The roots are very large but there are few feeder roots near where the sprout grew. I’m trying a different approach by cutting the main root a foot or two away from the sprout to see if it will grow feeder roots which would enable transplanting. I’ll have to do this over a couple of years so I can cut the root on one side the first year and the other side the second. No idea if it will work, but I have extra trees to experiment.
On a side note, my JT02 has grown nearly 6 feet tall this year. I grafted it on a Missouri seedling a few years ago. Last year, it was only a foot tall. This year we have had abundant rain and ideal growing conditions so it is making up for lost time.
Those look very healthy; could there be 2 cultivars of Dar Sofiyivky? Or should the second pic be labeled a different variety? I noticed one fruit, the square one, has four while the other, a pentagon shaped fruit, has five calyx lobes. So far my grafts this spring from your scions are doing very well.
We established earlier that some varieties have both 4 and 5-sided fruits on the same tree. JT-02 is an example. Looking at my own JT-02, it seems that the 4-sided variant is much more common.
Based on the above pictures, I’d assume that the same variation is observed in Dar Sofiyivki. But Stan can confirm (or not) whether both variants appear on the same tree.
This is the first year I have heavy fruiting from persimmon trees here in Michigan. I am wondering if I should thin the fruit. This is a six year old Lehman’s Delight. I have been supporting some limbs with sticks so they don’t break under the load.
Actually today I noticed my Lehman’s Delight graft on my Cardinal tree has mostly 4 but among them was a 5 lobed fruit, so this trait must be common. I read that most pure DV types exhibit the 4 lobed trait but it’s not uncommon to see a mix.
My suggestion is to not thin but support the limbs. I don’t know Lehman’s (It’s on my list for next year) but I think it wont hurt to support the branches so they don’t break. Heavy fruiting may cause alternate bearing on asians and hybrids when they are young but my americans don’t seem to change from year to year .
Hope yours has some fruit go to maturity this year. I have two DAR grafts groing well on my mature Cardinal that held about 30 fruits to maturity last year, so maybe as early as next year your scions should flower. Will be fun to watch. We head out to crabbing next Saturday
compared to youse, i got the smallest victory. a victory nonetheless. seedling is alive! now if i can only get more seed and do it again. and keep this one alive for a change.
My tiny Dar Sofiyivky is starting its second growth spurt. Should I pinch the buds on the side branches, steering energy to the leader, or do I just let it do its thing?
I’ll be interested to see what people say. I’ve seen arguments on both sides but I can’t put my hands on good research.
My intuition is that the tree is better off if unwanted shoots are suppressed. So, once I’m confident that a dominant shoot is well established, I remove side shoots and especially any wannabe central leader(s). My growing season is short, so the goal in the first two years is to produce the tallest, thickest central leader possible. Then in the third year, I’ll top the central leader and force branching. If you live in an area with a long growing season, maybe you could compress this process into two years.
I would secure the CL so it is going straight up. Encourage it take the lead.
As long as the CL is a few inches taller than the lower branches.. I would leave them alone.
If the lower branches start really competing with the CL height wise.. I would tip prune them a bit.
My Cardinal asian grew quite slow the first year.. the CL and side branches at one point all got to the same height.. I tipped the sides a bit.. and the CL then did a growth spurt.
I need to get my CL up to about 4.5 ft before I tip it and encourage scaffold branch development. It got there in year 2.
All those lower branches were removed after the real scaffolds started developing.
I have deer pressure here .. low branches below 4 ft.. get eaten.
I would say, since it is not actively growing right now, not to pinch the buds, because no energy is being used for growth when it’s not growing. You could knock the buds off on the lower twigs, which would make it wen it flushes again it won’t be on them.
The image doesn’t show it well but the buds have started to open, so it’s on its way.
Thanks everyone for the replies! I think my plan for now is to pinch the side buds on the leader but let the lower branches grow for a while, pinching them only if they grow too vigorously compared to the leader.
I can’t say for sure that removing shoots is the best approach. I can only show you my results. Here are three grafts on DV rootstock from last year and this.
Chuchupaka grafted last year, planted last year. 5’ tall.
I leave them alone. Later after more side shoots have developed I’ll start removing the lower ones. Right now those are energy collectors to over winter and begin the next spring. IMO. Others believe cutting them focuses all the energy to upward growth which may also be true. Either way I’d wait till winter to cut them.
