I’ve got a Fuyu persimmon in its second summer in my yard, and while the leaves are nice and green, they are extremely curled up (cupped) and feel a bit brittle. This makes me think the tree needs more water, but I’ve tried watering it deeply a few times a week and that doesn’t seem to do much. It has been hot here (Nashville), mid 90s, and earlier in the year the tree had some psylla issues at new growth and maybe a Japanese beetle or two (or similar June bug). No infestation though. Maybe the leaves are just full of microscope holes from the bugs and so they are drying out? I still see a few (2-3) psylla, and am thinking of spraying with spinosad again (I sprayed a month or two ago). I also noticed a little bit of new growth about 2 weeks ago, but then it stopped and the ends dried out. One other thing that probably isn’t a factor but may as well mention…the tree was leaning a bit too much for my liking and so I pulled it the opposite direction a few degrees and have it held with a rope (it’s hard to imagine that would hurt the root structure given the mildness of the tilt and flexibility of the tree, but maybe? it didn’t feel like I was moving anything underground)
Or maybe this is just fine and I’m worrying about nothing…
I never have to water inground persimmon tree’s. Too much watering have the same effect as underwatering. Taproot takes care of that part.
My tree’s soil looks dry, no mulch, no nothing. If the tree is just planted this year, yes you have water it more. Cupping means preserving moisture.
I’ll try watering more and see if that helps. The tree was planted spring of 2020, so this isn’t its first year. Last year it did something somewhat similar, though perhaps less extreme. For comparison, there are other newly planted trees nearby (a methley plum and a morris plum roughly 15 feet away) that don’t seem to be stressed and are receiving a similar watering regimen.
Cupping doesn’t seem to be getting much better. It has been hot here (mid to upper 90s). I’m seeing a slight bit of yellowing on some leaves. Is there any way that over-watering would cause cupping? The soil is still damp from recent watering; the tree gets water roughly once or twice a week. How long would it take for the leaves to noticeably respond to a different watering regimen?
For reference, a neighbor across the street planted a Fuyu just a few months after I did. That tree did similarly well in its first year (last year), but this year all its leaves dried up and fell off a month or two ago. I think they figured it was dead and removed the tree. My guess is they didn’t water it at all.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that the ends of some of the new growth limbs (formed this year) have turned dark (almost black) and the leaves have fallen from these portions of the limbs. At first I thought perhaps they had dried out, but then I broke off the end of one and it seemed very green and flexible inside. The leaves on the entire tree are curled but not brittle, they are flexible. Does any of this point to overwatering instead of lack of water?
