Is it possible to tell the difference between D. virginiana and D. lotus rootstock growth?
My Fuyu is dead dead but had rootsuckers Which I’ve trimmed down to one really nice one. I’ll try to graft it to something later on. It occurred to me that I don’t know what rootstock this is. Is it common to get lotus rootstock? The new leaves on the rootstock growth are very red. I have some virginianas that have reddish leaves but these are really red and very shiny.
I’m voting for Lotus, I don’t have similar looking Virginianas either.
Typical virginiana, no way lotus.
It looks like D. virginiana to me, and I’d guess that it’s the “southern” 60 chromosome race because of the glossy new leaves. The “northern” 90 chromosome race has new leaves that have a little fuzz on them and don’t look so shiny. All of the native persimmons around me here in NC look like the one in your picture, but the root suckers coming up from the rootstocks of some of my grafted trees that I purchased are presumably from the northern race because the new growth looks different.
Fuzz or no fuzz is not an indication of northern/southern race…take Lena, Prok or H-63A they both make absolutely “no fuzz” and yet belong to a 90 chromosome race.
I stand corrected then. I got my information from Lee Reich’s Uncommon Fruits for Every Garden, p. 101 - “the pubescent leaves and larger fruit (which occasionally are bluish) of the ‘northern’ race contrast with the smooth leaves and smaller fruit of the 'southern race.” That seemed consistent with my observations comparing wild trees with my root suckers from grafted trees, but I don’t grow any D. virginiana cultivars, only kaki and hybrids, and have no experience with the ones you mentioned. So I defer to you and anyone else with more firsthand experience. Is there any visible difference between the races at all?
Where did you buy the Fuyu?
It came from Ison’s in the fall of 2018. It grew well last year and the buds looked good for spring but never made it. This sucker is coming up from the roots so I thought I would graft it next spring.
I often know what rootstock a nursery uses; but I believe a Ison’s sometimes grows their own, and othertimes resells Dave Wilson; so I don’t know, sorry
Ison’s did buy from Dave Wilson this year, and they use D Lotus. But I don’t know if all of Ison’s trees are from DW, or if some they’ve grown themselves.
I can contact them and ask! Thanks for advising that!!
