grafted it last year and didn’t see any growth in the graft at all. it is full healed and calloused over nicely. i hope to see at least a little bit of growth this year…
pawpaws can be like watching grass grow during a drought. Unless they’re really root established in the landscape, you aren’t going to see very much happening until the third year.
If you plant a potted one with about a gallon of roots… it’s best not to think about it for 4-years.
One more thing I noticed/was brought to my attention. My friend and I grafted pawpaws in a forested area where he has wild suckers coming up and (he) noticed the ones we grafted three feet up didn’t grow much at all, however, the ones (I) grafted low (8") from the ground level did…
We usually graft as high as possible to avoid deer browse. And those we have been grafting are on 4’ tall suckers appx.
Of course, you never know with deer and we are probably wasting our time when not caging.
Dax
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The young ones LOVE nitrogen and deep/wide compost/mulch. I’ve never seen anything with such a love of Nitrogen.
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ooo thats good to know. i’ll hit it with more nitrogen this year. i gave it a bunch of mulch last year and some really rich soil
Is it chip grafted or whip grafted?.
whip
We put in 4 PawPaws in the fall of 2016. You are so right . . . a whole lot o nothin’ happened since then. I think they get too much sun - and we need to move them further into the ‘woods’.
Thanks for the nitrogen tip . . . will move them, and try that, too.
We bought:
Shenandoah / Susquehana / and 2 Native Paw Paws from Edible Landscaping.
@KikiVA Oh please don’t move them into the woods! They want sun for best fruiting. First two years I put 50 % shade over them- tomato cages with burlap around the outside but leaving the top open to the sun. First two years you want not too much sun AND not too much shade. Year three full sun. And wide and deep mulch forever. And lots of N first few years from March through June then stop. And water- deep soak every week absent one inch of rain- first two years.
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Hambone…good advice !
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Hambone - here, in VA, the PawPaw is found in the woods, as an understory plant. I just figured that I must be killing them with kindness, out in the sunny field! So, thank you for the instruction. I have found (as usual) conflicting information on what to do with the PawPaw. Some say full sun . . . some say filtered light.
I do have tomato cages. And I do happen to have burlap . . . (that was on sale at Home Depot at the end of the summer.) And of course - I’ll follow your advice on the Nitrogen and the deep mulch.
Maybe in a few years we will actually see a PawPaw. That is, if the squirrels, possum, and raccoons don’t see them first! 
By the way . . . great screen name! 
Love it.
Hambone is right. Shade cloth the first couple of years is mandatory where full sun and you’ll be set after. Your trees will grow more dense, fruit much better, grow stronger;
Feel confident. These guys know exactly what I know and your pawpaw trees should be allowed as much sun as possible.
Dax
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Thanks, guys. Will do!
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My Pawpaws sit on the edge of the woods but get plenty of sun and water. They have grown fairly slow and slower to fruit. The one thing I can say is they spread fairly rapid. I started with two trees and now I must have about 15 or so surrounding the first two.
I’ve been grafting to them to create different varieties in hope of different tasting pawpaws. My wife isn’t all about the flavor or smell… to her they smell like cat urine… and not all that much of banana.
I’m on the edge and am hoping with different varieties we will find something that is as exciting as I hear from others.
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That is so odd! I’m like that with Papaya. To me a Papaya smells like . . . . . well . . . . . puke.
And my husband just LOVES them! I’ve never smelled or tasted a PawPaw. Hopefully ours will develop, eventually, and we will get to experience it.
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I had some pretty good luck last year using tree tubes on 7 new pawpaws. They came in gallon pots and weren’t more than 12-18" tall to start but most put on a couple feet of vertical growth and 2 grew out the top of the 4 ft tube. I know it’s a little more spindly but I like it. The tubes take care of the first year shade also.
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