Starting pawpaw seeds

Clarklinks,

Well, I agree in part. Forests are not static. When pawpaws are in the understory, they tend to rely heavily on asexual reproduction from the roots. They can go on this way for a long time in the understory with no sexual production. That is not to say that if genetically distinct trees are in close proximity in the understory they won’t fruit and produce viable seeds. It is simply that with little access to light, they don’t tend to fruit as prolifically. Logging, fire, tornados, disease, and simple aging causes forests to cycle. There are stages of growth where understory trees that are established do get access to direct sun and pawpaws fruit more prolifically under these conditions provided they have a pollination partner.

Commercial fruit like apples have been manipulated to the extreme through controlled breeding compared to pawpaws. “Tame” pawpaws like “Tame” American persimmons are not that much different from their wild counterparts. The fruit may be a bit larger and have some specific characteristics that were selected for, but they are pretty much the same tree.

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I’ve only started pawpaw a couple years, but I start them the same way I start peaches.

That is I try to plant them in some mulched ground right after the fruits are picked. I just rip out the seeds and push them couple inches in the mulched ground.

I could have gotten lucky on the pawpaws, but I’ve been doing this w/ peaches for quite some time.

I don’t keep track of actual germination, but just plant lots of seeds. Seedlings seem to come up.

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My family owns old growth woods and the what residents there call lowland pawpaw grow along the creeks. They have steep hills on both sides and have the best of everything where they grow. Some patches of 30+ trees have been there longer than me in filtered sunlight. None ever die to speak of. Once in awhile a hundred year old oak, walnut etc tree drops but very little changes. Branchrs , nuts, and leaves fall and everything else is nearly the same. The pawpaw produce heavy down there. The creek does allow some light in because anything that grows in its path will wash out. Maybe micro climate pawpaw might be a better name for them. Its much warmer and more humid in those bottoms. Residents call those areas hollows were they grow.

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I did that…and along came the squirrels and chipmunks. Out of the several dozen I planted in ground and in pots they missed 1.

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all the seeds I have started thus far I start out early to compensate for our shorter summer up here in S Wisconsin. Some I have just germinated starting in March and planted outside as sprouted seeds mid-may and others I germinated earlier still, grew in buckets in shade for a year, then transplanted dormant.

Sadly, I went through a couple moves and am not sure how everybody fared thus far…finally in a permanent house w/ like 20 seedlings in the woods but I have to go looking for them after leaf-out.

It looks like an early spring here. Our normal last threat of frost is mid-April, but I don’t see any nights in the long-term forecast near freezing. I took all of my pawpaws which are dormant and spent the winter in my cold room and put them on my deck. They are in currently in 1 gal Rootbuilder II containers so a hard freeze could hurt the roots. As soon as I see an indication of a pawpaw breaking dormancy, I will transplant it to a 3 gal container. The mix in the larger container should provide enough insulation even if the temp drops slightly below freezing for a night or two. If the forecast changes dramatically, I can always bring them back in.

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A few are germinating now.

I saved the seeds from some Pawpaws that I was extremely lucky to find at the market in the fall. I cleaned and rinsed the seeds off and put them into a zip baggie, along with a damp paper towel. I put the bag into the fridge in early October last year. I changed out the paper towel a couple times over the winter, but otherwise left them alone.

I finally pulled the bag out of the fridge and put it in a warm spot on the counter in my kitchen on March 11. Today, March 31, there are about a dozen with roots clearly growing, and most of the remaining seeds are swelling, so they are not far behind.

Here is what they look like today, after just shy of three weeks in the warmth:

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I’ve had some luck germinating seeds but never any in establishing the seedlings. If you have any luck getting your seedlings set up let us know what you had work for you.

I hope you didn’t let your seeds dry out too long in the open air. They can dry out fast, and this will kill them. Keep them in a humid - but not sopping wet - environment.

Did you plant or pot up your seeds shortly after taking the photo?

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Thanks @Matt_in_Maryland, I was careful to keep them moist. I potted them up into 4"x14" Tree-pots shortly after germination, and they are now outside in a shady part of the yard. They have not emerged from the soil yet, but I checked a couple and they are definitely growing a nice tap-root so far.

I have had to go to great lengths to protect my tree seedlings from the Tree Rats. I lost 24 potted apricot and chestnut seedlings in one afternoon this spring, when I left them outside, unprotected.

Nine Tree-pots fit perfectly in an old milk crate, and I found that if I inverted another crate over the top, the squirrels cannot get to the soil and seeds, but rain and filtered sunlight can make it in.

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My pawpaws slowly but steadily continue to get bigger. They were planted by seed at least 3 years ago. Here’s the best one-- almost 3 feet tall now:

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I finally see lots of paw paw loops popping out of the soil! And some already have leaves! I’m excited!



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Tom,

Those are Mango crossed with Shenandoah. You need 2 seedlings for cross pollination. Good luck.

Tony

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Tony,

I’ve bought 2 named varieties, Overleese and Susquehanna last year. These newly spouted paw paw will be planted together with the bought stuff to ensure cross-pollination. I have more than I can keep but I’m sure my brothers would not mind to have some planted in their back yards.

Tom

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Look who finally peeked their head above ground!

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My paw paw batch that I grow from seeds. Some from TonyOmaha’s kind heart, sending me the REAL FRUITS, Mango and Shenandoah, some from wild, unknown that I was able to collect a few…

In a few years, I’m sure I’ll have paw paw comes out of my ear! :grin:

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Tom,

Looks like you are going to have a Upick pawpaws patch in about 5 years.

Tony

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And if you’re interested, I’m going to hire you to be the director of my UPick pawpaw business! :grin:

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This is video how i do it with pawpaw seed :grin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LOk-zHaw8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaZWE-mpGZw

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