There are pots designed with holes an inch or so above their bottoms to create this reservoir. I suspect it benefits most plants. I don’t think it’s related to the ability of plants to survive low oxygen, soggy conditions, however. I believe your tray of water affects a small percentage of your potting mix’s water to oxygen ratio.
Incidentally, trees that are tolerant of wet feet can still be drowned- long ago I killed some pear trees planting them in very wet conditions. What I’m not sure of is which trees that are suggested as being tolerant of wet feet can thrive in permanent soggy conditions and which ones just withstand temporary flooding well.
The beginning of this thread suggested apples were tolerant, but many of its rootstocks are not. I once stumbled on an old apple orchard still living in a marsh (beavers may have been responsible for a change). Very little soil was above the water table- the trees were on seedling rootstock- it was a very old orchard.
There is a transition phase that some plants are capable of going through which allows them to adapt to wetter or submerged conditions for a portion of (or the entirety of) their lives. It has to do with the formation of what is called aerenchyma cells/tissue. From Wikipedia “Aerenchyma or aeriferous parenchyma is a modification of the parenchyma to form a spongy tissue that creates spaces or air channels in the leaves, stems and roots of some plants, which allows exchange of gases between the shoot and the root.”
When I was in school I took Wetlands and Aquatic Plants and learned about this adaptation. There are terms used for different plants based on the amount of water they typically tolerate. There is a scale used to describe this called a wetland indicator status The wettest plants are called Obligate wetland, with the scale getting dryer as Facultative wetland >Facultative >Facultative Upland >Obligate upland
Acer Rubrum (red maple) is considered Facultative, for example, because it can tolerate it’s roots being completely submerged in a wetland environment for long periods of the year via formation of aerenchyma tissue, and those roots can also adapt in other ways but we won’t go into that right now. Basically aerenchyma tissue forms gas pathways which allow the roots to breathe while underwater.
I think this is what you have probably accomplished with your pomegranates.
Or just that trees grow more quickly if they constantly have access to all the water they need. There are productive commercial orchards, or used to be, in delta areas with an 18" deep water table- until the water table, the soil is well aerated. Not sure how well the trees stand up to wind.
Good call on the blueberries. I’ve seen them growing right on the edges of lakes and ponds. Sometimes their bases are covered in shallow water after rains.
I am now planting persimmon and paw paw in my low ground. Besides standing water, another problem with low ground is it will take the most frost damage. Not an issue with Paw Paw and Persimmon that flower late Spring.
Thanks for the update Mike! I was wondering what you ended up trying. How long have both species been in ground, and have they dealt with being submerged for any extended periods of time?
Native persimmons grow on my E. Shore property in areas that are underwater at high tide. I know places I can pick them from my kayak without getting out of the boat.
There was Actually a persimmon growing wild when we acquired the property 10 years ago. I should have paid more attention to what was already growing down there: Blackberry, Grape, Persimmon, Mulberry and asparagus. .I have a couple willow trees in the lowest spot. Pears on Callery are doing ok where water can stand for weeks at a time but, have issue with fungus, bacteria and late frosts. Stone fruit is all dead down there.
The ones I planted were some kind of hybrid from starks. My plan was to take cuttings and plant a wind break / privacy screen. They are actually grafted trees which made me unsure of what they would produce from cuttings.
I would not put pawpaw on this list.
They like generally moist areas but I’m pretty sure they don’t like wet feet. Not only have I read stories about it, but I see evidence in my orchard simply due to clay soils despite the orchard being on a decent slope.
Further, in the wild they are near creeks and rivers but not swampy areas.