? Even if not, they are a nice ornamental; some local trees have lost their leaves, leaving the orange fruits hanging like ornaments.

zone 8 is pretty good for oriental persimmon, i am in zone6b/7a and have been growing them for a long time. No maintenance, no spraying. If you want to keep them small you have to prune them the way you want them to grow.

Thanks for the replies guys. The only persimmon I tried made me pucker up. That is when I was a kid. There has been a lot of talk about persimmons here recently. Think I going to order some.

You are in zone 8 so there are a lot varieties that do not mess-up your mouth and there are varieties that are astringent but in your area you have plenty of time for them to ripened on the tree and lose their pucker power.

what does it take to grow persimmons?

Very Little care compared to just about any other fruit tree out there, my "sweet when firm ' persimmon tree is 15 YO now, 14' tall and that one tree out-produces the apples, pears, peaches, & cherries combined. It's a good sweet tropical taste fruit about the size of a medium/small tomato, halloween orange. Hard to describe the taste and possibly a bit acquired. The varmints ignore them until they turn into a sugary mush, typically long after the leaves have dropped. I like em' still firm and they'll keep into the new year if refridged and picked while deep orange and firm before a hard freeze hits. I never spray and pruning is almost non existent. When picking watch for tiny spiders hiding under the bud leaf, not a nice surprise for the family giveaways ;-)