Most of my persimmons are up. These are seed from Jerry Lehman’s orchard of open-pollinated persimmon cultivars.
Dax
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Very nice!!
Rootstocks or possible new cultivars? Both?
Katy
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Mostly rootstocks but I’d preferably like to leave a lower branch or two on and wait for it to fruit as the graft continues on.
Had I more space Katy, I’d grow them all out as trees.
Dax
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I have a D. lotus seedling that has never flowered and is pushing 20 ft. now. I’m going to have to take pictures and get help at some point to graft it…
Raising the fig seedlings has been tough, they grow so vigorously pruning is overwhelming. I identified the first Smyrna caprifig, think I will try grafting onto it but am worried the trees on either side might smother the grafts.
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I have rubbermaid bins full of grafts and I’m seeing scions that pushed blackening up their leaves and fall off. They’re just too crammed in there to not get enough/any sunlight so I hear you.
Always here to help with grafting.
Dax
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I hear you. That’s what I’m doing with my jujubes—-gonna try to taste the fruit before completely obliterating with a graft.
Katy
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I’m growing out Sugar Belle citrus which is something like minneola only earlier. It is clementine x minneola. It is not available in Texas so growing out a seedling is the only way to get it. Sugar Belle is proprietary as well and licensed. But Sugar Belle seedlings are OK and citrus comes true from seed except for a very few exceptions. I formerly was growing out shiranui as well but stopped when bud wood became available.
I grew out the seedling big enough to make bud wood a couple feet tall. Then I collected bud wood and grafted it to a vigorous root stock Swingle which is trifoliate x grapefruit. Swingle makes the tree grow at least 2x times faster than the usual trifoliate orange rootstock often used in my area. In 4 or 5 years you get a large tree vs 10 years for the other rootstock. I grafted it since many citrus don’t do well on their own roots. It will take about 5 years to fruit or so. I also gave several grafted rootstocks to friends to grow out.
My tree is like a layer cake, rootstock on the bottom, sugar belle in the middle and two bearing varieties on top, turkish sugar orange and shiranui or sumo citrus and both have fruit this year. I’ll get fruit on the top while waiting for the seedling to flower. Could take more than 5 years. I’m in year 4 now and no blooms only wickedly big thorns up to 3 inches in length. Citrus seedlings often are thorny when the tree is young. When the tree matures the thorns will disappear at the top of the tree.
I might add that I paid $250 to import 20 buds of shiranui budwood into Texas from Florida. I had to go thru the Texas bud wood bureau and they now charge a $150 service fee, $35 shipping and $3 a bud. Citrus plant material can’t be imported into Texas or other citrus states by individuals. Illegal imports of citrus trees from Florida brought in citrus canker from Florida to 5 miles from my house.
rootstock
shiranui
turkish sugar orange
thorny sugar belle
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I think Feijoa would grow here (W. Oregon, USA) and would be an excellent substitute for limes (I am not in citrus country). Do you have suggestions for sources for seeds? I saw them once in the local grocery store and should have kept the seeds.
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I can’t help you for seeds, I live in France. I harvested it on vocation in a public garden.
Normally the seeds can’t be preserved, they must be sown immedialy.
The biggest ones were sown in décembre, in my house. The smallest in march. I had 3 kg of fruit for these seeds. The seeds are much smaller than that of actinidia chinensis.
Good information…thanks. I will try to acquire a very ripe one and plant the seeds…or just buy a plant!
My seedling adventure is way at the other end of the scale from most of you! In the fall of 2016 I designated a “nursery bed” in my garden and the first planting was some Dudley apple cores, pear seeds and cores, grapes, other odds and ends. It’s been fun watching them grow. I’ve pulled all but the best now. The apple is the largest, ~12", and I’ll transplant him out in the fall. The pears are only 4-5" so at least another year in the nursery. But I have their spots marked already! Long way to get to tasting fruit but I’m enjoying the plants. Sue
Dudley seedling
pear seedlings
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I don’t have as much time to spend on my apple seedling project anymore but here is a thread on them New Apple Seedling Varieties. Gorgeous trees now that produce plenty of good apples!
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Excellent thread Clark. Quite an interesting and awesome project. As it comes to be, I bought a bag of Honeycrisp apples last night. While I never considered myself a big fan of apples, they were so delicious. I’m now rethinking apple varieties to grow. So far I have: ‘Rubinette’, Golden Delicoius, Gold Rush, Pristine, Cameo, and Ashmead’s Kernel.
Congrats on your success!
Is the wild gene pool you’ve gotten your seeds from something you stumbled on and local?
Dax
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@Barkslip
Dax,
The original seeds came from Michigan’s woods I think but can’t recall for sure and they are 100% wild apples. Several people on here grow some of my wild apples. I’ve grafted in an additional wild red flesh I got from @chartman that I will likely cross with a 3rd or 4th generation wild apple. It will be 5 years until you see that one. I think you would enjoy this thread In search of the next great apple variety! - #39 by chartman and this one Seedling Apples for cider
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SUPER DUPER Katy!
Great looking/healthy plants in total… even the grafts you ‘snuck in.’ 
Dax
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