Is paw paw or persimmon (?)

is this paw paw or persimmon (or something else?). There are several adult persimmon trees but I haven’t located an adult paw paw tree.

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That’s a pawpaw.

thanks. can seedlings like this be dug up and then grafted onto?

Yes they can! The challenge is that something that size probably has a root at least two feet deep and if you chop off the tap root you’ll want to be very diligent with watering. It can be done. You might be better off getting a bunch of seedlings from a nursery for cheap but it doesn’t hurt to try.

thanks! digging down 2 feet is not an option. my understanding is that the male send out runners so just clearing the canopy probably won’t get me fruit (?)

There’s a method I’ve learned from James Dingus on pawpaw chronicles (YouTube). If you find larger trees chances are there’s little sucker trees around it. Dig down between the sucker tree and the mother tree and cut the feeder root. Leave the sucker there for a couple of weeks to establish on it’s own then dig the sucker up preferably in the spring when they start to leaf out.

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great info! would all the suckers be males?

The suckers will be the same as the parent, assuming it isn’t grafted.

Pawpaw are both male and female.

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I think you might be confusing pawpaw with persimmon. Pawpaw flowers begin as female and become male after a few days.

Thanks! Yes I was confused. Persimmons are male/female. I have several persimmon trees that are very tall and just now able to see if they are male/female. Someday maybe they’ll have a cheap DNA test.