Depth of soil for persimmon

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hi Lads
I’m just wondering what the minimum soil depth I will get away with for Persimmon.
I have about 18 inches where I’d like to plant a few trees.Underneath is rock.
Thanks Anthony

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#2

What other things are growing there? Also, what type of bedrock are you dealing with? Around here, shallow ledge soil abounds, but it’s soft shaley schist with grain vertically oriented. Oaks and other taprooted trees do very well here in sites with less soil than you’re describing, because they are able to send their roots down into the rock itself. A similar site across the river with granite bedrock would be a very different story

#3

Agree with Hobilus, persimmons do need the taproot to go fairly deep, if the rock is exposed nearby you might see if there are cracks in the rock caused by weathering. Tree roots can penetrate crack in rock and cause them to expand. So if other trees nearby appear to be doing this, then it may be worth a try. Persimmons also require good drainage. You can test this by doing a perk test. The perk test can also indicate there may be cracks enough to allow the soil to quickly drain. If the rock layer is solid, chances are the soil does not drain quickly indicating no place for water to drain - in that case most fruit trees would not do well.
Dennis
Kent, wa

#4

Thanks for your response.Its just a grazing field on a slope.It is a shale like rock.

Funny thing is I have some D.V seedling planted 20 ft away in at least 4ft of soil.

#5

Thanks DennisD some good points for me to look at.

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#6

I have one D.virginiana seedling that I planted 27 years ago in a spot with at most, 2 inches of crappy clay… in fact, I used a spud bar to bust a hole in the rotted sandstone bedrock until I had a space comparable to a 1 gallon pot. It grew as well as a couple planted 20 & 40ft away with plenty of soil depth, and has been supporting a graft of Rosseyanka since about 2000. I’m sure its roots traveled out into my neighbor’s yard and found sufficient nutrients for survival.

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#7

I got a prok persimmon come from Stark Bros in July last year. It came in one of their small root containers and I put it is a 22 inch container that was around 2 or 3 feet high. I transplanted it this spring and it was already root bound. They are very vigorous roots compared to a blueberry or a citrus trees.

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#8

I’m thinking maybe plant seedlings than and graft later instead of planting weak grafted variety plants.

#9

I’d recommend that in general, but particularly for your situation.

#10

Thanks for your input.