Starting pawpaw seeds

New video how to store and stratify pawpaw seeds (English subtitles :wink:).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YoSaaVq3fo

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Some pictures of a seedling from an air pruning pot. I think it looks really good!

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Paw paws wintered and have leafed again:)
They are still in the porch, and even the late August one has gotten bigger.
It will be early June before last frost. Anybody got site suggestions for planting them out?

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The wild ones are blooming in Kentucky.

Still snow here and frost at night. I’m a bit north of you, grin.

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Full sun, out of the wind on deep, fertile soil is ideal. Or late afternoon shade is fine too, at least here in 7B Md.

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What ever happened with the white pawpaw tree?

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I’ve moved my seedlings outside. They get an hour or two of direct sun mid-late morning and dappled shade for the rest of the day. Can I set them up for a little more sun to get better growth, or is that about what they can take?

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I’ve got a few in ground seedlings…mine are just pushing leaves here. By far the last things to leaf out.

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Looks great - I’ve had similar results using Microkote paint for the inside of pots.
You definitely end up with nicer roots than a traditional pot, where typically the roots are clumped toward the bottom and circle.

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At that age/size, my opinion is not to increase the light.
Ideally you would put them to in full sun but under 50% shade cloth or something that can simulate that.
If that’s not an option, I’d try to find a 100% dappled area.
Looking good though!

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Thanks! My one all day shade spot is currently taken up by mushroom logs, so I guess I’ll leave the pawpaws where they are unless I see any signs of sun damage. They’ve been there a week now, so I’m not too worried.

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Looking at them yesterday, I saw some very light sunscald, but only on the oldest leaves that had come out while the trees were still inside. So I think I’m OK, but I can cut the direct sun in half by moving them 6 feet over if I need to.

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Sounds like you are tuned-in well to what they need, so I say follow your gut!
With brand new seedlings, you can’t go wrong with more shade in my opinion.

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@tomIL

How did your pawpaw project come out?

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@LuccaOccidentalis

How are your seedlings doing?

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@jcguarneri

How big are they now? In my experience they are slow growing trees the first couple of years.

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They’re currently 10-18" tall, but I think that they would be significantly taller if I had left them in containers for another year, hadn’t grafted them this spring, and there wasn’t a severe drought this summer. Most of their current height came in their first year in containers, and I transplanted them out in the early summer the following year. They grew some, but not a whole lot. I suspect competition from the nearby oak tree is the biggest factor (not ideal planting, but I’m working with what I have). It also became apparent between leaf symptoms and a soil test that there was a magnesium deficiency, which I corrected with lime. I grafted them this spring, and with the severe drought, I don’t think they even got back to the height they had been! We’ll see how they do going forward.

I also think that growing them in a root pruning container tells the tree that it’s gone as far as it can with the tap root, so put more energy up top. Once it’s in the ground, it probably switches back to “expand the tap root” mode for a few years.

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@jcguarneri

The roots are huge , so i agree with you that is likely where it’s energy is going. They are very difficult to transplant if they have any size to them at all.

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The best method I found for propagating pawpaws was to eat the fruits outside and spit the seeds in the same spot. Little work and lots of seedlings. I tried sprouting some inside but never had good success.

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