Hey All! This is my first post on this community, hopefully I can get some good info!
I planted a grafted American persimmon about a month ago and it was doing very well for a couple of weeks putting out some growth, but then it stopped. What’s weird is that all the growth tips on the 4 branches are missing (see picture). It’s been a couple of weeks and no new buds are swelling. I’m a bit worried that the tree is not too happy. I have a different variety graft planted right beside it and it’s growing quite vigorously. Any cause for concern here or could the tree just be focused on root development?
Small freshly planted persimmons rarely come out the gate very strong. Sometimes they take more than a year to get settled in. I’ve got several of them stalled out there now. I would not worry about it.
American persimmon can be a fickle one in its younger years, especially the purchased sort, whether bare roof or container grown. They are not common in the nursery trade in part because they are both tap rooted and have an array of very brittle fine root hairs, with little in between. Both tend to get damaged a lot when dug and when planted. Dont be surprised if ypur persimmon takes a couple of years to put its roots down and start to really thrive.
Zone 5 is workable for persimmon if you have a good site. Your profile doesn’t mention anything about your region. Zone 5 is a big “place”If your spot is anything like mine, youll probably want to stick to early varieties. What variety is the tree in question? You might consider giving it a bit of protection for the first winter or two.
And I second the advise not to worry, and would add my own advise- plant more persimmons
I planted 100 back in 2019 at a distant property and a number at my house last year. The ones from 2019 vary significantly in size. Some are barely bigger than they were when planted, while others are 8 or 9 feet tall. Some of that may be due to an extended drought at the end of '20 or '21 and winter die back last year. The ones I planted and potted in the yard last year are all doing the same as yours…rapid growth in Spring and currently stalled out. I noted the same thing at the terminal. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.
Thanks for the info! I am in eastern Ontario and indeed our growing season is quite short. I picked up Prok and Yates. I haven’t been too concerned about growing season length because I have seen that A. Persimmons can be harvested well after the first frost, I hope I wasn’t wrong.
Makes sense to protect it for the first couple of winters, do you think a combination of wood chips and burlap will do the trick?
Prok and Yates are both good bets. Depending where you are in Ontario, you may have an edge on us here. You can surely harvest after a frost, but the old story still making the rounds about frost helping the fruit to ripen is total nonsense. The fruit needs to mature fully, or nearly so before it gets well frosted, at which point its more or less done ripening. For me, that means the fruit needs to ripen (or nearly so) by about Halloween.
