As b_r indicated, nitrogen fertilization will make them drop fruit. Additionally, many 'young' persimmon trees will set, then abort most or all fruits early in their careers. Just give it some time to settle into its groove - and stay away from high-N fertilizers.

Thanks Bob and Floyd, Bob I'll try whatever you can spare. You can PM or e-mail me from my profile and I'll send a money order. I can try dormant and green then under the same conditions. Bob you have a couple other interests of mine PawPaws and Figs. I only lost three figs last year. An Alma, Smith and VDB. I have backups on all but the Alma and I have several sources for it. PawPaws are all selected seedlings from about 5 - 6 sources for good pollination. My grove is still young but I have had flowers for three years. Still had one open flower this morning. Now I just think I need to do some manual pollination to get fruit. Friend of mine in Biloxi did that this year and has one cluster now. Floyd with Persimmons nothing is obvious. I can see where the larger rootstock could supply extra nutrition to the scion wood. I have a friend near me and he is grafting onto in ground native seedlings. I'll pass on your experiences to him also. He will save himself some failures with those tips. I'll keep trying till I get it right. I have a friend in Abbeville LA that once had a 12 n 1 persimmon tree he grafted. I have ordered about 300 Kaki seeds to grow and graft Asian varieties on. I am concerned with Persimmon Decline and using the Kaki is supposed to eliminate that. Thanks Darkman Charles in Pensacola

@ lucky - Okay okay, I'll order our "Promoting excellence in slacking since..... whenever" t-shirts, complete with Wallyism ("People think I don't have a plan"). Probably get around to it next week :-) . Per your idea - I'd actually wanted to tie the branch up and push it against the trunk when it first broke, but wasn't sure what I could use that would hold the weight (the branch is about 1.5+" diameter at the base? and very long). For now, the propping-up may work, and I might employ some combo of tying/propping to get it through the early fall. Your link for Dr. Reid's blogspot on the stalked buds was VERY helpful. His photos were definitely applicable to my tree. I'll keep a look-out for the narrow angles and bark inclusions from now on, had no idea the tree might be growing itself a ticking time-bomb for a branch junction. @ cckw - Appreciate the extra reassurance that the patient will survive this break and the upcoming surgery! Do narrow angles trap water enough to erode the bark and underlying tissue? Guess that's another thing to watch for. I agree on pruning thoughtfully, but not always timidly, which I'm prone to do. My son and I did some aggressive cutting back on a few plum trees this spring, hoping it'll make them productive.The peaches need re-shaping desperately and will get that as soon as harvest is over in the next two weeks. I'll need guidance on whether or not to prune the pawpaws and pears. But that's another thread or two. I only wish there was a super-glue for trees or a way to instantly weld them back together. :)

Steve, Meader is not self-fertile; however, it is a member of the Early Golden/Garretson family, members of which have a genetic propensity for occasionally having a branch here and there that produces male flowers which can fertilize the female flowers on the rest of the tree - which will result in seeded fruits. Meader will often set seedless fruits in the PNW, but that's a climatic fluke - in the east, you'll either get overproduction of seeded fruit(translating into small fruit size) or no fruit production at all if there is no 90-chromosome persimmon pollen around to fertilize the female flowers on your tree. If there are no native 90-chromosome male persimmons in your area, I'd advise planting one - or even better yet, one of the polygamodioecious(bisexual male) selections, such as Szukis or Claypool F-100. Like gene, I also have some deep-woods persimmons on the farm here that are probably 60 ft tall - and 40+ ft to the first remaining branch; but open-grown persimmons are more likely to take on a spreading orchard-tree type of growth habit, not unlike a standard apple tree. I'm not tech-savvy enough to post photos here, but if you'll send me an email, I've got some photos of heavy-bearing open-grown persimmon trees, and some close-ups of the flowers that I can send as email attachments.