Doctorbrady
Well-Known Member
Brush has been asking me about collecting some "improved" variety persimmon scions. I was able to find a good source a few years back, and collected a large number of scion wood at that time. I have grafted hundreds of trees with those scions as well as scions taken from the growth of the originals. Unfortunately, my trees are scattered across 180 acres, and collecting a large variety takes some effort. Also, young growth from newly established scions is not nearly as vigorous as "sucker growth" from larger trees. So after a brief call to my original source, we were ready to go.
We met at the orchard yesterday morning and collected a couple of gallon ziplocks full of grafting wood. There were over 20 varieties, but we left a few off since we had more than we could use. It was nice being able to be selective with so many choices. Also, I have at least one of each of the varieties already growing on my place.
The curator gave us a catalog of the plantings with each tree clearly mapped out. As I got to thumbing through the book I was pleasantly surprised to see Chinese Che fruit and a variety of chestnuts and chinkapins listed as well. We loaded up our initial scions, and went back to speak with the curator.
You can imagine our surprise when he told us that he had a few varieties of Ozark chinkapin trees grafted onto Chinese chestnuts, and would allow us to collect some scion wood. I also took a few Che fruit scions, even though I had just ordered some from England's Orchard. For the cost of a small donation, Brush and I walked away with a treasure trove of grafting material.
Unfortunately, the availability of much of the scion material is limited, so the resource has to remain a secret for now. However, if all goes well, we should have scion wood from our own trees available to other forum members in a couple of years.
We met at the orchard yesterday morning and collected a couple of gallon ziplocks full of grafting wood. There were over 20 varieties, but we left a few off since we had more than we could use. It was nice being able to be selective with so many choices. Also, I have at least one of each of the varieties already growing on my place.
The curator gave us a catalog of the plantings with each tree clearly mapped out. As I got to thumbing through the book I was pleasantly surprised to see Chinese Che fruit and a variety of chestnuts and chinkapins listed as well. We loaded up our initial scions, and went back to speak with the curator.
You can imagine our surprise when he told us that he had a few varieties of Ozark chinkapin trees grafted onto Chinese chestnuts, and would allow us to collect some scion wood. I also took a few Che fruit scions, even though I had just ordered some from England's Orchard. For the cost of a small donation, Brush and I walked away with a treasure trove of grafting material.
Unfortunately, the availability of much of the scion material is limited, so the resource has to remain a secret for now. However, if all goes well, we should have scion wood from our own trees available to other forum members in a couple of years.
