Thank you and @jrd51
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I have an idea for you.
If you a south facing fence, why not try a Japanese step-over espalier form.
Essentially you grow out two leaders parallel to the ground about a foot off the soil. The buds form along those leaders and new growth grows vertically. You might have to stake them vertically but since persimmon fruits on new growth the vertical shoots will produce the fruit. Once fall is over and the tree is dormant, you cut the vertical growth back to the last bud near the base on the two leaders. Next year’s growth will be on those remaining buds. Once cut back, you can easily cover the tree since the bulk of the tree is one foot or so off the ground.
Here is a picture of the Japanese step-over fig tree pruned back to the horizontal leaders.
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4/22/2019 I planted my IKKJ, grafted onto native American persimmon root stock. From what I can tell you can probably keep it in an 8’x8’ shelter. It will take a good number of years; however, before the tree is mature enough to hold its fruits to ripening. When mine was 3 years old it began to blossom:
By 8/31:2022: only 11 remain on tree, after setting 16 fruitlets. None actually remained to ripen!
On 10/4: 2023: we ate our first ripe one, only 4 out of 18 initially set this year remain trying to ripen. This year we bagged them to keep squirrels away. On 10/26: I picked 3 out of remaining 4, still hard although very orange, to ripen indoors.
My tree currently stands 7’ high and spreads about 5’ drip line to drip line, so you 8’x8’ shelter may be Ok, but don’t count your persimmons before they ripen! Best wishes!
Dennis
Kent, wa
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They also train the growth upward.
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My wild american rootstock trees … i grafred them all this past week… they looked like this.
Shoots and leaves…
The americans WS8-10, Prok, Rich Tooie… and the hybrids Zima Khurma, JT02, Kassandra, Nakitas Gift… that I grafted last year… all have new growth allready… some new scafdold branches forming 3-6 inch long now.
My IKKJiro… has a little bud swell… thats it.
Definately coming out a bit later than all my americans and hybrids.
I did not prune my new IKKJiro last year and it did bud out and grew nicely… mine is around 6 ft tall starting into year 2.
Beware: Training your scaffolds so close to the ground would leave them very vulnerable to varmints that could steal your fruit and/or eat your bark. Voles are the worst threat. If you cover your trees, you create a warm inviting winter habitat – a combined bedroom and kitchen for a months-long vole party. I speak from experience. I tried this with figs that I covered during winter. Vole damage was so extensive (imagine 80% of that grey bark gone) that I had to cut the trees at the soil line and regrow them from root suckers.
So if you want something espalier style, I’d start the 1st tier of scaffolds at least 2’ off the ground. Maybe 2’ / 4’ / 6’? In any case, put some hardware cloth around the trunk.
Also note that the Japanese low cordons work well for figs because figs bear on totally new growth. So each winter the trees are pruned back to spurs, and then the next summer fruit is born on new 6-8’ verticals (removed annually). In contrast, persimmons bear on new growth that sprouts from 1-yr old growth. So to ensure good fruiting of persimmons, you’d have to prune very carefully to (a) remove old growth that has already born fruit, but also to (b) preserve ample 1-yr old growth that will bear the current year’s crop. In other words, you will need to understand in intimate detail where your persimmons will flower and then take great care to preserve that fruiting wood. Growing figs is mindless in comparison.
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Two feet might still work, maybe.
The whole point of having the leaders low is to harvest the warmth coming from the ground and trapping it in by a tarp of some sort thereby extending the climate zone growing range of a more Asian persimmon in a more northern zone.
Right, I guess it also depends where you live and what kind of wildlife you have. I live in Texas just on the outskirts of suburbia. We don’t have too many wildlife that would destroy trees here, but certainly could steal fruit during the summer and autumn. So I guess someone would have to evaluate whether this would work for their location and or whether this is too much maintenance for them.
I’ve got a lot of experience with this problem growing figs. Height of the wood from the ground is less important than having a cover that is (1) open to the ground, (2) with a large footprint, and (3) with some insulation. #1 and #2 reflect the role of the earth as the heat source; #3 reflects the importance of retaining that heat once it radiates into the air inside the cover.
I’ve had good success protecting figs using a cylindrical cover 4’ tall with a 3’ radius; for a small persimmon tree, I’d probably try 6’ tall with a 4’ radius. Following the approach that I used with figs, I’d start by making a 6’ x 4’ cylinder out of 6’ welded wire fence. Then I’d wrap it in a double layer of foil-covered bubble wrap. Then i’d construct a cap, which I would tape to the cylinder. The objective would be to have an air-tight, reflective but insulating container. Admittedly, the R value of bubble wrap is quite low – a double layer might be R=3. We could boost the R-value by filling the cylinder with some dry, fluffy material such as oak leaves or pine needles. To be useful as insulation, the filler needs to be airy and dry.
This is not an academic question for me. I have an in-ground Saijo that I am seriously considering protecting in exactly such a cylindrical cover.
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