Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I'm wondering if anybody has some experience with growing asimina triloba from seed. I've read that they are fairly cold tolerant but will they survive a zone 7? Also, as they can't pollinated themselves is it enough with 2 plants to get fruit or does it have to be one female & one male? How about the growth rate?

In other words: is it even worth trying? :p

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

The paw paw tree grows abundantly here in zone 6 of West Virginia. A couple of years ago, in September, my kids picked paw paw fruit growing wild and brought it home to make smoothies. They put the seeds in a clay pot and covered it with a few inches of soil. The pot sat outside all winter with little or no watering. I was amazed that nearly every seed sprouted and grew quickly. I had heard germination was difficult but found that hard to believe since they grow wherever the fruit drops in the woods. The smell of the fruit ripening in the late summer is wonderful. Not sure about pollination or gender because I gave the seedlings away to friends.

Good luck!

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Allright! Just what I wanted to hear! So they can survive harsh winters even the first years?

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I kept one seedling for more than a year in a pot, thinking I might eventually plant it. Overwintered just fine, despite lots of snow and bitter wind. Looked like a sad little stick all winter then put out lush, green leaves in spring.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...SVWdfA&cad=rja


PAWPAW Fruit Facts

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Yes, you need 2 for pollination, but those 2 need to be male and female. Two roosters may still be chickens, but you ain't gonna get any eggs.

It will be a long time before you see seedling flowers and you know which is which, so I'd start with more than 2.

R

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

PawPaw's are great!!!!! The fruit is delicious, and quite an experience. One you will never forget. I grow PawPaws here in Zone 10. People think I'm crazy, but really the only difference is when germinating seeds, which they do need stratification for 90 days in a refrigerator or freezer. I get roughly 75% germ this way. The only down side in my climate is even though the fruit size and full flavor potential develops because of the sun and warmth, the chill time is almost nothing, which means flowers are not abundant, and I need to hand pollinate to assure every single flower has the potential to fruit. I pollinate them like I do the Cherimoyas, so it's pretty much just an addition to the laundry list, and not such a huge undertaking.

When growing Asimina seedlings it's really a good idea to grow them in groups... not only because of increased pollination, but because seed stock can be a gamble because the flavor can vary quite a bit. Sometimes you can get an incredibly sweet rich fruit, or you can get a pungently sickly flavored fruiting seedling that came from the same fruit.

PawPaws are still underimproved for wide distribution of cultivars. Though there are several, it's certainly difficult to find the cultivars. I have a few of the better tasting cultivars that I will be grafting on some of the root stock, but it's quite a tedious project, and I am only getting about 1/3 success rate on grafts. It will probably be year 2050 before I get 50 of them to take successfully and fruit! LOL

Overall, PawPaws are beautiful trees, they are a pleasure to grow, they are pest free in my area, and I am aware they grow in the wild all the way up to South Michigan and hardy to Zone 5. One thing to keep in mind is that they have a strong, deep tap root which needs to be undisturbed once they are transplanted. If the tap root gets broken, the entire tree will die. However, this makes them exceptionally drought tolerant when they are mature.

Good luck!

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Pollination: Poor pollination has always plagued the pawpaw in nature, and the problem has followed them into domestication. Pawpaw flowers are perfect, in that they have both male and female reproduction parts, but they are not self-pollinating. The flowers are also protogynaus, i.e., the female stigma matures and is no longer receptive when the male pollen is shed. In addition pawpaws are self-incompatible, requiring cross pollination from another unrelated pawpaw tree.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Great explanation Tony! In many ways, they are like Avocado trees. The self-sterile feature is a stumbling block, but I think what really helps is how they grow in groves in nature, so I've found out early on when growing them and mimicking this by growing them side by side can definitely boost fruit which matures. One last way they are like avocadoes, is the fruit. They cannot be plucked before they are ripe, as the flavor will not develop after removed from the tree, and I warn they must be allowed to drop to fully appreciate the flavor potential.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I enjoy pawpaws from seed. Very easy to grow, no pests etc.

