Persimmons...how do I love thee...let me count the ways.....

@Native Hunter , I know you're a big advocate of persimmons. I collected a bunch of persimmons from the John Hershey plantings in Downingtown, PA this fall and harvested the seeds. If you're interested, I can send you a bunch.

John W. Hershey – (paconservationheritage.org)

Thanks so much Rgrizzzz for that offer. I probably don’t need any seed, but I’m always looking for different scion wood since we have lots of native seedlings to topwork. If you have any good scion wood from them at some point in the future, I would like that.
 
Got a dozen persimmons ordered for next March. A couple grafted and 10 common seedlings. Watering trees this year kicked my tail, so that’s all I’m going to plant this-coming year, except for a couple of those funky dogwoods you put me on Native.
 
I went through this old thread and fixed all of the broken picture links.

Below is a pic of a small native persimmon grove I’ve been watching a couple of years. Today I was able to find female flowers on these so no topworking will be required.

PS - If anyone needs to see the difference between male and female flowers you can look back at Post #91 on page 5 and Post #155 on Page 8.

IMG_4017.jpeg
 
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So I ordered a couple grafted female persimmon trees from blue hill nursery, they are planted and only 18” tall and leafed out,

How many years will it be until I can expect persimmons?

Can I transplant them to a better location this fall after they go dormant?
 
So I ordered a couple grafted female persimmon trees from blue hill nursery, they are planted and only 18” tall and leafed out,

How many years will it be until I can expect persimmons?

Can I transplant them to a better location this fall after they go dormant?

I would recommend asking Blue Hill those questions via an email since you bought the trees from them.

The only ones I have ever dug up and moved to another location are sprouts near the base of native trees. I get a huge root wad of dirt when I do this, which you will not be able to do when transplanting a tree that has been set a short time.

Grafted persimmon trees can bear fruit in just a couple of years, but I don't recommend letting them do that. I feel that they need to be putting their energy into growing roots for a long time before allowing any fruit production. My observations are that persimmon trees are more fragile than apple trees when young, but once Persimmons get established roots, they are like the Sherman Tank of the fruit world.
 
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Persimmon grafts are waking up. And the ticks are out!!

311218dbe7f10545f73cab3af68adf2c.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Anxiously awaiting the native persimmons getting a foothold at the Massey — the bucks are awfully hard on them in the fall. I’m sure most will be male knowing my luck with them, but I’ll be you fellas’ lead with grafting. The buying of grafted females was an absolute failure. The nursery told me transplanting bareroot persimmons was a tough task and the success rate is not good. But ordering them in 3 gallon containers was not feasible for us.
 
A question for the experts: I ordered American persimmon seedlings from Wildlife Group last year and had a heck of a time keeping them alive with the drought, but they greened up initially at a 100% rate. The grafted females I ordered didn't ever even put on a single bud -- I explained that in the post above and was the first time I've been disappointed with anything from Wildlife Group. What would be the possibility of success with placing the ordered bareroot seedlings in one gallon rootmakers, them transplanting them into 3 gallons and planting the following year? Has anyone ever tried this? I know transplanting native grown persimmons, out of the ground, is almost an impossible task, what about root-pruning though? Would that hurt their ability to sink a tap root after putting them in the ground? I'm toying with the idea of ordering some seedlings along with my order from Blue Hill next fall. I already have all of the stuff I need to do this because of my failure with chestnuts this year.
 
A question for the experts: I ordered American persimmon seedlings from Wildlife Group last year and had a heck of a time keeping them alive with the drought, but they greened up initially at a 100% rate. The grafted females I ordered didn't ever even put on a single bud -- I explained that in the post above and was the first time I've been disappointed with anything from Wildlife Group. What would be the possibility of success with placing the ordered bareroot seedlings in one gallon rootmakers, them transplanting them into 3 gallons and planting the following year? Has anyone ever tried this? I know transplanting native grown persimmons, out of the ground, is almost an impossible task, what about root-pruning though? Would that hurt their ability to sink a tap root after putting them in the ground? I'm toying with the idea of ordering some seedlings along with my order from Blue Hill next fall. I already have all of the stuff I need to do this because of my failure with chestnuts this year.
I've not tried that before, so I won't comment.

However, I have had luck digging up native persimmons when they are small. Just get the biggest root ball of dirt possible. Best wishes!
 
A question for the experts: I ordered American persimmon seedlings from Wildlife Group last year and had a heck of a time keeping them alive with the drought, but they greened up initially at a 100% rate. The grafted females I ordered didn't ever even put on a single bud -- I explained that in the post above and was the first time I've been disappointed with anything from Wildlife Group. What would be the possibility of success with placing the ordered bareroot seedlings in one gallon rootmakers, them transplanting them into 3 gallons and planting the following year? Has anyone ever tried this? I know transplanting native grown persimmons, out of the ground, is almost an impossible task, what about root-pruning though? Would that hurt their ability to sink a tap root after putting them in the ground? I'm toying with the idea of ordering some seedlings along with my order from Blue Hill next fall. I already have all of the stuff I need to do this because of my failure with chestnuts this year.
I have not done it with persimmons but I have with apples.

