Just a comment - for what it is worth. Your persimmon seed should still be viable if they were from last year's drop and then stayed dormant through the freeze. Many folks "save" seeds from year-to-year in the freezer after placing them in air-tight bags and freeze containers. I am now starting some tomato and pepper seeds our of the freezer, and they are beginning to sprout in their warm, moistened paper napkin beds. I will plant these in potting soil as soon as more have emerged. Then after a brief stay under grow lights, hardened off and planted in the ground. Fruit trees seem to be more tolerant of poorer soil than - say veggies or flowers, so perhaps you potting soil will be OK. But a weak fertilizer (compost tea, Miracle Grow) should be sufficient if they show signs of life and put out a few basal leaves. I'm interested in your little persimmons. I planted a tree several years ago. It is now 20 ft. tall. It has only kept 2 "simmons" on to maturity - which were delicious, but most of them fell off. I suspect too much shade or perhaps they need some serious feeding, which I promise to do this year. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

I suggest waiting. Persimmons when first planted are very slow to bud. The first year I planted my Fuyu persimmon,it didn't bud until June. Patience my friend, patience. And if it has died back, more time will allow for it to sprout from the base above the rootstock. This way you can cut the dead wood above the sprout and allow the new growth to resurrect your tree. Good luck.

If you have fruit then those are females...you need a male. Or you can graft a male onto one of the suckers. If they had fruit they had flowers...I understand the flowers of this tree aren't very large or noticeable. Not like apple blossoms. I'd get rid of any suckers close to the original tree...certainly any within a couple feet of the tree.They are supposed to be pretty shade tolerant, though. You should check out the Fruits and Orchards forum. They probably know more about this tree. Only catch is they tend to manage trees for maximum fruit production...which typically involves a lot more fussing then you would do if your goals are aesthetics or a wildlife garden. How big was it when you planted it? Bare root, potted, or balled & burlapped? Spring or Fall? I've had a lot of trouble getting these things established.

I specialize in sprouting mostly tree seeds - and American Persimmons have been one of the easiest so far. I typically just repurpose a clear plastic drink cup and fill it with organic compost soil. I find such cups (vs wider pots) best for seedlings because they allow deeper root growth and are easier to transplant later from since you don't have to dig as wide a hole. Most tree seedling roots need more depth, and not so much width, in growing space. So, a lot of pot width is basically just wasted space. With narrower cups, you can store more of them together due to their smaller footprints. And plus, I'm using something that would otherwise just go into the recycle waste stream faster... Anyhow, after inserting a seed into each cup (without scarification needed), you then just have to wait about 3.5 months for them to finally sprout up. Only thing I might do during that waiting period is water the soil once in a while to keep it somewhat moist. Note that most tree seeds DO take much longer to sprout compared to say, annual vegetables. Quality generally takes more time! Now once these American Persimmon seedlings finally sprout, they are very robust and will grow fairly tall with a thin woody stem and large leaves early on... I mean, relatively-speaking, of course. It will still take probably around ~2 years+ from planting the seed to grow to a foot-tall seedling, to give you a rough idea. Again, these are trees, not "weeds!" But definitely a great native, fruit-bearing tree to propagate, though!!! I've found ripe American Persimmons to be the sweetest I've ever tasted! So, I really wish more people would plant a whole lot more!