First time grower for persimmon

I planted a Wall persimmon tree 2 yrs ago and is now about 10 ft tall. It bloomed last spring but did not fruit.
Question..........There is a growth about 5 ft from the tree coming up from the roots of the persimmon and right now it is about 6 ft tall.
Should I cut it down or will it produce fruit?

That is probably the Great Wall Asian Persimmon. It is grafted on either Lotus Persimmon or American Persimmon rootstock. If they roots came up 5 feet away, it probably means it is American Persimmon because it suckers. The fruit will be small and very astringent until mushy. You have three choices.

1. Learn to graft cut the top off the sucker and put another good variety on it. Great Wall is an astringent variety that needs to soften before eating. They are good for making bread and will be very delicious but messy. A Fuyu or Jiro Persimmon is non-astringent can be eaten hard like an apple.

2. Cut it to the ground and dont let it come back.

3. Let it grow and make American Persimmons at the expense of the other Great Wall which will probably grow very slowly, stop growing or die off.

Ooh, I vote grafting! Frankenfruit!


jujubetexas, are you saying that grafting another asian variety would allow both the Great Wall and the new one to thrive? Or just that when the Great Wall gets out-competed for root resources, no big deal because it has been replaced with something better?

The rootstock will out compete the grafted variety but I doubt the grafted Fuyu or Jiro would do that. They probably would both grow but one may be a little bigger than the other. However, you can end the conflict by digging down and cutting the root that connects them during the winter like seperating conjoined twins. At that point they would be independent and the sucker would start establishing itself as a new tree rather than stealing nourishment from the primary tree.

Thank you. I also have a Fuyu so I will dig down to separate the roots and then try grafting from the Fuyu. That is a Great Wall that I have and I certainly don't want to lose it. Certainly appreciate the info.

The best time to graft is going to be spring when the tree is just starting to bud out.

Here are the instructions for grafting.

http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=500

You might consider relocating the sprouting shoot this winter. 5' is a bit too close. The trees will still compete with each other for the available resources where the roots co-mingle.

If you wait until mid-January, you can dig that sucker up with no fear of killing it as long as you get a good size of the roots. However, if you seriously plan on grafting this spring, leave it where it is so the graft gets lots of energy. If you move it this winter, you will have to wait until spring of 2012 to graft. You never want to graft the same year you move and plant something bareroot.

Thanks juju and Bettydee. Taking into consideration the good information from you both. I did sever the root from the main tree yesterday but left the lateral roots intact from the sucker. I will make a decision about grafting or moving in March. Thanks again for the info.

I say graft and move the following year. I mean, it is so strong right now that it makes sense.

Thanks, I appreciate the comment.