First of all they are the largest American fruit. However sadly, I haven't yet to taste the fruit. I've heard it been described as a custardy banana even though they resemble a mango.
My initial experience with this fruit came from buying some small bareroot pawpaw seedlings off of Ebay. 2 out of 3 took but then quickly died the next winter. Fail #1
I then bought 2 larger bare root plants and those never woke from their dormancy. Fail #2
So I bucked up and bought 2 live plants from Flower world in Monroe. I put them in ground last year and this year they are still alive so I'm extremely excited about that.
The larger of the 2 trees also set flowers to my surprise. It could be our unnaturally warm weather too that is causing this. 90s in Early April is record setting here.
Paw paws do not ship well so it probably explains why not many Americans know about them. They are also only pollinated by one type of moth, which explains why not everyone has success growing them. I did speak to someone who has experience with them here in WA and they used the trick of tying a piece of chicken or fish to the tree to attract flies.
The flowers turn from green to deep red as it blooms.
Hi Ben!
ReplyDeleteI'm in Seattle, looking for the same thing - I want to try paw paws, and even maybe start my own tree to pollinate. Have you had success? And if you have - are there any suckers you'd be willing/able to share?
Hi Ben
ReplyDeleteHad you ever get the pawpaw fruits ripened in Seattle areas yet.
I am have a few pawpaw trees in north of Seattle and would like to hear the report from you. Thank you so much. Vincent
Any updates on the pawpaws? I'm interested in growing some of my own!
ReplyDeleteHi Ben, I'm interested in growing pawpaw too. I"m in North Seattle.
ReplyDeleteWe have 2 pawpaw trees in our yard in Kirkland that we planted 6 years ago, from Flower World. Only this year does it look like we might have more than 3 fruit. They can and do ripen in the last week of September!
DeletePawpaws have what’s known as a perfect flower: one that contains both male and female parts. As a rule these parts don’t mature at the same time and so a tree cannot self pollinate. You need two or more in the area. They are pollinated by flies, not moths, which is why hanging fish in the tree improves the pollination rate
ReplyDeletePawpaw flowers have both male and female structures but generally don’t mature at the same time and so they don’t self pollinate. You need two or more different clones to get a chance at fruit. They’re pollinated by flies, not moths, so hanging dead fish in a flowering tree is a good idea. They also propagate by root suckers so over the years one tree will become a patch of shoots.
ReplyDelete