Persimmon tree?

[sumner4991]

I got a bare root persimmon tree last fall. The tree still hasn't shown any signs of growth. Bark is still green and it looks to be alive.

I was just wondering when the persimmon trees start coming to life . . .this one is in Virginia.

Should I be worried? Anything special I need to do?

[wabi]

Sometimes it can take a bare root tree a year or so to come out of its dormant state.
My persimmon tree is fully leafed out and has small fruits on it already.
I had to top it this winter because it was damaged in an ice storm the year before, but its doing fine.

The tree -

persimmon.JPG

The fruits setting on -

persimmons.JPG

[sumner4991]

I figured so much. Thanks Wabi. I'll just try and keep it alive until next year. Anything special I need to do?

Wabi . . .how old is your tree?

[Limbs and Sticks]

The only things I know about them is coons, possums, foxs and deer love them, and you better not bite into it before it's ready

Wes

[wabi]

That tree is 7 or 8 years old, but I had to take about ½ of it's height out last winter. A large branch broke off in an ice storm we had and stripped the bark way down on one side. I took it off at the tear in the bark.
It had persimmons after a couple years when we first planted it, but it was about 3 - 4' high when we set it out.

It's raining here now, or I'd get a pic of the butternut trees we planted 2 years ago.
One of them is about 2-3' tall, and the other is about 9" tall now. Both were planted at the same time, in the same general area (same soil, sun exposure, etc.) but one has just been very slow to get started growing. The larger tree leafed out 2 or 3 weeks ahead of the smaller one this spring. Sometimes they just suffer a bit of a shock from being transplanted, and trees can be slow to recover.

Wes,
Our tree has fruit that can be eaten as soon as it drops (before a hard freeze). BUT - you'd better wait until it drops!
If you pick it, no matter how ripe it looks, it's still just a bit tart.

[Limbs and Sticks]

Wabi, I learned the easy way, was tricked by dear ol gramps Enjoy them when you get them Sumner, very good

Wes

[sumner4991]

I'm mainly wanting it to feed the critters. I'm trying to have fruit from mid-summer to November . . . the persimmon is my November fruit. I already had one bare root persimmon to die and this is the replacement from the nursery.

Is there a trick? The apples, pears, plums . . .everything else is looking real good.

There are persimmon trees on my Grandfather's farm and he tricked me into a taste several years ago too.

Wabi . . .looks like your tree recovered very well.

[Grizzly Adam]

My grandad was a nurseryman and I worked in that business myself for many years.

Planting bare-root stock can be a tricky business.

Much depends on how the plant was handled from field-digging to transplanting.

If everything is done properly, plants should grow and develop normally in the spring after transplanting.

Many times, plants that "stall" have suffered from mistreatment on one end or the other (blame it on the nursery). LOL

Did you soak your roots for 4-6 hours before planting? Most bare-root shipments badly need full re-hydrating before planting.

Sometimes plants will "sweat" in shipment, break dormancy, and then freeze when fall-planted. This often kills them outright, or deeply shocks them.

What is the condition of your buds? Are they swollen or tight?

If you can nick the very tip of branches with a thumbnail and find green, your plant is still viable.

If you do find green there, and your buds are firm, tightly rolled and generally look sound, I'd say the plant is still dormant.

It's hared to say without seeing it, but I suspect that if your soil, moisture and sunlight exposure is good, that all you can do is wait.

If you don't live on the property, there's not much you can do to make a difference.

It's up to natural selection, now.

Hope your plant thrives!

[sumner4991]

Thanks Grizz.

Since this was my second time trying, I did not field plant it. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket last fall. I didn't soak it in water. However, I did use moisture control soil from Miracle Grow and initially loaded it with water. We kept it in the garage during the winter. It still gets plenty cold in there, but, not as harsh as outside.

I did the same thing to a bare root pear tree and it looks incredible. Like night and day, so to speak. LOL.

I was planning on field planting them this fall . . .however, the pear tree may out grow the bucket by then. My parents are watering them on a regular basis for me.

Last time I was there, the tips were still green. The buds were tight. Dad says the tree is still alive(green). However, no signs of growth.

[sumner4991]

Wanted to give you guys an update on the persimmon tree. My last trip to Virginia, I decided to trim back the tree. It's about 4-5 feet tall. I cut off the bottom two limbs(I would eventually cut these anyway. All the other limbs, I cut back about 4-6 inches. I left the top alone.

A couple of weeks after that, it started coming out. Looking good right now. So, looks like I will have some persimmons in five years, or so.

Apparently, cutting the tree back relieved the roots enough to where new growth was able to form. Water supply . . .it's everything.

Ordering bare root stock . . .it really stunts the growth by two years. Especially on the persimmon trees.