Persimmons have a deep tap root and are hard to transplant because you typically don't get enough roots to support the top. You can transplant them if they are very small. I have native persimmons on my place, so the best bang for the buck is grafting male trees to female. Having said that, I did get persimmon seed from Cliff England one year. I started them in mesh flats and as soon as they lifted the seed, I moved them to 18s. I then transplanted then to 1 gals and 3 gals. They do fine as root pruned trees in my area.

Having said that, you mention drought. If you are prone to drought, root pruned trees may not be a good fit. A root pruning container system prunes the tap root first at about 4" which stimulates lateral root growth above the prune. Most occurs in the at first 4" above the prune. Subsequent containers allow for more and more lateral root growth. A root pruned tree has a very efficient root system with lots of tiny terminal root tips which is where most water and nutrients are taken up.

When we use a root pruning system, we are making a trade off. While the root system is dense and efficient, it can only use what it can reach. In an arid area in sandy soil where soil dries out quite deep, unless supplemental water is provided, a root pruned tree will struggle. Given you are in an area where regular long droughts are not common, root pruned trees will grow faster. First, energy that would normally go into a tap root to ensure survival when young, becomes available to more lateral roots and more top growth sooner. The tradeoff is that we are providing TLC for that tree (water and nutrients) in containers until the root system is large enough to reach deep enough to get to moisture.

That is why I've had zero success planting directly from 18s, good success planting from 1 gals, and great success planting for 3 gals. A 3 gal is deep enough to get access to water in my area.

Sorry for the tangent, but one should think about whether root pruning is a good match for their location before worrying about specific techniques.

Building better bare root trees with root pruning containers works well. I've done it with apples using clonal root stock where there is not tap root to prune, placing them directly in 1 or 3 gal. The size I start with depends on the size of the existing root system. The more roots I can keep in the container with them spread out evenly the better. I've actually done this indoors under lights to give apples an early start.

I have also done this with chestnuts and other trees I got from the Wildlife group. They were started in root pruning bags. Those trees eventually died, but not related to the root pruning containers. They were nut-grafted and longevity is a know issue with nut grafted trees. They also had a disease issue which contributed to the issue.

So using root pruning containers to give bare root persimmons a good TLC head start is likely a good approach...IF root pruning is a good fit for your area.
 
I have not done it with persimmons but I have with apples.

Persimmons have a deep tap root and are hard to transplant because you typically don't get enough roots to support the top. You can transplant them if they are very small. I have native persimmons on my place, so the best bang for the buck is grafting male trees to female. Having said that, I did get persimmon seed from Cliff England one year. I started them in mesh flats and as soon as they lifted the seed, I moved them to 18s. I then transplanted then to 1 gals and 3 gals. They do fine as root pruned trees in my area.

Having said that, you mention drought. If you are prone to drought, root pruned trees may not be a good fit. A root pruning container system prunes the tap root first at about 4" which stimulates lateral root growth above the prune. Most occurs in the at first 4" above the prune. Subsequent containers allow for more and more lateral root growth. A root pruned tree has a very efficient root system with lots of tiny terminal root tips which is where most water and nutrients are taken up.

When we use a root pruning system, we are making a trade off. While the root system is dense and efficient, it can only use what it can reach. In an arid area in sandy soil where soil dries out quite deep, unless supplemental water is provided, a root pruned tree will struggle. Given you are in an area where regular long droughts are not common, root pruned trees will grow faster. First, energy that would normally go into a tap root to ensure survival when young, becomes available to more lateral roots and more top growth sooner. The tradeoff is that we are providing TLC for that tree (water and nutrients) in containers until the root system is large enough to reach deep enough to get to moisture.

That is why I've had zero success planting directly from 18s, good success planting from 1 gals, and great success planting for 3 gals. A 3 gal is deep enough to get access to water in my area.

Sorry for the tangent, but one should think about whether root pruning is a good match for their location before worrying about specific techniques.

Building better bare root trees with root pruning containers works well. I've done it with apples using clonal root stock where there is not tap root to prune, placing them directly in 1 or 3 gal. The size I start with depends on the size of the existing root system. The more roots I can keep in the container with them spread out evenly the better. I've actually done this indoors under lights to give apples an early start.

I have also done this with chestnuts and other trees I got from the Wildlife group. They were started in root pruning bags. Those trees eventually died, but not related to the root pruning containers. They were nut-grafted and longevity is a know issue with nut grafted trees. They also had a disease issue which contributed to the issue.

