Hi Chris, I rec'd my IO Chocolate Persimmon also which I did prune hard to make the very large tree more manageable and hopefully I have not harmed it by doing so but my tree has a black core that appears to travel down through the trunk. If you decide to cut your trees back could you post rather or not you see this defect in your trees. Thanks **If anyone has any idea what cause a tree to have this defect I'd really like to know. Here is a link that might be useful: Instant Orchard Fruit Trees from Isons Nursery This post was edited by kngskid on Mon, Jan 14, 13 at 22:47

Tjanetb: That's a pretty big tree to be trying to transplant, especially at this time of year. I assume it is in full leaf, and your main problem will be trying to keep it alive way before you begin to worry about whether or not you can cut it back and espalier the branches. I would not personally try to grow a containerized tree that large, but now that you have it your focus should be on keeping it alive. You can worry about the espalier business next season, when, and if it leafs out in the spring. I have three Asian persimmons in my orchard, including a Fuyu, grown from small, bare root grafts and they have become quite large in their 3rd season and are beginning to fruit. Based on the growth habit of my trees, I don't think they would lend themselves well to espalier culture, unless you have a space problem and no reasonable alternatives. Persimmons do not form permanent fruiting spurs like apples and pears, which are the usual subjects for espalier, and their long, flexible branches are quite different from pome fruits. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Tony, I will be moving those 1st year Kaki and a few other 1st year plants, but I have close to a 150 other fruiting trees, not to mention other fruiting bushes and vines like blueberries etc... as well as a lot of plants in pots needing put in the ground, and I plan on keeping the other site anyway. It is not my residence, just a small cabin on a few acres. I have had pretty good luck tarping things to protect them, but it has mostly been with a group of potted plants grouped together on a short term few nights basis with a huge cover your roof type tarp. Just keeping the frost off can help on the short cold spell after I have moved all the potted figs and such out of winter storage. I have used incandescent bulbs as you speak on a smaller scale and I believe they help.

I can't answer about the pruning, but I'd recommend getting that mulch out of the cage. To me, it looks like the mulch could harbor meadow voles or mice.