Nick Shepherd

Thanks for your reply, I will try your suggestions.

I thought asking here might save some time experimenting.
I have made charcoal a couple of times in a 55 gallon barrel that I cut the side out of, it works pretty well but I don't like standing there feeding the fire for several hours.  Last weekend I tried to make a TLUD from another barrel.  I drilled 3/4" holes on a 2" grid covering the bottom.  The after burner was made from an old burnt out burn barrel about 16" tall and I found something for a chimney, a piece of thin walled pipe 8" in diameter and 28" long.  
The problem occurs after 45-60 minutes.  Initially the burn starts great, no smoke and a roaring fire but then it starts to smoke a little, the longer it goes the more smoke.  First time at 60 minutes it started smoking, I thought it might be done so I closed up the barrel top and sealed the bottom.  When I opened it the next day about half the contents was charcoal and half was still wood.  
Today I reloaded it, including the un-charcoal, and started again.  All went well until about 45 minutes then. the problem repeated., a little smoke that gets progressively worse.  After 5-10 minutes lots of white smoke was billowing out, again I closed everything up, sealing the barrel.  I know that most of the wood is still wood.
Could the chimney be to short, inadequate draft?  There is quite a bit of air flow in the after burner, perhaps too much, again inadequate draft to pull air through the bottom?
I like the fact that I just fill/light and watch while doing other things but I have to get it working better.
The wood is dry, cut last winter and stacked out of the weather.  

We are probably a little warmer than where Cliff is.  He is a little north and at 600' or so more elevation.  It's common for the temp here in summer to be mid to upper 90's and over 100 is not uncommon.  The seaberries, have a burst of growth in the spring and early Summer but by august are looking a little sparse.  The single male I have survived the summer.  I am going to take a few scions this winter and graft to the females in the spring.  Females are producing a few suckers, if the male does better next year I will take more scions and try grafting to the suckers, and maybe placing those in a little late afternoon shade.  Since they are primarily wind pollenated I assume the males need to be fairly close the the females, it might be difficult to find a place to put several bushes that fit that microclimate.
If the last male dies I will take my loss and get rid of the females and replace with something more suited the my location.
I am out of town right now but I will post a couple of pics when I get home.   WE have only had one light scattered frost so far so they still have most of their leaves.

What time of the year should you start?  Is it too late, zone 7a?  Utility company just delivered a couple of loads of wood chips, would it be better to inoculate now or wait until spring?

thanks for the help and words of encouragement.
I think I will try to transplant one of each variety the winter and slash back some brush/trim trees away from the others.  

I had no experience grafting until this spring when I started grafting pear prunings onto callery pears scattered over my property.  Results were good but pears are supposed to be easy.
Around 7/5 I purchased 3 persimmon and 1 pawpaw scions, they got lost in the mail until 7/17, my hope for success dropped from the already low point.  On 7/18 I grafted these, three from each scion.  When I purchased these I considered them mostly as entertainment (don't laugh, cost less than a couple going to the theater, and more fun) and hoped that I would get a couple to take.  The persimmons were grafted to DV saplings along the edge of a field and the pawpaws were from MO Dept of Conservation saplings I purchased two years ago.  Well, quite unexpectedly  all 12 have taken, now I have questions.
How long should I leave the electrical tape on the graft?
Should I stake or in some way support the graft/scion?
Since the persimmons are not really where I want them can I transplant them in late fall after leaves have fallen or would early spring be better?  I have read that persimmons can be difficult to transplant, is this true?    I can cut some surrounding trees to open it up for more sun and leave them where they are but I did three groups of three and within the  groups they are very close to each other (didn't think more than one in three  would take) and would prefer to have them where I can care for them more conveniently.

I had to check my notes and then the websites, but none were named varieties of male.
Grafting is a great idea, wish I had thought about it.  I am a novice at grafting but have had good results with what I have tried.  Are seaberries hard to graft?  I would guess that it is to late to try this year, is that correct?  Could I try to T-bud or chip graft at this time of the year?

no, three different online nurseries.

three years ago (2021) I purchased two female and one male seaberry/Sea buckthorn plants, females did fine but the male died.  In 2022 I purchased two males and a female, again the female is fine but both males died.  in the fall of last year I purchased another female and two males, today I noticed one of the males looks like it will die, the female is fine.  They are planted in three different, but close, places.  All four females are fine, the older ones are suckering, but of the 5 males I have planted only one currantly appears healthy.
I live in one 7a with hot humid summers, sandy loam soil, native ph is 5.9, no standing water, planted on a slight slope.  None have ever been very dry.  first three were planted on a berm, soil was amended with organic material, lime as per soil test and were kept watered.  Nursery suggested that I overwatered and to allow to dry 2-3" depth before watering.  Second batch were planted on a little more slope minimal amendments but were mulched heavily with wood chips, only watered when surface was dry at 2" or so.  Third batch on a little bit more slope and I dug a ditch on the downhill side of the bed (4' from the plants) to make sure drainage was good.  We have had lots of rain this year so have not watered at all, soil has stayed moist.  

All the males have died during the summer after having growth during the spring/early summer.  I am beginning to suspect the males cannot tolerate the temp/humidity.

I have spent quite a bit of money on a questionable fruit and if the last male dies I will have 4 worthless female plants.  I guess I can use them for nitrogen fixation/chop&drop but don't like their propensity to sucker.
Any suggestions or comments concerning why the males are dying would be appreciated.

awesome post, thanks