Deer Magnet Persimmons

[Eightpter]

Planted 2 of the deer magnet persimmons back in the spring in 5' grow tubes. The trees were 3 gallon (2 year olds), left over from the previous fall. Both were around 3-4' tall. They have put on almost no new growth other than small leaves from the buds. Think something is wrong with them or anything I can do? I also planted another early season persimmon this spring in between them and its doing great. I know first year is mostly root establishment just seems odds there wasnt more growth, especially compared to the early season persimmon. Any suggestions are appreciated, worried about losing both of these trees.

 

[yoderjac]

To start with there is a good chance of circling or j-hooking tap roots when you get a tree grown in a traditional container. For the long term benefit of the tree, you really need to prune any circling or j-hooking roots when planting . Otherwise the tree may look fine for a few years but end up with root constriction.

Persimmons don't transplant well. It is not uncommon for them to stay dormant for the entire first year due to transplant shock. They may still survive. There isn't much you can do at this point. In general, I think folks are best either direct seeding or starting persimmons from seed using a root pruning container system. In general, deer don't both persimmons much in most areas. They don't need a lot of protection if direct seeded compared to many other trees. Then, when trees hit about 1" in diameter, bark graft them to the variety with the characteristics you want.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[NE PA QDM]

Mine were all planted as bare roots from MDC, most had a realllllly slow start for year 1 and 2 and now are in year 3 and are taking off
Also, deer here CRUSHED my uncaged persimmon; I've read fifty times that deer generally don't bother them but apparently the local deer didn't get that memo!!!

 

[yoderjac]

Mine were all planted as bare roots from MDC, most had a realllllly slow start for year 1 and 2 and now are in year 3 and are taking off
Also, deer here CRUSHED my uncaged persimmon; I've read fifty times that deer generally don't bother them but apparently the local deer didn't get that memo!!!

The sleep, creep, and leap is pretty typical of bare root trees. I completely believe you on the deer use. Deer will browse most plants under the right conditions. It would probably me more accurate to say that American persimmon browse is not high on the preference list. I'm in the native range of American persimmon and have a lot of native persimmons growing naturally on the farm. Mine are generally untouched. But like all things when it comes to deer, much of the behavior is local. Depending on what else they have available at certain times, persimmon browse may be their best option in some situations.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Native Hunter]

The Deer Magnets I put out this spring have grown almost none, but they are healthy looking.

The ones put out in Spring 14 are slow as well, but healthy looking too.

Persimmons are slow getting started IMHO.

I have fruit for the first time on run of the mill seedlings set 8 - 10 years ago.

 

[yoderjac]

The Deer Magnets I put out this spring have grown almost none, but they are healthy looking.

The ones put out in Spring 14 are slow as well, but healthy looking too.

Persimmons are slow getting started IMHO.

I have fruit for the first time on run of the mill seedlings set 8 - 10 years ago.

That is about right. Without grafting, my native persimmons take 8 to 10 years to begin production. Grafting female scions to a tree in the 1" to 3" diameter class, the best I've done (and see others do) is the first persimmons in the 3rd leaf. If you plant a grafted seedling like the "deer magnets" or whatever marketing name they are using, you may knock a couple years off that 8 to 10 but not many.

One caveat. I have had persimmons produced on newly grafted trees. This occurs when the fruit bud is already on the scion before it was grafted.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Native Hunter]

That is about right. Without grafting, my native persimmons take 8 to 10 years to begin production. Grafting female scions to a tree in the 1" to 3" diameter class, the best I've done (and see others do) is the first persimmons in the 3rd leaf. If you plant a grafted seedling like the "deer magnets" or whatever marketing name they are using, you may knock a couple years off that 8 to 10 but not many.

One caveat. I have had persimmons produced on newly grafted trees. This occurs when the fruit bud is already on the scion before it was grafted.

Thanks,

Jack

Yes, the Morris Burton I planted this spring has a small crop this year. It has also grown more than the DMs I set out at the same time.

 

[greyphase]

Yes, the Morris Burton I planted this spring has a small crop this year. It has also grown more than the DMs I set out at the same time.

That's a big persimmon. My Meader run about half that big.

 

[yoderjac]

This has been one of the few bad year for persimmons for me. My native ungrafted mature female trees that usually produce well are barren this year. I grafted many of my male trees with scions from my native female trees. They are now in their 5th leaf. The did get hit hard by cicadas one year which really set them back. Finally one of them produced a persimmon this year:

A year after I grafted these, I grafted some named varieties to my male trees. One of them was a prok. It was in its 3rd leaf last year and had 2 persimmons. This year it has seven:

You can only see a couple from this angle.

Just goes to show the even with the fastest methods, persimmons like many trees are a long-term investment.

Thanks,

Jack