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Off Topic - Forbidden Persimmons in California

As many of you know, California has some of the tightest restrictions on import of plant materials into the state. There are trees from licensed nurseries that have been grown in the US for at least 200 years and can be bought and sold in any other state except California. I completely understand that this is done to protect the state's valuable agricultural resources. I was wondering if we could set legal issues aside for a moment and discuss the biological risks. The last thing I want to do is be the guy responsible for introducing a new disease into the state, let alone my own farm. 
 
There are many delicious varieties of persimmons that we are not allowed to bring into California. There are some that are particularly sweet, colorful, seedless and ideal for drying. Hypothetically speaking, I might know somebody in an adjacent state who raised some very small trees (less than 3/4" caliper) for the past year and could attest that they were free of any signs of disease. If they were brought into the state bare root, the chance of disease being brought in on the soil or foliage would be virtually eliminated. While bare root, they could be thoroughly cleaned and inspected for any signs of disease or insect damage.
 
What are the risks, if any? Would it be better to keep the trees in containers for a year so that they could be observed before putting them in the ground? I'm sure some of you have contemplated these same questions regarding fig trees. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this subject.
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Curious,

I grow about 20 cultivars of persimmon, although most are young and pre-fruiting. Are you stating the regulations are cultivar specific, or just bringing any new persimmon material in,   I would be interested in seeing that list and what they were trying to prevent by cultivar specific regulations.
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We CAN get Jiro, Saijo and Hana Fuyu. We CAN get Hachiya. We CAN get Coffeecake of Chocolate.

We CANNOT get any domestic cultivars (Diospyros Virginiana). We cannot get Nikita's Gift. We CANNOT get any variety of Hyakume.

The list of cultivars we CANNOT get is much longer than the ones we CAN.
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So I guess you are listing ones offered by nurseries in Cal,  and not so much a list of allowed in the state cultivar list? If you graft, USDA UC Davis offers scion wood just like fig material, but most they list seems in the unavailable status. They have a  few Virginiana available. They don't list the Virginiana/Kaki hybrid  Nikita's Gift which I do grow, but do offer her mother Rosseyanka.  I only grow a couple  Virginiana  most everything I grow is Kaki. There is lots of Kaki material available in Cal. have you tried contacted CRFG members? I know one guy I think had/has 40 cultivars grafted on one tree. You might try a post on the CloudForest  or GW general fruit forum inquiring.
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Here's the regulation 

All species and varieties of Diospyros trees and all parts capable of propagation (except fruits, seeds, buds and/or scions) and green wood, It's due to Persimmon Root Borer.

So, I'm wondering if Seeds or scions can be entered in per this regulation. I would check with your agricultural department. 
I have about 30 varieties currently.

http://pi.cdfa.ca.gov/pqm/manual/pdf/313.pdf
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Bass,

I know you multi-graft alot, What's a good number cultivar you find managable to a tree? I have not did many multigrafts to this point except to keep the scion available for a future tree. I have about 40 trees but mostly young, and I need to start more cocktail trees.
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Thank you for the link Bass.
 
My local chapter of CRFG recently hosted "Persimmon Palooza". One of the speakers was recommending a few varieties that were ideal for drying. None of those varieties are available for sale in California, nor would any nurseries from other states ship them here. When I asked him how I could obtain the ones he was recomending, he said, "You could probably find a way to get them into the state", *wink* *wink*. I assumed he was hinting at purchasing them over state lines and bringing them in. Although I might be able to obtain some scion wood of the variety I want (not available from UC Davis Germplasm), that would depend on my yet untested grafting skills and would set me back a year or two. It would be very easy for me to obtain some healthy, already grafted onto Lotus, bare root trees. That would be my preference - if I could eliminate risks. 
 
The question I would really like to answer is: Is there a way to examine a bare root tree and determine whether or not it hosts the Persimmon Root Borer? If it cannot be determined upon immediate inspection, could I keep them in 15 gallon containers, away from other trees and soil, and after a year or two assume that they do not have borers or any other pests or diseases?
 
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 it would seem the restrictions are good agriculture management for Calif, but I think it may be the smoke and mirrors in CA Agriculture.  We raised avos near Fallbrook in Valley Center for over 30 years and frequently saw Mexican produce trucks violating quarantine areas.  Mexican produce continues to enter the country with very little control or inspections.. and Long Beach harbor (leased by China) is only able to inspect 4% ot incomming cargo. How effective can these CA interstate shipping restrictions be while the global back door is open.
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