Red Fern Farm opened their scion wood sales and will probably be sold out quickly. So just in case anyone is interested.
8 Likes
Thanks for your return, Mr. Cothron.
1 Like
Thank You: wink:
Hello, All! New member Zone 8b, middle Georgia. I have been wanting to grow paw paws for several years- bought 1 5 years ago, didn’t realize I needed 2 for pollination and it didn’t survive. I ordered 3 from OGW 2 years ago, none leafed out. Bought 2 locally last year, deer ate them before I could plant. (They were twigs). Bought another, my dog dragged it out of its pot and it disappeared. 
I want to try again, I am nothing but persistent (stubborn). Rather than order from OGW again, are there smaller growers closer to me you could recommend? Blake? I would much rather support members than a nursery across the country. Appreciate any help, I’ve enjoyed reading posts so far.
3 Likes
Is Florence White the same thing as Balarama? Preston’s pawpaw?
Yes it is.
1 Like
McKenzie farms sells them, but not sure of the varieties. You’d have to call them to order them though. They are located in Scranton, SC. Also edible landscaping (VA) has some grafted varieties for sale, and Just fruits and exotics has some but not many. Good luck!
Hi Laura, I offer high quality pawpaw trees for sale every June. I sell out extremely fast (to the great aggravation of many). I highly recommend joining the mailing list on my homepage to be notified when sales open. Grafted Pawpaw Trees For Sale (Asimina triloba) | Peaceful Heritage Nursery
3 Likes
I’m not aware of any niche nurseries selling pawpaws in Georgia but your local plant center may carry seedlings or be able to order them.
The independent garden center in my little town has carried pawpaws.
A friend cut down his Mango because of the watery texture. Zone 7a, eastern PA
4 Likes
Welcome back hdesousa.
1 Like
I have a running gag about how much I don’t like that variety. That juicy, watery pawpaw texture is just awful.
2 Likes
Anybody here dealing with Asimina webworms ( Omphalocera munroei)? First observation was in 2020 on my farm. I did little to control them in 2023 and paid for it in 2024 with major infestation. However with Eli’s help we went out about every 10 days to pull and destroy webworm tents. We destroyed probably 98-99%. We dropped them in buckets of water and submerged them.
They show up here in August and continue on until October. They are a classic tent worm type caterpillar and destroy the new twigs. They can even kill young trees and consume young bark as well. Not to be taken lightly.
You’ll notice brown leaves in August at the tips of branches. These get pulled by the webs into ‘tepee’ like shapes. They standout and are easy to spot, but you have to be looking.
They can destroy a lot of potential scion wood and fruiting twigs.
4 Likes
They show up here on at least one of my trees. I usually have to go out and bust up tents on the other fruit trees also though.
I need to figure out what I’m doing wrong with my pawpaws. They’re 3 year old seedlings and still only about 2 ft tall.
I have them in the lowest and coldest part of my property so they get enough chill hours, as we usually hit only between 350 and 450 hrs, but in that area they’re understory trees below some huge existing shade trees. When I researched before planting, I thought they were supposed to like that, but they do not seem to haha.
1 Like
Supposedly they grow faster in full sun (just be sure to cover them if they start to get scorched)
1 Like
What are the containers you initially start your seeds in and what do you use for soil?
Yeah that’s what I was worried about. I’m in very sunny FL and a lot of trees suffer heavily throughout our 6-month summer. Maybe I’ll have to construct some sort of removable shade structure so they can get full sun at ~30% less strength.
1 Like
That’s interesting - I’m in the upper limit of their range in PA, while you’re in the lower limit of their range. If I were you, I’d grow a different anonna 
but a good pawpaw is worth it.
I’d guess your hunch is right that they need more chill hours, but I don’t have any experience with these issues. My issues are usually the opposite!
Mines about a year and a half old and it only grew about 3 inches last year, and defioliated very early this fall (hopefully its not dead). Mines in full sun and I had 30% shade cloth around it, and that worked for the brutal hot and dry spring last year, but it got all sorts of leaf issues once it started raining constantly. I think they just grow slowly.
For what its worth, I don’t think pawpaws need chill hours, or need very little. I remember reading that dormancy in pawpaws is more of a panic survival tactic that they’ve adapted as opposed to a rest period like it is for other temperate fruits.
1 Like
Pawpaws definitely need chill hours. They are a temperate species and not adapted to tropical or subtropical environments. Zone 9 seems to be about their limit, possibly they might survive in zone 10 due to at least some chill hours and frost, but would not thrive like they do in zones 5-8.
They thrive in a zone 5-8 environment with plenty of humidity, direct sun, wind protection, soil moisture, soil drainage, and very high soil fertility.