Is it worth it? About a fourth of the people I serve them to like the flavor right away, totally love them. About half are in the middle, will have a bite or two, sorta like them, but not go out of their way for more. About a fourth think they are unfit for humans.

The quality of seedlings varies, of course, but if you start from a good fruit they are usually OK.

Trees have both male and female flowers, so any two are fine.

The best quality trees / fruit have been selected by Neal Peterson. His "Shenandoah" is probably the best all round. I forget the name of the nursery that has them but can dig it up later. forest something.

The cheapest seedling trees are at Burntridge.

I grow them in Iowa and Arkansas.

Good luck in your pawpaw patch.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Here is the link to Peterson's Pawpaws, which is just down the river from me and a wealth of good information.

Peterson Pawpaws | Home

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I've always wanted to cross a sugar apple, cherimoya or sour sop with a paw paw, all are in the same family Annonaceae. Though I am not sure if it is possible to grow paw paws in south florida. They may need some winter chill.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Did anyone here end up growing pawpaws? How are your experiences going?

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I've got three growing, two named varieties (Susquehanna and Wells) and a seedling.

No fruit yet.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Very cool. How many years have they been in the ground? How big are they now? Mine were planted spring 2016.. ksu atwood, 2 seedlings.. still pretty small like 3 ftish

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

OK, a little more ...

The producers of the grafted Neal Peterson trees is Forrest Keeling. Link: https://www.fknursery.com/page/Forre...terson-Pawpaws

Of those 6 varieties I grow and know 2 very well, the Shenandoah and Susquehanna. Shen is probably the easiest to like for 1st time tasters - mild taste, and also seems to come into fruit quicker. Sus is my favorite of the 2, has a stronger flavor and texture, and more meat. Potomac I have tried from others, and it is a winner - good flavor and honking fruit size. I am sure the others are good also, I just haven't gotten to them yet.

Now as to timing with grafted trees. This is up in Iowa, and they love our climate and deep good soil. These have the good life, with about 4 inches of compost on the surface.

Shen planted 24" grafted tree. After 2nd summer it was 56" and had its first flower buds. No notes on the next few summers - and it was not near pollen source so may not have fruited. Next notes are after the 5th summer (by then other varieties probably caught up and bloomed). It was full of fruit and up to 2nd story window.

Sus grafted had flower buds after 4th year.

Now lets go to notes on seedlings. Not to be grim, but out of 76 seedlings only one was up to the quality of Peterson trees and other excellent varieties. I don't have the source of the seeds other than "improved seedlings", which I think means out of an orchard of at least semi-good trees. Of the rest, about a half dozen were candidates for a few years, which meant they were scoring pretty high on the basics like size and taste. Some were kicked out on relatively minor things like a little starchy aftertaste, or susceptibility to a disease that causes black spots and skin cracking (and this could just be from other factors like position in the orchard). Timing - most of these took quite a few more years to bear first fruit, and a few still haven't after about 20 years. Given these low odds I still plant seedings just because they are easy and cheap, and you can always graft to them if too bad. Now I have the luxury of better seed sources (like 2 excellent varieties planted together and remote from other pollen) but do not have any results on these yet. But at home where I have limited space I go for the good grafted trees and love 'em. Good luck with your pawpaw patch.

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

Most of my flowers fell off with the flower stem, but a few have remained and it looks like tiny fruits are starting. Too small for pictures yet...

I did notice small flies hanging around the flowers so maybe they pollinated them. I never noticed a bad smell from the flowers, unfortunately. My trees are located at the edge of my property and I was hoping to use the smell to repel unwanted guests.... lol


Erik

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

On a related note to the post before mine, I am trying to grow sunflower seedlings. I'm pretty certain they aren't crossed with any other variety. I hope they produce tasty fruits! I may have to wait years to find out..

Re: Asimina triloba "paw paw"
 

I have some flowers on sunflower trees that seams to be polinated. Just hope to get fruit for the first time!