Thanks

I can't imagine that you would have any winter problems with them in coastal Mass. Maybe in the coldest parts of the Berkshires.

Eat the Pawpaw, avoiding the thin sac that covers the seed. (Bitter). Plant the seeds and keep them moist, not soaking. Planting them where you want the tree is best. The first year, you will get a couple of leaves. Subsequent years you get a small tree with large leaves that look like the tree is shingled with them. Flowers after about 5 years. Best to have 2 trees. Also best to have a dead animal around when they bloom. Last year was a run over possum, this year was a groundhog and a chipmunk. (Coyotes took the groundhog.) I've also had road kill ducks, skunks and one year used chicken necks. The point is, carrion flies do the pollinating, not wasps or bees.

Trees are very soft wood, snow will break them if they have the leaves on. Usually not a problem. They grow prolifically from underground roots making a grove in 10 years. Young trees need some shade, older trees are able to stand full sun. Trees start to bear when they get about 8ft. There are some good selections out there, you may want to get grafted trees, but remember the rootstock will form the grove.

Flowers are different, and although they have both pistils and stamens, they are not fertile at the same time usually. Sort of like, the guys are ready for a few days then expire, then the females mature and wait for pollen. With 2 trees, you get a ton of fruit. One tree yields 3 Pawpaws. (Poetic license here.)

Regarding pollination, as I have commented before on the forums, they are fly-pollinated, and hanging something foul-smelling in the trees a few days ahead of buds opening really increases fruit set. Some people use roadkill or carrion. I've used rotten eggs, the bait from an Ortho fly trap, and rotten chicken skin all with success.

My least favorite way of getting a pawpaw tree is getting one that was pot-grown. I haven't lost many pot-grown pawpaws, but I have lost a few (maybe 1/3 of the ones I got that way). If you do get one that is container-grown, be sure to look for ones grown in open bottom containers rather than pots. This allows some air-pruning of the taproot, and results in less transplant shock and better root-system adaptation later on. The air-pruned root system is also less likely to have girdling and j-roots.

My favorite way of growing pawpaw seedlings is to plant the seed in its permanent location to start with. I do provide hardware cloth cages with a 50% shadecloth covering for the first two to three years. The cages provides protection from predation and the shadecloth provides protection from full sunlight which can be a real challenge for very young pawpaw trees. This method results in optimally adapted root systems and zero transplant shock.

All of my grafted pawpaws have arrived bare-root. I have never lost a single one! Maybe that says something about my source, but it also shows that healthy bare-root trees should not be a challenge (at least if they arrive dormant, like they should).

My larger trees (two of the three sites where I grow and work with pawpaws) have never had a problem being pollinated, and I've never bothered with dead animals. The trees get loaded with as many pawpaws as they'll hold without such extraordinary measures. I anticipate my third location to have similar results when the trees get production size.

Regarding the pollination issue, I wonder if your better success rate in TN without carrion, or to flip the question, my poor success rate without carrion, is because there are pollinator species in TN with "experience" with paw paw, whereas, the tree being exceedingly rare where I am, most pollinator species wouldn't be "tuned into" it and require a little boost to pique their interest?

One Green World sells potted grafted pawpaws grown in the open bottom pots Brandon is referring to. Forrest Keeling sells potted grafted pawpaws as well. They use an open bottom pot as well. They may or may not sell to you, depending on what state you are in.

Fruit from named selections is way better than that from wild trees. If you can get seed from named selections, you've got a great chance of growing a tree that makes good fruit, and a good pawpaw is fantastic to eat.

Alex

I'm going for protective netting this season.

They certainly seem to be tough and adaptable trees, pest-free except for the fruit thieves.

The ideal time would be spring, around the time of bud break. The idea is not to leave the fleshy compromised roots lying dormant in wet winter soil AND not to wait so late that the trees won't become at least somewhat established before having to face the stressful hot summer months.