This Rosseyanka, planted early last year, suffers from what appears to be severe anthracnose leaf spot and stem blight. Note spots on leaves and lesions on stems.
I’m afraid that 1.) this will weaken the tree (and it does seem to be losing vigor); and 2.) that if it ever manages to fruit, the fruit will be infected. What should I do? Should I start by removing the infected growth (as some of the extension literature suggests)—and this will pretty much mean cutting the tree back to a “whip” and starting at square one? Or should I just feed the tree well, start a fungicide regimen (uh-oh! another “no-spray fruit tree” myth bites the dust!) and hope it “outgrows” the issue? Or should I just abandon this tree as unsuitable for this area and a potential source of infection for other persimmons?
Is Rosseyanka especially susceptible? I’ve noticed no similar problems on Nikita’s Gift or the two pure kakis I have here at present. Wild D. virginiana doesn’t seem affected either.
My wild D. Virginana is defniitely susceptible. It’s the only kind of persimmon I have. Some trees are more susceptible than others in identical growing conditions-i assume its genetic variability. Sorry to hear about this for you, but good to know, as I have been considering adding Rosseyanka.
I would just leave the tree alone, in regards to pruning disease. In most cases, I no longer feel that it makes sense to diligently remove diseased areas, with the exception of trees that can easily die from infections such as bacterial canker on a cherry tree. I followed literature regarding pruning out diseased areas, and in most instances, it led to even worse infections gaining hold…
I pruned many spots of young anthracnose (similar to those sunken circles pictures) and bacterial, canker to clean surrounding bark. The result was, despite there being a long stretch of hot dry weather, and spraying the wounds with fungicide, that many of the wounds now presumably have gummosis/bacterial canker. Pruning them would essentially mean cutting the entire scaffold off and having no tree.
I suppose that if when disease is pruned, there is very low or zero chance of it forming again on the new growth, and or if there is a small area that can be entirely removed without compromising the tree, it would make more sense. Lopping off entire / large portions of matured limbs, and having to wait another 2+ years for them to bear fruit, when in that time the new limb can itself become infected, especially when many fruit trees are short lived as it is, just doesnt seem worth it to me anymore.
The disease may weaken the tree ( see below), but if it requires a significant amount pruned there is no tree left to even be weakened…
I attempted to remove some small areas of visible gummosis from an old peach tree, and in the process, found more and more diseased wood beneath the bark; so much so that I simply had to stop; continuing would likely have meant de-barking the entire tree. Now the tree is covered in huge amounts of gummosis where I removed to clean wood. My efforts simply made it worse. This tree is currently the most infected, yet despite this it is, and has been, the only tree that reliably sets any worthwhile quantity of fruit to harvest.
Thanks for the advice! I, too, believe this is the best course of action. A wait-and-see approach would be better than lopping off signicant portions of wood—probably in vain and to the detriment of the tree. If it proves a weakling, it can always be replaced. The “literature” is definitely far from infallible—and there’s no replacement for firsthand experience (often won at the expense of our plants!) and learning from those who have it.
