Hi I am in Central Maryland zone 7a. I know their survival here can be iffy but I have received a Fuyu and would like to find the best location possible on my property. Black walnuts will be in the vicinity. The choices of locations that I have are:
A. 9-10 hours of full sun, open exposure, 23 feet from black walnut dripline and (overall 55 feet distance from trunk of the black walnut).
B 7 hours full sun, 8 feet from a SE facing wall of tall metal building, 18 feet from a black walnut dripline (overall 46 feet from black walnut trunk.)
I found some info online stating that persimmons “tolerate” black walnut but I am not sure if “tolerate” means that an asian persimmon will be able to grow there as it normally would in an area without a BW or does it mean it can merely survive but not necessarily thrive ( that is, its ability to bear fruit might suffer).
Oh, and a number of articles I read on Persimmons of any kind mention that rats especially love them and will be drawn to them. Has this been an issue for anyone.
Your Fuyu is most likely on American Persimmon rootstock, which in most cases will do fine near walnut. Plant it where it gets the most sun or wherever you want it. My personal opinion is juglone is over rated as a danger to other plants. I’ve got lots of walnuts and not seen anything affected by them.
I have a giant black walnut tree – over 100 years old as estimated by my arborist. It is the largest black walnut tree I’ve seen grow around these parts.
Anyway, I grow persimmons, figs, plums, apples, pawpaws, mulberries and a lot more not that far from this tree. They produce quite well.
The only fruit bush that is sensitive to black walnuts appears to be blueberries.
Go ahead, grow a tomato near your walnuts. Several maple species are also sensitive to juglone. Not complaining, just please be careful recommending growing plants near walnuts. There are plenty that are sensitive.
From my reading, it’s pretty apparent that the list of plants that are sensitive to juglone is much shorter than the list of plants that have no problem. However, there are a lot of plants that people care about on the naughty list, so many people (understandably) make the assumption that when in doubt, it is sensitive. How this all shakes out in practice can be pretty site specific; my hunch is that juglone builds up more in certain environments and is either washed away or broken down in others. Or, there may be a fair amount of genetic variability in juglone production among individual black walnuts.
As for the rats, pretty much all animals love persimmons! Every fall when I lived in Arkansas, I would see scat from a wide range of animals that was mostly persimmon seeds. That’s a big advantage of the astringent types: you can pick them firm and astringent and let them lose their astringency in the safety of your home.
Ha! I hadn’t thought about the root stock being American persimmon. Good to know that they are safe around Walnuts. Until I started looking for a spot for the Fuyu, I had not realized that so much of my open space was in close proximity to one black walnut tree or another. It is reassuring to learn that some of the fear of black walnuts is unwarranted (but, @Fusion_power, I will remain cautious.) When in doubt, it is great to be able to come to this site and hear from people who know from their actual experience.
@ramv , your 100 year old tree must be quite impressive. Despite their “dark” side, black walnut trees can be very beautiful. I hope the twig beetle is not a threat in your area.