Pawpaw Trees

[cdlc92]

When I was out mushroom hunting earlier this year, I found some paw paw seeds on the ground in a quite large paw paw patch. I collected them, though they probably had been through an animal of some kind, and planted them in pots at home. About two weeks later they germinated, and the three that germinated are now about a foot tall. They look great and I was planning on planting them in the fall. I know that they take about five years to start producing fruit, but other than that I don't know a whole lot about them. Can anyone enlighten me a little?

[rainbowgardener]

I'm not sure what you want to know. I have three in my native woodland shade garden that are doing great. Paw paws are really nice trees. They have huge leaves that look very tropical. They are understory trees, so they grow well in shade but are very adaptable and tolerate a wide range of conditions. Like most woodland plants they like an acidic soil, but my soil is concrete and clay and not acid and they are handling that also. I planted one maybe six years ago and the other two a couple years later. The older one has bloomed this year and last year, but not set fruit. But since the two younger ones aren't blooming, I don't know if the blooms are getting pollinated. The nearest other paw paws I know of are half a mile away...
Pawpaws are dieoecious, meaning they have separate male and female trees and you have to have at least one of each to get fruit.

[valleytreeman]

Thats one of the common names for the Pawpaw that I like. RBG gives a pretty good rendition of what it takes to grow em. If they are native to your area, you should be able to grow them. I've seen them do well in zone 6 but that may be pushing the envelope during a severe winter.

[rainbowgardener]

I'm in zone 6b and they do just fine here, they are one of our common native trees....