Does anyone know when (approximately) to expect pawpaws to start waking up in western WA? I planted three small grafted trees from Raintree a couple months ago and the buds aren’t even swelling the slightest yet. I scratched the bark on one of them and it’s still green, so I guess I should be more patient, but just curious how late they tend to leaf out here. Would be sad if all three are duds!
I have some waking up. Some still dormant. Give them time.
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Pawpaw are late bloomers 
They and my jujube seem to wake up later than most things in my yard.
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I took a few shots of mine,in different locations.Of course,the ones in more direct sunlight are farther along,but not a lot.They need more heat than we’ve had,to get them going.
If yours have flower buds,Winn,they will probably look something like these,in the bottom photo.Leaves are still,slow to go.
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Thanks! No flowers on any of mine, and one of them (first photo) shows the leaf buds growing slightly, but the other two are still basically just sticks:
Glad to hear mine are about where they are expected to be!
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All look good to me.
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Would a double grafted(two varieties grafted to a rootstock) pawpaw be self-fertile?
Can I buy one like this?
I am in northern Illinois and I have heard that grafted trees do not winter as well as seed grown varieties. Is there any truth to this?
Yes, though I’ve read that it can be hard to prevent one variety from becoming dominant with pawpaws.
Not that I know of, but it’s a great idea.
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Same thing has happened to a few of mine. I was thinking it was birds. They also definitely pick off the baby fruits, which makes my blood pressure rise. So far have gotten good crops though.
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I’m not sure about the over wintering of grafted Pawpaws,but have read,concerning them dying mysteriously,after growing fine for a few years.It seems that the seedlings,don’t need to be babied as much.Varieties may also be a part of it.
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@cowardly_lying I agree with Bradybb … grafted trees i believe are generally accepted to have a shorter lifespan than seedlings.
I don’t know if they are necessarily less cold-hardy but I could see that possibly being the case.
However, i wouldn’t let it dissuade me from planting grafted pawpaws.
Where are you in zone 5? Tony, long time member here @tonyOmahaz5 , has grown pawpaws longer than many people here.
As far as I know, he has Shenandoah and Susquehanna among other varieties. Definitely those are grafted varieties. He is in zone 5 Omaha, NE. Hope he will chime in to let you how his grafted pawpaws do in a cold zone.
Grafting Pawpaw is easy.
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im trying 2 grafted paw paws here in z4. going to plant them against the south wall of my house. ill keep them buried with snow most of the winter to help protect them until theyre established enough to handle more cold. i figure if i can keep them shorter than the top of the house, it will keep them protected from our N.W winds. ones pens. golden the others allegeny. both are supposed to be early ripening and cold hardy to z4b .rootstocks seedlings i got from Nash nursery in MI.
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I think if you can get them past 2-3 years without dying you will be good to go. Pawpaw are pretty tough and they have taproots that will go down to warmer soil. Many will regrow from the roots even if the top dies. My gripe with them is it take 2-3 years for them to establish and really start growing much. They start out pretty slow.
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Don’t forget to consider flower bud hardiness in addition to the tree itself. No point of growing any fruit tree if flower buds got killed by your winter cold or late freeze, frost very often.
Last year, most of my Shenandoah flower buds were killed by late frost. The flowers were not even open yet when the cold hit. The late frost also took most apricots, cherries, some cold-sensitive peach buds. It did not damage any pome fruit.
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fortunitly our deep snowpack keeps everything asleep until mid may . ive never lost blooms here because of this. if we ever have a no snow year then it would be a issue but hasnt happened in my 50 yrs.
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I went out last night with a flashlight to observe my trees because I work very late. There were earwigs eating the flower buds! The damage looked just like that. Needless to say, I sprayed the base of the tree with pesticide and sprinkled sluggo plus around. They damaged dozens of Shenandoah flower buds leaving only a few.
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Wow- earwigs! Nice catch but sorry to hear they did so much damage.
I’ve seen them in the house occasionally but will have to keep an eye out in the orchard.
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What eats earwigs?
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Toads.
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