amantedelenguaje

In April my parents' pawpaw patch was full of blooms and some tiny fruitlets. Unfortunately, by May the little fruitlets had all disappeared, and the flowering ceased. The trees were absolutely beautiful, but without fruit. Today I decided to look one more time, and guess what I found. One, little, lovely fruit swaying in the breeze. Wow! Quick as lightening, I scampered up the tree and wrapped the one remaining fruit in netting. Maybe I'll get to eat a pawpaw after all. If not, perhaps the netting will catch the large seeds so I can plant them.

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caliboy1994

Of all the things we can get fruit from in Southern California, this isn't one of them

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Yug

I have never known what pawpaw's were. Still don't...

Iunepeace

lol I concur Yug. I haven't ever even seen those trees here. What we know as pawpaw is what everyone else called papaya.

Carica papaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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sunfish

Sure you can

PAWPAW Fruit Facts

caliboy1994

We don't have nearly enough chill hours where I live for it to fruit successfully. When I move up to the San Jose area for college though I might give it a try

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sunfish

Julian achieves 1200 chill hours

Iunepeace

*cough* Chill hours?? I thought that pawpaw, the one you guys are talking about, was a tropical. Not so?

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sunfish

sharont

Hi
what is the name of this Paw Paw? I have a few growing and the leaves are very different. Will try to send photo. SharonT

Illia

I'm in a Banana forum of tropical fruit growers and noone knows what Paw Paws are? Man I'm up north.

Paw Paws are basically the only fruit in the Custard Apple family (Cherimoyas, Soursops, etc) that is cold hardy, and I mean, cold hardy. It is native to the states, still has delicious fruit like the others, but less "fruit salad" in flavor and more "vanilla" with, depending on variety, a hint of pineapple or mango.

Paw Paws actually do not require as many chill hours as some say. You can grow them in California, just now S. California. Their most ideal situation is a place that does frost, but still gets hot long summers.

I'm just starting to grow a few Paw Paws, as they're one of the very few tropical tasting things I can grow without overwintering/greenhouses, but even for me, my summers are too cool and my choices on varieties to try are slim. It's worth it though. The only true downside is that they're slow growers, and because of their sensitive taproot, you can only safely get tiny babies shipped to you, so, it takes several years to wait for fruit.


To the OP - Congrats on the one, really hope it makes it for you!


ETA - PawPaw in Australia is what we Americans call Papaya. That's why the leaves are different. Completely unrelated plants.

Brian

They grow in the SF Bay Area and Central Valley of CA if you provide shade when they are young. There's also one that tastes like Cherimoya I've heard.

I bet there are localities in Southern California where you can grow them. I mean you can do Apples, Pears,, etc.

Iunepeace

Part of the issue, at least for me, is that there's a truly tropical fruit that's also called Pawpaw

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amantedelenguaje

Other names for the pawpaw that is indigenous to the eastern U.S. are asimina triloba, "wild banana, prairie banana, Indiana banana, Hoosier banana, West Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri banana, the poor man’s banana, Ozark banana, and banango."

--Wikipedia

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Iunepeace

lol apparently it tastes like a banana? From what I saw on Wikipedia it looks sort of like a green mango.

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Illia

I think the "banana taste" is as true as the Ice Cream banana tasting like banana-vanilla icecream. Most people agree it is more a straight up vanilla custard taste with hints of other tropical fruits than banana.

raygrogan

Good luck when picking time comes - end of summer, early fall. It will ripen best on the tree. They are usually picked individually when they have a little "give".

Taste of pawpaws ... I find about half the people I give them to like the taste. About a fourth love them, and the last fourth think it is a weird taste. If you like tropical fruits you will probably at least like them.

They grow very well in Arkansas and Iowa.


Here are a few homemade pictures and links: Picking wild pawpaws in the Ozarks

TalyMon

Funny to come across this post I have just ordered a bunch of 2' - 3' Paw Paw. Living in an area where they can grow native I had never heard of them. Started research on them while reading about the Hatfield & Macoys' where paw paw is made mention and I wondering what sort tree this was I never heard of, then found out it bears fruit, hmmm. Can't wait to try although I am going to be waiting a few years or will have to start scouring the farmers markets.

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Jsherman603

Paw paw fruit taste like a tropical custard of some sort with a taste of banana mixed in.

amantedelenguaje

Good luck with your pawpaws. I never knew what a pawpaw was, but had heard of them via a childhood song. Like you, I did some research only to discover they are native here to NC. The irony of it all is that after researching, I was able to identify the clump of trees in my parents' back yard as pawpaws. They'e been there for a while. We just didn't know what they were. I have never seen them with any sizeable fruit. I don't know if I need another variety for cross pollination, or perhaps the late frost is killing the fruit, or maybe the wild critters are getting to the fruit. Regardless, I am so happy to see that one little pawpaw. It gives me hope for future crops.

Like you, I ordered several pawpaws online. Right after budbreak, I dug up six 3'-4' sprouts from my parents' place and planted them in my yard. I had a 100% survival rate of my transplants, which is remarkable according to my research. I didn't disturb the dirt around the root zone. That probably helped.

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