Experiment in Persimmon Propagation (and Willow and Honey Locust)

Hey folks,

I'm passing along some details here about a recent undertaking I'm engaged in. Around my area, we've got some good native persimmons just starting to put out flower buds. Last winter, I took some hardwood cuttings of one whose lower limbs were within reach, and when I checked on them the other day, I was pleased to see that one of them has a little 2 inch root getting to work. If it survives, it'll have been my first success with hardwood cutting propagation.

A few days ago, I took some softwood cuttings from a handful of other persimmons, along with willows that were growing nearby. I'd heard willows can root in water, so I set them up in a bucket with an old air stone from my ill-advised days fiddling with aquaponics. I thought it might more closely imitate the conditions of a running stream. Funny enough, I then found this video from Edible Acres in which he tries (and succeeds) with a similar setup ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlN0318nwsw)

Of the persimmons I took (whose new growth has a thorn above each petiole, which I've never known persimmons to have), I've got half in a perlite/peat/sand mix, and the other half right in there with the willows in the water. I'm doing the same with some honey locust cuttings of about the same size.

I've goofed around with propagation enough to know some small successes punctuating otherwise consistent failure. We'll see which one this turns out to be, and I'll be happy to update folks in a month or so. In the meantime, I'd love to hear suggestions or predictions or other feedback.

Curious to see how the others do, but with willows, you can do pretty much anything to them and they will grow.  My friend says "I hate willows.  You throw a piece of one on the ground, pee on it so it has some moisture, and you have yourself another damned willow tree." :)  That's the same reason I like them.

I'm eager to see if this works for you. I'd love to propagate persimmons but hear they are difficult to graft

my experience with grafting persimmons is that they can actually be pretty forgiving. one of those where timing is everything, maybe.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.  I’m also in WV and my last persimmon gathering involved walking some very steep terrain but it was so worth it!  I never really thought about propagation by cuttings, but that would be so much simpler and quicker than growing from seed.

I’ve had good luck with goji berry and willow by inserting them into 16-ounce plastic cups and keeping them in a clear tote with a covering of plastic sheeting to keep the humidity high.  I keep this in northeastern corner of my house where only the morning sun hits it.  I’m going to try some elderberry cuttings this year as I have read that they root rather easily too.

I do however have some bubblers and air stones from my aquarium days and will give this a try as I love to experiment.  After all, is there such a thing as having too much propagation knowledge?