they leafed out in ground with no protection. if i see them struggling ill put some shadecloth around them. the weathers been pretty cool so they arent really stressed. they were also mulched with chicken bedding yesterday. ill keep a close eye on them and see what happens.
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What is everyones experience with these. Are the cages actually necessary? I had read that the deer dont touch them. Dont want to have to go buy another roll of fencing!
I don’t have deer pressure myself, but from my research etc deer will rub the crap out of small trees and can kill them.
So, you prob need that roll 
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I used old screens that I’ve re-screened. Acts like a light shade cloth and it’s free
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I absolutely use welded chicken wire around every single pawpaw tree. I have heavy deer pressure. It need not be super wide; a 3-4’ circle is fine. Just enough to allow the tree to grow unimpeded and dissuade deer from rubbing. Deer will rub any size pawpaw up until they are large and mature perhaps.
Welded chicken wire is much stronger and rigid than woven chicken wire.
Also this protects from string trimmers, accidental damage, fallen branches, etc. That $5-$6 investment in each tree pays dividends, believe me.
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I would love to purchase an Avatar pawpaw, but last we spoke I don’t believe you ship potted trees to NV due to restrictions. If this changes, let me know.
Certainly something gnawed on my pawpaws last year. Not sure if deer or something else. But it was less bad than all of my other fruit trees.
Groundhogs have nailed mine after I removed simple 2 ft H 3’ W chicken wire circles around each tree.
Plum near kilt one of them.
Armadillos can destroy freshly planted ones as they shred the soil looking for food at night.
Young trees close to fruit-bearing trees can be bent in half by coons and possums using them as poles to get to the nearby fruit.
Wire protection with optional electric charge is a must in my book.
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MA or NH? It’s probably voles if NH and voles or rabbits if in MA. I think animals up here like to try them out since they don’t know what they are, but they quickly learn they don’t taste that great. I haven’t had a vole chew any bark yet, but I have had chippies get up into my seedlings and tear a few up and plant their own sunflower seeds in their place. 
Mine need protection from my wife and her weed wacker. lol
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String Trimmers kill thousands of fruit trees a year if not more
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They are the deer of landscaping tools.
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Pawpaws tend to do poorly with too much water, from my experience. They like being near it, not submerged in it.
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A proper ring of mulch around each tree makes it easier to stay away from the trunk with string trimmers…
I hear many people say to put a $10 tree in a $20 hole and I think this is a good example of why the prep work is important.
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I’m kind of fascinated by pawpaws. I got some seeds on etsy and have a couple sprouting but I’m not optimistic about ever getting fruit. I don’t think we get enough chill hours in 10a Florida. There are a bunch of Florida native pawpaw species I’ve thought about trying to obtain but most everything I’ve heard is that they don’t really taste that good or produce very much.
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Unless you can keep them potted and feign winter by refrigeration for a few months each year your prospects are slim. I’m not aware of any warm growers with success in Florida, plus the soil is challenging in many places.
You may want to consider at least a few branches grafted to cherimoya or other Annona species so you get some fruit. Check for compatibility first too.
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In NH. I did have 2 foot tall cages around them. Tops were bit off.
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Every pawpaw is native to Florida, so its all about your location. 10a can be alot of places in Florida. Anything north of I-4 has a pretty good chance at growing common pawpaws, and they’re native to the Gainsville area (not 10a just a point of reference). There used to be a pawpaw at USF Botantical Garden in Tampa, but that was in the 80s and 90s. SE Florida (PB, Broward, Miami, Keys) is too shallow, unless you are on the Palm Beach Ridge (but I think thats all state parks). Same issue with most of the coast, but its not impossible. Orlando/Lakeland/Samford area should be possible. I wouldn’t worry about the chill hours until it becomes an issue, the rest of Florida’s climate is trying to kill it more actively.
They do go dormant even without cold weather. Mine went to sleep in November and October respectively over the last 2 years, and woke up in late March/early April. I pulled it because it had a weak root structure from the start (was rootbound when I bought it) and instead of watching it struggle for the next 4 years, I am just gonna try again with another one.
Cherimoyas are funnily the only annona I know of that needs some chill. As far as I know, I don’t think there has been any successful pawpaw grafts on annonas yet, but that doesn’t mean its impossible. Its definitely something I would be personally willing to try in the relatively near future.
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It is so interesting to me how deer seem to prefer different plants in different areas of the country. Here in southern Indiana I have my 3 pawpaws in a big open field with only a few other trees in it and I let the grasses and forbs grow tall and right up to the trunks of the pawpaws. I mow maybe 2-3 times per year. No cages on the trees.
The deer have never even nibbled on the leaves or branches, although they may eat fallen fruit, but I have no direct evidence of this. I have huge numbers of deer around and see them in my yard and in my field day and night. Herds even bed down in the tall grasses in the field. You can see where the grasses are smashed down from them lying about.
They will, however, rub the trunks of any trees available so that could be an issue. My trees were around 5 feet tall potted plants with pretty thick trunks when I planted them many years ago so being larger may have helped them survive.
I bought them on a whim from an old farmer in Kentucky, and I knew nothing at all about pawpaws. I didn’t know what to do with them, so I just stuck them in the field and mostly let them fend for themselves after providing fertilizer and mulch the first year. I have never watered them even during drought. They just seem to be happy in this climate and soil.
At any rate, I probably should have caged them, but didn’t. Hey, if you can’t be good, be lucky!
Sandra
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I was told by an edible nursery owner that there was only one guy he knew of that had succesfully fruited an asimina triloba as far south as the Tampa area. But he also said that they put in a lot of effort to finally get some fruit and wouldn’t recommend it as being worth the effort.
Regardless, I’ve got seeds sprouting that cost me very little so I intend to plant a few out and see what happens. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a cold winter on occasion and they might fruit.
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