Hi everyone,

First, you need to know that I've been planning on planting fruit trees for a while. I'm thinking about doing it next spring. I'm not sure exactly what to plant, though. So far, I am leaning towards apricots.

Anyway, here is where I need advice. I was on garden.org, and I saw this article.

https://garden.org/learn/artic...

I've heard of this type of tree, and I've always wanted to try growing it. However, do you think this is something that I can grow in my area? How do you even use the fruit of this tree anyway?

To be simple, do you think it's a good idea for me to try growing this type of tree? Does anyone here have experience with this type of tree?

Can someone give me advice?

Jared

Paw paws like to be grown as an understudy tree (inside a forest)
rich soil like found in river areas .
They grow wild here , but I have not herd of them grown that far west
You might consider trying to find the fruit and eat some before going to all the effort of growing. It is an acquired taste , I like but most of the people I know do not.
I have only eaten the fruit fresh , It is full of large seeds and a bit difficult to eat.
the wild trees around here do not produce an abundance of fruit.

Jared, I'm in zone 8, the middle of SC. I had Pawpaw trees in my yard before we downsized and moved. They do well here, but I do not know how far north of here you can grow them. You will have to do some research there. Several points you need to know. Pawpaw's are distinctly male and female, you must have one of each in close proximity to each other to obtain fruit. I purchased two hoping I would get one of each, and proceeded to loose one over the winter, and had fruit on the other the following spring. Blew me away, for I knew there were no other trees nearby. A close check revealed that what I had purchased thinking it was a double trunked tree, was actually two trees planted in the same pot. "even a blind squirrel will find an occasional acorn." The fruit tastes a bit like banana, and has large seeds. They like moist, not wet, rich soil. I know of a patch of large plants growing on a creek bank near a large lake. They don't seem to make trees, more like large rambling shrubby like plants. Good luck. Bill

I've seen them form quite large trees, though it doesn't seem to be common here. And yes, they are usually understory trees/shrubs. I've seen large swathes, usually at the banks of streams. The largest I've seen grew in a sandbar near a large river.

I can't answer about growing it, but have you ever tasted one to know that you'd like it? But I've read it can be used to make bread, pies, ice cream, jams, pudding, even saw a recipe for salsa.

But I also read they have a very short shelf life, once they ripen and fall from the tree, they turn to mush very quickly, so they're only sold at local markets. Also the skin and seeds are toxic.

Here's a few links that might help you decide. But I'd still want to taste one first before going through the trouble.
https://www.allrecipes.com/art...
https://www.freep.com/story/ne...

Thank you all for getting back. After further research, I think I'll stick with what I know how to grow and I know I like. I think I'm gonna go with apricots.

I appreciate the input and the help.

Jared

Good decision, jnocholes- and I speak as someone with experience at trying weird things to grow before knowing if I'd even eat them.

I wrote about pawpaw for daves garden- but doubt all the links are still good.
This site seemed pretty good then
https://www.kysu.edu/academics...

A lot of cited articles have very old dates. I wonder if that was somebody's pet project for a while, but that person has moved on or lost funding. After my research, I felt they were too challenged for my yard. Wild pawpaw are very common around me near rivers. I still never catch them in season- only seen them once on the ground. Flowers are fun though.

jnicholes said: After further research, I think I'll stick with what I know how to grow and I know I like. I think I'm gonna go with apricots.

Aw... Don't be like that!
I planted paw paws for the butterflies...
Those zebra swallowtails are something!

I grew my trees from seed... was easily done... If you have enough property and shade to make the experiment, you aren't really out much.

Last spring, we had a real late killing frost, and lost all the tree fruit except the paw paws.
If we allow them to fully ripen, they're tasty. If we pick them green... they're nasty... You can say the same for persimmon.

As we get a little older, we find that we appreciate stuff that was inedible when we were kids.

https://gardens-in-the-sand.bl...

While it's true that the colony isn't self fertile, I hadn't ever heard of male paw paw...

They are very yummy. I go looking for them in the fall.

I only would mention, zebra swallowtail seems not found in Idaho,
https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/cre...).

more pawpaw https://mbgna.umich.edu/native....

Now I'm off the read your link, stone

gardengus said: ...but I have not herd of them grown that far west difficult to eat.

A friend in Reno, Nevada (pretty far west ) has a tree in her yard. It grows fine but I didn't care for the fruit so won't be adding one to my yard either. She said the biggest problem for her was the soil in Reno is very alkaline and PawPaws prefer acidic soil.

Let me think on it. I suppose I have room for both apricots and pawpaw because my house used to be a church, and that's not a joke.

I just don't know if I will like pawpaw or not. If I don't like it, what am I going to do with two trees?

If you don't like it, you can ignore them or cut them down. Course, you invest time and space gettnng to the point where you find out if you like them or not. Why not start with what you know you like?
I think living in a repurposed church sounds way cool. I'd love the space. Probably not the heating bill.

jnicholes said: my house used to be a church...
If I don't like it, what am I going to do with two trees?

You know...
I have the Alice's Restaurant movie downloaded onto a thumb-drive.
Seems like a church would make a neat place to live... it was certainly cool in the movie...

What would you do with the trees?
What do people typically do with ornamentals?
Enjoy the unusual plant(s)!

true, even if you don't eat them, some animals will try the gourmet novelty

stone said: You know...
I have the Alice's Restaurant movie downloaded onto a thumb-drive.
Seems like a church would make a neat place to live... it was certainly cool in the movie...

What would you do with the trees?
What do people typically do with ornamentals?
Enjoy the unusual plant(s)!

My house has a lot of history. It was a church for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I also happen to be a member of that church, but that's aside the point.

It belonged to a school after that, then three other people, now my family.

I actually found an 86 year-old bottle in the crawlspace. Members of another forum were able to date it to 1937.



I could go on and on about this house.

Nice salad. And, nice bottle. I bet plant propagations or floral arrangements would look great in there.

sedumzz said: Nice salad. And, nice bottle. I bet plant propagations or floral arrangements would look great in there.

I've actually been thinking about that. That's why I got a bulb garden planted last October. I really want this house to look nice.

The thread "Pawpaw caution" in All Things Gardening forum

I grew PawPaw for work and at home from seed, it takes a long tome to get a fruiting tree, about 10 years. This was in the Willamette Valley of Western OR. and my place in the foothills of the cascades, Sunset zone 6. They did very well and was the only fruit we bothered selling at the farmer's markets due to it's popularity and high value. The trees have lovely nearly black blooms and are monecious, both male and female parts on the same bloom. They do need another tree that is NOT a clone for fertilization.
"Pawpaw is self-incompatible, which means that pollen produced on a plant cannot pollinate flowers on the same plant. Instead, to produce fruit, a pawpaw flower must receive pollen from flowers on another tree."
This is very common for fruiting plants.
They may sucker in some areas, I had wonderful sandy loam and they did not, I found this to be the case with other trees. Although I did suspect that some of the other trees that suckered in different soil had trunk damage form rodents. They were also lovely in the fall turning a nice bright yellow.
Fruits are eaten by slicing them in half lengthwise and scooping out the custard like interior with a spoon. You won't find the fruits easily since they do have a very short shelf life so Farmers Markets are about the only place to find them and only in Oct. out here in the west.