Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] Another question on pruning freeze damage

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: John McCuan <wawo@yahoo.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Another question on pruning freeze damage
  • Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 18:46:23 -0700 (PDT)


We also had some pruning questions concerning frost damage.

I had an Asian persimmon (Jiro) killed by the frost, but the rootstock is sending up sprouts right next to the graft. I pruned the graft all the way down to a few inches above the graft, but it clearly was dead. 

It was the first Asian persimmon we planted, and it was about 2 years old, so the rootstock is now about 2 inches in diameter.  Should I just let the rootstock grow into a tree?  Another option might be to get a branch of a wild native persimmon we have that produces very tasty fruit.  It may be possible to get a branch of similar size and graft it to the rootstock, though it will be something of a trick since the trunk goes up about 20 feet without any branches (it grew up under tall pines).  Someone once told me I could graft Asian persimmons onto native persimmon rootstock, can I do the opposite as well?

Are persimmons hard to graft?  I must admit I've never grafted before, though I've been closely reading NAFEX postings concering it for years and am ready to give it a go.  Should I wait until next winter?

Our Jiro was growing rather well until the late freeze (it blossomed for the first time this spring), and I'm wondering if I should get another Jiro or if its demise indicates it's not that well suited to this climate.  I have a Saijo I just planted last February and it was starting to leaf out as well at the frost so those leaves died, but it came back nicely.  We live near Atlanta, Zone 7, but our temperatures rarely dip under 10 degrees.

Thanks for any input on this question, and thanks to all for your postings; I've learned a lot from them.

Melinda McCuan



Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase.

  • [NAFEX] Another question on pruning freeze damage, John McCuan, 05/31/2007

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page