So using root pruning containers to give bare root persimmons a good TLC head start is likely a good approach...IF root pruning is a good fit for your area.
Great info! Yes, we have recently been in a very long term drought (which I HOPE is finally ending), but the droughts we usually experience are much more “normal”. We average 42” of rain a year after all. Also, big root ball, bareroot pears, apples, and crabapples have done very well on our place and even during this extreme drought, I never lost a 4+ year old fruit tree (aged by date of when we put them in the ground), AND I didn’t water them.
Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You’ve grown some fruit seedlings of different varieties in root pruning containers and the vigorous root system produced did NOT handicap their ability to sink roots deep after being put in the ground, as long as they had adequate moisture when they were young and relatively shallow rooted, correct?
 
Great info! Yes, we have recently been in a very long term drought (which I HOPE is finally ending), but the droughts we usually experience are much more “normal”. We average 42” of rain a year after all. Also, big root ball, bareroot pears, apples, and crabapples have done very well on our place and even during this extreme drought, I never lost a 4+ year old fruit tree (aged by date of when we put them in the ground), AND I didn’t water them.
Let me make sure I understand you correctly. You’ve grown some fruit seedlings of different varieties in root pruning containers and the vigorous root system produced did NOT handicap their ability to sink roots deep after being put in the ground, as long as they had adequate moisture when they were young and relatively shallow rooted, correct?
In my climate, you are correct. In nature, a tree puts down that large tap root to ensure survival. It is more important for it to have access to water to survive than to grow fast. The tap root is a good investment and ensures survival. There is then lateral branching and tertiary branching and so forth that eventually grows allowing the tree to collect more nutrients. A root pruned tree does not have that deep tap root. You get a much denser root system with much earlier secondary and tertiary branching. The tree will never have that deep tap root that naturally growing trees have, but eventually that root system will get deeper.

The question becomes, does it get deep enough fast enough for your climate.

Soil type plays a big role too. We have plenty of rain in zone 7a in VA off an on throughout the year. We do go into drought on occasion but not regularly. I'm also on clay soil that retains water well. Folks on sandy soils have the soil dry out much faster given the same amount of rain.

In my climate, when roots completely fill a 3 gal RB2, I'm almost assured the tree will flourish.
 
In my climate, you are correct. In nature, a tree puts down that large tap root to ensure survival. It is more important for it to have access to water to survive than to grow fast. The tap root is a good investment and ensures survival. There is then lateral branching and tertiary branching and so forth that eventually grows allowing the tree to collect more nutrients. A root pruned tree does not have that deep tap root. You get a much denser root system with much earlier secondary and tertiary branching. The tree will never have that deep tap root that naturally growing trees have, but eventually that root system will get deeper.

The question becomes, does it get deep enough fast enough for your climate.

Soil type plays a big role too. We have plenty of rain in zone 7a in VA off an on throughout the year. We do go into drought on occasion but not regularly. I'm also on clay soil that retains water well. Folks on sandy soils have the soil dry out much faster given the same amount of rain.

In my climate, when roots completely fill a 3 gal RB2, I'm almost assured the tree will flourish.
Our farm has excellent top soil down about 10-14” then you hit clay.
I’m guessing the high quality trees we’ve received from Wildlife Group and Northern Whitetail Crabs have had some type of root pruning, the root balls are just too big for “normal growth”. Again, these trees have flourished on our place after watering the first couple of years. I did water trees in the ground 3 years too during this most recent drought, but I’ll discontinue watering them this year if the drought persists.
I think I’ll give the persimmon seedlings a shot; I’ll be sure to document all of this. I’m guessing I’ll be starting them in our 1 gallon rootmakers.
 
Our farm has excellent top soil down about 10-14” then you hit clay.
I’m guessing the high quality trees we’ve received from Wildlife Group and Northern Whitetail Crabs have had some type of root pruning, the root balls are just too big for “normal growth”. Again, these trees have flourished on our place after watering the first couple of years. I did water trees in the ground 3 years too during this most recent drought, but I’ll discontinue watering them this year if the drought persists.
I think I’ll give the persimmon seedlings a shot; I’ll be sure to document all of this. I’m guessing I’ll be starting them in our 1 gallon rootmakers.
Persimmons have been my best bang-for-the-buck wildlife tree. Since they grow natively on my farm, they are clearly well adapted for my place. They are slow growing trees, but my success has came from grafting male trees over to female after they hit about 1" in diameter. I've traded scions with folks from all over that have native trees that drop at different times. I've also purchased some commercial variety scions from Cliff. Since the root system is so well established by the time a tree hits 1" in diameter, I can get my first persimmons in the 2nd or 3rd leaf after cutting down the tree and bark grafting it. I love them! Mine are all American because they are astringent and fall from the tree expect for a few kaki/virginia hybrids called Nikita's Gift. They are astringent until ripe like American persimmons but produce large persimmons. I tried them because I heard reports they fall from the tree, but so far, in my experience, they don't.
 
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