North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 07:55 PM 11/21/2005, you wrote:
> Why questions:
> Why, with the greater damage of blowouts, do you prefer bark grafts over 
> whip grafting?  On seedling rootstock, the proper diameter for the scion 
> is there, if not, I do cleft grafts, which also are stronger than bark 
> grafts.  In my lack of experience here, please help me understand the 
> attraction of bark grafts for persimmon.
Richard,
The first couple of persimmons I ever did - before anyone told me they were 
problematic - were just simple whip grafts, not even whip & tongue.  They 
took just fine.
I guess I do bark grafts mainly because they're easy, and work well when 
there's a major difference between scion and rootstock diameter - and, I 
*think* there's probably increased cambium contact, as compared to a simple 
whip.
> Why, compared to apples, pears, pawpaws, mayhaw, cherry, etc, is persimmon 
> so particular about removing ALL competing buds on the rootstock?  What 
> are the hormonal/physiological reasons that are at play here, that are 
> absent in so many other woody plants?
I don't know the whys or wherefores, it just seems to be a bigger concern 
with persimmons than with any other species I've dealt with.

LLP