MSU in regards to tubes and Chestnut trees that we think applies to Persimmons as well

We did learn something this year from MSU in regards to tubes and Chestnut trees that we think applies to Persimmons as well. They’d been getting high numbers of young Chestnut trees freezing out and in their opinion is due to the tubes holding to much heat during the hardening off process. These plants were going into the winter to green. They also believe that on stretches of sunny days in the winter, heat builds up in the tubes taking the chestnuts out of dormancy as well. Chestnuts in my opinion are more cold hardy than Persimmons so I think this determination would hold true for Persimmons. They’re fencing everything now from what I’ve been told. I think because we need the protection from wildlife that tubes provide and are easier than fencing to work with, a possible alternative to fencing would be the following. I’m going to lift some of my tubes off the ground by a couple of inches. (Areas with lots of mice or voles might consider 1/4′ hardware cloth at the base). Air will be drawn in from the bottom much like a fireplace draws air and will clear out any stacked warm air inside the tubes. Another thing we are going to try is to turn the tubes upside-down in the fall so the ventilation holes are at the bottom ( we’ll turn these back around holes to the top in the spring) and we have planted some using fencing to evaluate our results. When I think back on some of our own plantings I remember running out of tubes and used fencing but planted anyway. I worried about plants through the winter only to find them budding in the spring and feeling lucky! They might be on to something!