Did you look at the pith (while there) of Saijo again for streaks? … I’d like to hear the answer. I found it interesting that the branch having the issue was differing from the rest of the entirely (healthy of appearance) ‘yard rootstock large tree’ you’re grafting…
Roottrappers differ from fabric bags. They’re completely different. They can change a smaller-transplant massively in 10-days you will see that change…
Using marine paint which has copper added to it and painted to plastic round countainers stop all root circling, creating massively fiberous root-systems.
If you use a 5-6" or even 4" at the lowest height - flats, you can easily space 50 seedlings every inch apart or (I don’t recall) every 1.5 inches. Or, just toss 100 or so nuts or fruit seeds on a flat cause the squirrels will get into them. Hardware cloth over the top and pulling it off not to injure seedlings is a great way to stop squirrels… just pull (remove the leaves either manually or allow the screen to do it for you) off the hardware cloth and cut the squares wider whenever necessary …
Transplant those (50 to 100) seedlings (choose the vigorous) and reject the runts) - always plant the vigorous first and then keep going until you see a decline that doesn’t satisfy vigor, anymore.
There does appear to be some black discoloration in and around the pith. Black leaf veins and defoliation also seem to be proceeding apace on one side of tree.
Doesn’t look good, but I’ll continue to observe the tree and report on what happens. I will also observe and report what happens to the Mikkusu grafts on the rootstock of the dead Saijo. Anyway, the development of these symptoms in the I-K-K-J kind of reminds me of how fusarium wilt symptoms in tomatoes start out on one side—sometimes just one branch—before spreading to the rest of the plant.
Unforunately I didn’t examine the Saijo for wood/pith discoloration. The wood was dead and dried out by the time I discovered it in early Spring—so may not have been apparent anyway.
That could be the onset, I couldn’t say. What I see is the pith looks like marble black/white/grey countertop’s in a lot of people’s kitchen’s. Or, your knife is dirty. I pull black coloration from my knife onto wood, sometimes. I’m not saying that is what is happening there. I’m just saying I don’t realize the black gook I pull thru wood with either knife or grafting tools, at-times.
I’ve never seen so much yellow color. Persimmon is white that I’ve always seen while grafting.
Like I say, that white pith should look like “magnificently marbled stone” for countertops…
I’ve lost a few Kakis to what I believe to be Kaki SDS. These were all grafted to Southern Virginiana rootstock. Not all southern DV rootstock have died, Some are/were quite vigorous.
In my climate, Lotus appears to be the best rootstock with lots of vigor. Northern Virginiana is also very good.
What Tony is describing is an incompatibility issue and is quite common in kaki grafted onto virginiana. Some PCNA kaki are especially prone to this. One way to avoid this is to use interstem which is compatible with the roostock as well as the scion (but it’s time consuming). The other way is to use hybrid rootstock. Some cultivars of D.virginiana are kaki haters…one notable example is Juhl which I never regraft with kaki. Mohler on the other hand is “kaki friendly” and forms a nice straight trunk as a bonus.
Thank you for sharing your experience with lotus rootstock. Is there a way to identify the d. Virginiana rootstock as northern or southern/ 60 or 90 chromosome? I have a few seedlings growing, it would be nice to know before I graft kaki on them.
You are on the right track, once a rootstock is infected it is done and very difficult to graft anything onto. I have grafted American onto American rootstock that I had previously grafted infected hybrids onto that had failed and some do take but then show infection themselves although they do grow and continue to live. I do not recommend doing that because then the infection can spread to other plants. And yes the black veins on the leaves are very suggestive of KSDS.
