I got the opportunity to dig up a few persimmon root suckers from a friends D. virginiana. However, the root development on them is relatively poor. Mostly thicker roots, very few fine roots (sorry I dont have a picture).
My question is if its still possible to graft them next spring. Some of them have a relatively thick stem (up to 1.6 inches) and a thick root base, which is why I’m guessing they have a good amount of stored assimilates to push new growth in spring. I can’t really predict though if the can form new roots and heal the graft at the same time in the next growing season.
Thanks!
PS:
I’m Jonas from Germany and new to the forum. Happy to be here! Greetings to everybody.
Ive done exactly what you are proposing and have had the graft take and do ok 5/6 times. In all cases the suckers have had minimal fine roots. I didt see massive growth of the scions, but compared with grafting suckers in place, but they still grew 18" or so.
The other option is to partially root prune the suckers and graft in place then move next fall but im guessing thats not an option. Grafting in place can give you scion growth of 3+ ft in my experience
Could also move now then graft after 1 year of rootstock growth.
Hi barry,
thanks for the reply. Yes, I already dug up the suckers. But 18’’ still sounds pretty good for that specific situation. I’ll definetly try it that way as I do have easy access to some scions next spring.
How would be the procedure? When do I cut the scions and when do I graft onto the rootstock?
Also, i used a cleft graft with the union wrapped up tight with electricians tape. In some cases i wrapped the scion and the union in parafilm, but i dont think that is essential.
Welcome to the forum! I transplant D. virginiana rootsuckers during the winter to use as rootstock, but I prefer to let them get established for one year before grafting. When I wait until the second spring after transplanting to graft, the scion will grow much more quickly. When I graft in the first spring after transplanting, I have the same success rate with grafting, but the subsequent growth is much slower and is sometimes stunted for several years afterwards. There are some exceptions, but that’s been my general observation with about 40 grafts, roughly 10 of which were done the first year and the other 30 in the second year after transplanting. I think it puts extra stress on the trees to transplant and graft within the same 4-6 month period.
Alright, thanks guys. I think I’m gonna do a mix of the suggestions. The strongest rootstocks I’m gonna graft next spring and the others will get another year to grow before grafting! I’m super excited since i’ll be my first persimmon grafts.