Who Else Grows Pawpaw Trees?

[225Figgyfan]

First of all, don't laugh I've made a makeshift shade enclosure for my pawpaws.

The nursery said there are fully hardened to the sun. However, after just 24hrs by the side of my house, where they only get morning light, i felt like I was seeing signs of sunscald and sunburn on the leaves. So I felt like I had to move quickly.

And so 2 tomato cages, two window screens, old shower curtain, and scotch tape later, here we are...

Great idea with the sunshade. They do need shading when young. Apparently the parent trees shade the young saplings until they grow big enough in the wild? Years ago when I first started gardening I ordered a pawpaw tree online. Back then, paw paw trees were “rare” and advertised as “North America’s only native tropical fruit tree”. I bought one tree and received a bare root sapling about 1 foot tall. I planted it in a nice and sunny spot since the instructions that came with it said so. It promptly went to tree heaven and I was really sad until I replaced it with a brown turkey fig tree (I know I know but it was the only cultivar available at the time from a big box store). That fig tree has since given me tons of figs which friends and family have enjoyed over the years. I’ve always wondered what a paw paw fruit would actually taste like but never found any sold even in farmers markets.

 

[snarfing]

the shading is kind of a misinfo as far as i know. well sort of. young paw apaws do need shade, however a grafted tree isnt a "young" paw paw. If its ungrafted yes shade it for 2-3 years. if its rafted so long as its not leafed out youre fine in full sun. if you get it and it has leaves it may need acclimation like other plants which were grown in a greenhouse

 

[superdave336]

Some of the young pawpaw trees in our field are out in the open exposed to full sun. Not a problem. I think only during germination is the shade important. Let me see if I can find the video that talked about this.

Found it.

 

[Kompakfigs]

This is the patch at my mother in law’s. The transplants were done about 3 weeks ago. There are a few not making it.

 

[Kompakfigs]

This is the patch at my mother in law’s. The transplants were done about 3 weeks ago. There are a few not making it.

Everyone’s welcome to WNC to remove the clonal suckers.

 

[ktrain]

This is the patch at my mother in law’s. The transplants were done about 3 weeks ago. There are a few not making it.

I've heard ones pulled out of the ground are 50 50...is that what you're doing?
I grew a few from seed, 2 out of 4 made it through the winter.
May have more seeds. lol

 

[Kompakfigs]

Yep. Dug em straight out of the ground. I guess the other 50% can be used as rootstock.

 

[ohiobruce]

In February I clipped off an extremely small Scion from a Tallahatchie tree I'm growing. A couple of weeks ago I grafted it onto a seedling I germinated last year. So far, so good.

 

[Kompakfigs]

In February I clipped off an extremely small Scion from a Tallahatchie tree I'm growing. A couple of weeks ago I grafted it onto a seedling I germinated last year. So far, so good.

Maybe next year, I'll obtain some pawpaw scions to graft onto what I currently have.

 

[superdave336]

 

[WVMJack]

My BIL has a stand of native trees that produce some that taste like Juicy Fruit gum, and some that taste like a mix of cantaloupe and pineapple.

You should share some scion wood from the Juicy Fruit Gum tree, give a cool name.

 

[WVMJack]

We have about 20 grafted trees planted together on our farm, they had hundreds and hundreds of flowers this April, until the April 21st freeze fried them and our leaves. Some later buds have flowered, we are not going to try to pollinate them since we lost the leaves, we want them to spend their energy recovering. We have gotten fruit from them the last 2 years and its just fun to be able to eat something like this from your own orchard. We really like the pawpaw ice cream, we dont add any sugar, the pawpaws are sweet enough!

 

[ohiobruce]

You should share some scion wood from the Juicy Fruit Gum tree, give a cool name.

I've been thinking about that. The trouble is that the BIL's patch is 19 trees in a 20'x30' area. They are tall and the fruits are hard to reach, so he just picks them off the ground. So it's hard to tell which tree is producing the best fruit. I'll try again this year and mark a couple of good trees. I'll be happy to send you some scions.

I already have a good name for them. My BIL is the commander of the local VFW. We jokingly call him Commander, so I named them "Commander's Glory."

I have a few planted at my farm that should fruit in the next three years. I'm interested in seeing what they will produce out in the full sun and with fertilizer.

 

[superdave336]

I've been thinking about that. The trouble is that the BIL's patch is 19 trees in a 20'x30' area. They are tall and the fruits are hard to reach, so he just picks them off the ground. So it's hard to tell which tree is producing the best fruit. I'll try again this year and mark a couple of good trees. I'll be happy to send you some scions.

I already have a good name for them. My BIL is the commander of the local VFW. We jokingly call him Commander, so I named them "Commander's Glory."

I have a few planted at my farm that should fruit in the next three years. I'm interested in seeing what they will produce out in the full sun and with fertilizer.

Sounds promising. Exciting for the future. The diversity is probably what helps them

 

[snarfing]

Def do

 

[FruitBrute]

I up-potted my PawPaw trees last weekend. Only took pics of 1 plant, but both were similar. Maintained similar depth in new containers.
Roots looked good and healthy. Thought someone might enjoy seeing a PawPaw up-pot lol

 

[ktrain]

I up-potted my PawPaw trees last weekend. Only took pics of 1 plant, but both were similar. Maintained similar depth in new containers.
Roots looked good and healthy. Thought someone might enjoy seeing a PawPaw up-pot lol

Have those flowered yet?
I had a very small tree put out 2 blooms, though they did not result in figs it was cool to see the color and shape.
That tree is now in ground...it'll be a while to see fruits.

 

[ohiobruce]

I up-potted my PawPaw trees last weekend. Only took pics of 1 plant, but both were similar. Maintained similar depth in new containers.
Roots looked good and healthy. Thought someone might enjoy seeing a PawPaw up-pot lol

Wow, nice root mass.

 

[ktrain]

pawpaws are a taproot tree, I wonder if it is detrimental to the production if they are not allowed to send the taproot down.
Probably not....I need to do some research.
All of mine spent some time in tall tree pots, 2 of them still had a pretty nice tap root , the other 2 started to curl.

 

[FruitBrute]

Have those flowered yet?
I had a very small tree put out 2 blooms, though they did not result in figs it was cool to see the color and shape.
That tree is now in ground...it'll be a while to see fruits.

Nope not yet. I purchased them as 1 ft tall small grafted trees in 2024 and fully expected at least 5 years before I see flowers. Maybe the extra room for the roots to grow will speed things along.