Not harvesting ‘Fuyu’ persimmons after frost damage in autumn has no negative effects on tree storage reserves and growth in the subsequent season

• Fruit dry weight of persimmon stopped to increase after frost damage in November.
• Carbohydrates, nitrogen, and potassium in a fruit did not increase after the frost.
• Not harvesting fruits did not affect storage reserves in dormant shoot.
• Damaged fruits can be left on the tree without risk to the subsequent production.

Some persimmon growers do not harvest fruits even when late maturing ‘Fuyu’ (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) is damaged with withering of most leaves by a sudden frost. This experiment was conducted to determine the influence of no harvest after frost on storage reserves and tree development the next season. Autumn frost firstly damaged leaves and fruits on 2 November 2012 and 12 November 2013. Some trees were harvested on 12 November 2012 and 15 November 2013, whereas the others were left unharvested. In the unharvested trees, fruit dry weight and contents of soluble sugars, starch, nitrogen, and potassium stopped to increase after the frost damage. There were no significant differences in carbohydrates and the inorganic nutrients in dormant shoots between harvested and unharvested trees. Unharvested trees were not adversely affected in the shoot mortality during winter, number of flower buds as well as the growth of shoots, leaves, and fruits the next season.