A year ago a friend, who was selling his house in Fremont, CA, let me dig up an 18 year old Pawpaw tree he had grown from seed. He was quite proud of the fruit - the only one of his many Pawpaw trees worth preserving. Seemed like quite a long shot that it would survive, as the common wisdom that Pawpaw roots are easily damaged in transit - and this was a big Pawpaw!
I am amazed this tree survived after the way we had to butcher it to get it out of the ground. It was one of those potted plants the gardener forgot about. Left under some apple trees, it escaped the pot and grew sideways looking for sunlight.
We pruned the top quite a bit to match the loss of roots. For a tree that had been horizontal its whole life, it looked pretty good when I planted it veritcal. The tree woke up on schedule and grew a modest amount last year. Seemed very healthy and not at all stressed.
So, just wanted to report this story here for those of you may have heard that Pawpaws don’t transplant well. If I were out there in native Pawpaw country I wouldn’t hesitate to go out in the woods and dig up some 20 year old Pawpaw trees and bring them home.
I used to transplant paw paw suckers and they did fine. With I had kept the mother going but it was a crappy tree and I didn’t know how to graft them then. Much better way to propagate them than starting them from seed I think.
I have a couple too, well three, gave one to Chills. Both started growing thanks! Actually @Bradybb, everything made it, the blueberry, honeyberry, and paw paws. Thanks much for sharing this stuff.
I have some of the seeds heating up right now in pots,along with the Fig cuttings,Drew.
Joe,I’m trying to picture where this one was in his yard.If a person was facing the back of the house,was the tree on the right side,along the fence where the gate is?
The only fruit I got,came from that clump of trees on the left.
The last time there,with the new owners,the lady showed me one they found,on the right side,mixed in with maybe some Apple.
Did Bill say he liked your tree’s fruit the best?If those babies will stay on and grow,then there is a possibility of being self fertile. Brady
I have noticed that isolated paw paws can be (are always?) capable of producing fruit. Yeah, if the seeds are viable this should make them pretty close to the parent- at least increases the odds a great deal.
It was on the left side of the backyard (if you’re facing the back fence). I got the original part of the tree that was in the pot, but a very upright root sucker of the tree remains, very close to the fence and mixed in with the apple trees.
Bill said it was the only Pawpaw of his that liked the fruit enough to bother relocating the tree. I didn’t know until I just asked him, but he does believe it is self-fertile.
About 3-4 years ago i bought 3 small pawpaw about 50-70 cm high bare rooted and i have planted them in my garden and watered regularly, all of them “lived” about 2-3 years and than died.
When i say lived i mean they didn’t had growth more than few cm of new wood.
I have also transplanted one of my small 2 years old pawpaw and it was successful.
That’s a cool story JoeHewitt!
I have transplanted many small ones, almost all successfully. Until today, I had never heard of one that big being transplanted either. Congratulations. You’re the new guru. I bet you get a lot of questions about pawpaws now.
I think they are one of the most underplanted fruit trees out there.
John S
PDX OR
Before I had heard that pawpaws didn’t transplant well I transplanted about a dozen trees, and I was really a novice when it came to growing and transplanting trees back then, too, but nonetheless I think 11 out of 12 survived just fine. I have heard that pawpaws, unlike most other trees, transplant best after they’ve just started to break dormancy in the spring, and I think that is when I transplanted my first 12 trees. I can’t explain any of this, but that’s my anecdote to share.
Yes, that’s what it says on the Kentucky state site. I do that too and it helps. I think the roots are less brittle when they’ve woken up.]
JohN S
PDX OR
