What temperature is your storage cellar?

The cellar stays around +6C and starts going up to 10C by the end of March.

I'd assume from the two-tier graft that you have two different varieties of persimmon on the rootstock. I have a double-variety apple tree and a double-variety Asian pear which were grafted like that. The lower apple variety doesn't have many branches, but I don't know if that's related to the type of graft, or just that particular tree's situation in the garden (a bit too soggy). The two varieties of the Asian pear are more equal in size.

The most common reason for grafting multiple varieties onto a single rootstock is to have more variety in less space. For many kinds of fruit, this enables you to have two varieties which can pollinate each other in the space of a single tree.

If you have an American persimmon, one variety would probably be a male pollinator, while the other would bear fruit. If it's an Asian persimmon, both varieties would probably fruit.

I doubt the type of graft has anything to do with the trees not leafing out. I can't explain that part.

It is not a multi-graft plant of which I have a few, multi-graft sweet cherry, multi-graft apple etc.
Probably I did not make the persimmon case clear. The persimmon is sold as single variety "Yates". It is like a one straight stick (whip) where there is a 3" piece graft onto the root stock (whip and tongue, most probably) and then the "Yates" scion grafted onto this piece (again whip & tongue). The whole plant (three pieces) is just one straight whip. I hope it makes it a bit clear.

Ottawan, What you are describing is called an interstem, which is not uncommonly used in grafting apples but rarely used for grafting persimmons. I am not aware of any nursery that sells persimmon trees on interstems, and I would be interested in the name of the nursery that sold you the trees.

Despite the fact that it is rarely done, I can see some good reasons to use an interstem when assembling Asian persimmon trees though not American persimmon trees, as I assume the trees you ordered for zone 5 would likely be. Asian persimmons are often grafted upon American persimmon seedling rootstocks, which tend to be variable in their compatibility with the Asian scions, so grafting an American persimmon with known compatibility onto an unknown seedling rootstock will make the subsequent Asian/American union more reliably successful. Besides compatibility issues, interstems can affect tree size and productivity.

I see - a Yates, so an interstem grafted on an American persimmon. Again, I think that it is for the purpose of reliability. I have heard of reports of the same American persimmon cultivar tasting and growing considerably differently when grafted on different seedling rootstocks. I would think that the grower knows that Yates does well on the particular interstem that was chosen and wants to insure that the tree will grow and produce in similar fashion.

Persimmons sometimes just don't make it when transplanted. Its like they never get the wake-up call. Peaches also occasionally do this. Its literally like they are missing some signal to wake up. I expect there is something in the way this nursery made these trees that is part of the problem, but I don't think the 2-step thing is it because it could always send out a shoot below the graft if its really wants to wake up. At this point it sounds like you want to find a different nursery to order your replacement from.

Scott

Where did you find this tree? Grimo?

The prospects for your tree at this point are not very good, but neither are they hopeless - bareroot persimmons occasionally will not leaf out the year they are planted but still survive to leaf out the following year. To get a better idea of its current status, nick the bark of the uppermost part of the tree to make sure the cambium is green and the graft still alive. If so, maintain the tree as you have been for the next 2 months and then you can try to jump-start the tree (if it's as I assume growing in a container) by keeping in a warm, preferably humid area (20 - 28C). Once it starts to leaf out it can be planted outside once any danger of freezing weather has passed.

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

dirtslinger2, you guessed it right. It was bought from Grimo. Grimo has been a very good supplier for everything else that I bought from them and they replaced the first one that had not leafed-out without asking questions.
I had previously purchased an oriental persimmon 'Natali?' and it is fine (though slow grower) and it was a single graft.

Like someone else mentioned, persimmons often start really slowly. I think it is mostly because of the tap root.

I bought a Garretson persimmon as a bare root and it barely survived. It just sat there and didn't really grow. The leaves were small and I told the nursery ( One Green World ) that I thought it had a virus. They said, "No, that's just the way they grow from bare root." It also looked as if it were doing nothing the next year. This year (3rd year), it finally has full-sized leaves and it fruited! They were right! The tree looks healthy and is doing great!

I bought an Early Golden in a pot and it didn't have this transition. I planted it last fall and it is already fruiting. It was a large holdover on sale, and I got a screaming deal. It has about 7 fruits on it.

I think the bare rooted one will, over time, be healthier, more drought resistant and have more minerals and flavor because it is drawing its nutrition from deeper in the soil base. It does take a bit longer to grow though.
JOhn S
PDX OR