Goodbrake
Yamadori
Since it's starting to show signs of recovery, I thought I'd post a dedicated thread for the Texas persimmon (diospyros texana) I collected earlier this year.
Here is the tree in the wild near Austin, Texas last November.
I had been searching for a persimmon to add to my garden, and thought this one had good movement, an interesting shari near the base, and I believe at the time I noted it was female (only female trees bear fruit, which are these strikingly pitch black orbs about an inch in diameter.) It can sometimes be difficult to tell if these are male or female, since the only notable difference I am aware of are the fruits and flowers, and the deer consume the fruit quite readily, so if you catch the tree outside of its fruiting season, it's basically impossible to determine its sex.
The portions of the trunk above where it divides are straight and uninteresting, so I decided that I would remove one branch of the split, and chop the remaining branch before collection just above the split.
I chopped off the unwanted branch in early February, but left the other trunk long so that I could determine when it's buds were swelling so that I could time collection before it leafed out.
The buds started changing colors and swelling about two weeks later, and I decided to collect it then so that it wouldn't waste its stored energy leafing out on portions I planned to chop off anyways.
I didn't get any pictures of the collecting process itself, which was a mixed bag. The roots actually split further below the ground than I expected, which resulted in better movement at the base and a better root flare, but also made collecting any substantial roots at all laborious, and I didn't get as many as I'd like to have.
I brought it home, and potted it in a mix of about 2/3 coarse (nominally 3/8 inch) pumice and 1/3 shredded sphagnum moss, with a layer of moss on top in a large pond basket to ensure air flow to the roots. I then used some spare wire to create a frame, around which I could hang this makeshift greenhouse made of two large plastic bags, so I could keep the trunk humid and the roots slightly warmer than the ambient temperature.
I then waited as everything budded and leafed out, except for this persimmon.
That was, until three weeks ago, approximately 7 weeks after collection, and over a month after the other persimmons in the area leafed out, I noticed tiny green specks on the upper trunk.
A week and a half after that they had swollen and were definitely buds.
Now, after another week and a half, they're starting to extend into shoots with individuated leaves, with many more buds appearing up and down the trunk.
The inverse taper in this last photo looks worse than it is in reality, since most of the tree's movement is toward the camera, so there's some perspective distortion. In reality the tree has very little taper. If it survives, I will likely rotate it so that the front is towards the left of this image, and the tree moves strongly to the right.
It will stay in its humidity tent likely until the leaves harden off, unless it starts growing more vigorously, since I want to ensure it grows enough new root to support any soft growth. I uncover it on particularly humid days so that it gets a bit more light and fresh air can diffuse into the soil. It's only been watered twice, once when initially potted up, and once a couple weeks ago, since it's using hardly any water. My main goal is to balance keeping the trunk moist and humid, while giving the roots adequate access to air and oxygen. It currently stands about 36 inches from the top of the pot, and is about 2.5-3 inches wide at the widest point at the base.
Here is the tree in the wild near Austin, Texas last November.
I had been searching for a persimmon to add to my garden, and thought this one had good movement, an interesting shari near the base, and I believe at the time I noted it was female (only female trees bear fruit, which are these strikingly pitch black orbs about an inch in diameter.) It can sometimes be difficult to tell if these are male or female, since the only notable difference I am aware of are the fruits and flowers, and the deer consume the fruit quite readily, so if you catch the tree outside of its fruiting season, it's basically impossible to determine its sex.
The portions of the trunk above where it divides are straight and uninteresting, so I decided that I would remove one branch of the split, and chop the remaining branch before collection just above the split.
I chopped off the unwanted branch in early February, but left the other trunk long so that I could determine when it's buds were swelling so that I could time collection before it leafed out.
The buds started changing colors and swelling about two weeks later, and I decided to collect it then so that it wouldn't waste its stored energy leafing out on portions I planned to chop off anyways.
I didn't get any pictures of the collecting process itself, which was a mixed bag. The roots actually split further below the ground than I expected, which resulted in better movement at the base and a better root flare, but also made collecting any substantial roots at all laborious, and I didn't get as many as I'd like to have.
I brought it home, and potted it in a mix of about 2/3 coarse (nominally 3/8 inch) pumice and 1/3 shredded sphagnum moss, with a layer of moss on top in a large pond basket to ensure air flow to the roots. I then used some spare wire to create a frame, around which I could hang this makeshift greenhouse made of two large plastic bags, so I could keep the trunk humid and the roots slightly warmer than the ambient temperature.
I then waited as everything budded and leafed out, except for this persimmon.
That was, until three weeks ago, approximately 7 weeks after collection, and over a month after the other persimmons in the area leafed out, I noticed tiny green specks on the upper trunk.
A week and a half after that they had swollen and were definitely buds.
Now, after another week and a half, they're starting to extend into shoots with individuated leaves, with many more buds appearing up and down the trunk.
The inverse taper in this last photo looks worse than it is in reality, since most of the tree's movement is toward the camera, so there's some perspective distortion. In reality the tree has very little taper. If it survives, I will likely rotate it so that the front is towards the left of this image, and the tree moves strongly to the right.It will stay in its humidity tent likely until the leaves harden off, unless it starts growing more vigorously, since I want to ensure it grows enough new root to support any soft growth. I uncover it on particularly humid days so that it gets a bit more light and fresh air can diffuse into the soil. It's only been watered twice, once when initially potted up, and once a couple weeks ago, since it's using hardly any water. My main goal is to balance keeping the trunk moist and humid, while giving the roots adequate access to air and oxygen. It currently stands about 36 inches from the top of the pot, and is about 2.5-3 inches wide at the widest point at the base.
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