Long story short: I planted 7 Mohler/Meader grafted persimmons May 2021. All but 1 trees died. All rootstocks (very cold hardy persimmon rootstocks probably because of such many leaves growing on them, see pictures) survived and many suckers came out of them in Summer 2022.
Now (April 2023), it looks like all suckers are alive and once again kicking. When should I consider grafting scion wood to those suckers? As early as next year (Spring 2024) or later? I don’t care about size or outstanding taste but needs scion woods from very hardy persimmon varieties. Could someone make suggestions? I will do my best to locate and buy those scion woods from a source in the USA. I read about Englands orchard & Nursery. Any other suggestions? I know nothing about grafting but can count on a skilled grafter who has unfortunately no experience with grafting persimmons… Any special advices for this grafter?
Are they totally freezing to the ground and regrowing? Non cold hardy southern persimmon can die back to the ground and try to regrow… only to repeat the same process year after year. Even if they are cold hardy, they might still be trying to establish roots. I would be inclined to prune to one sucker and wait a year to see if they truly want to live… and otherwise get some vigor on just one shoot… at which point a graft should take off quickly.
Being in a very cold climate, I’d probably echo what snowflake said. Let the rootstock grow and get bigger and a bit more cold hardy before grafting. Maybe protect it a bit the first winter or two. Most people would be inclined to prune to one trunk but that’s your if you want a multi-trunk tree. I’d say wait another year or two if you graft.
Alternatively, you could forgo grafting for now and wait several years until it flowers. If you don’t care about taste, you wouldn’t need to graft if it’s a female. If it’s found to be male, graft it then. You may get fruit a bit earlier by grafting before it flowers though.
