Anyone have PawPaw fruit?

Sorry to throw cold water on the excitement but my understanding is that zone 5 is too far north for the fruit to ripen. The tree will survive but you won't get any mature fruit. I was also thinking about growing it and even saw a nice specimen at The Garden in the Woods of the New England Wildflower Society but they assured me that they never got any ripe fruit. It has been years and years since I had any but I do remember my mother making a wonderful paw paw bread (like banana bread) one of the times I brough some home after a Boy Scout hike in southern Illinois. Reading all the great information makes me wonder about growing it in a container on the deck...

I bought two pawpaws last year and planted them between two pecan trees where they get shade most of the day, but I was scared of scorching them as seedlings. Should I transplant them to a sunnier spot this fall? They are about 2ft tall.

Ohio State says that Asimina triloba is native to zone 5, northeast Ohio and produces edible fruits. http://ohioline.osu.edu/b865/b865_04.html

yeah baby!!!!
thats what I want to hear!

I figure if I can get artichokes to winter over outside I should have a chance with a pawpaw!!!!

Now I need to know how you get your artichokes to survive the winter. I planted them for the first time this year with thoughts of digging them up and storing them in the garage. And I'll have to get the A. triloba too. So much temptation in the world.

I have already eatten 2 artichokes from it
I've always dug them up and tried to winter them and always loose them
This past fall I had no time and left them in the ground
When I went to start planting in the spring (it was may) I saw them starting......

cchik,
You shouldn't have any problem getting pawpaws to survive and fruit in z5 NY. Don't know where you're located in relation to Amherst, but here's a nursery that offers several good pawpaw varieties, as well as seedlings and seed:
http://www.geocities.com/nuttreegordon/0Kgordon.htm

I went to that nursery yesterday and they seemed REALLY deserted!

hbjb,
I've never been to JHG's nursery, but I know his reputation, world-wide, as a nut/minor fruit tree propagator, and have purchased plant materials, mail-order from him - and have been well-pleased.
I don't know how much of his business is mail-order and how much is local, on-site - but I'd hazard a guess that most of it is mail-order.
If you went there expecting a typical 'garden center', like at one of the big box stores, or even one of the smaller mom & pop operations, where they don't actually grow their own nursery stock, but purchase it from large propagators, I'd suspect it probably didn't look like much to you.
January at a nursery in NY? No, I wouldn't expect it to be bustling with activity.

Hey I'm glad this thread got bumped again. Maybe this will be the year I will get some PawPaw to eat.

amherst is only a few hours away and in May I go to a show in Buffalo
I'll have to check it out

The best time of the year to find Paw Paws is the end of Sept. when they start ripening. You might try farmers markets to buy them. Also the best way here in MO that people grow them is in a patch of at least 3 trees close to a water source of some kind. They taste very much like a banana custard. Good luck in your search.

I clicked on that above link. I was readign Gordons commentary and had to go back and read a couple of times. Was shocked when I read about 3cc battery acid. Somebody wanna tell me what battery acid for and why it not killing the plants. Read and seen some strange and different things, but this one blew my mind away.

After reading a bit it looks like the soil is very alkaline from the lakebed and the battery acid is used to acidify the soil. I used to use muratic acid to acidify fish tanks for south american fish that liked there water slightly acidic.

In researching Paw-Paw's I've found they are the larval food for the zebra swallow tailed butterfly (think that's the right name)- so I'm wondering if the tree will grow reliably in the gulf coast area. The fruit would be a real bonus! It sounds good. I saw a dwarf variety on one of the growers listed - I don't have a lot of space for two trees. Anyone know about these?
Now, battery acid as soil conditioner - that's one I hadn't heard of. (a new use for recycled batteries!!!)

There is a florida native pawpaw (with larger flowers) but I am not aware of any material being written about the fruit. Also, for the poster from Ohio, there is an annual Pawpaw festival in Ohio where fruit tasting as well as products made from Pawpaws are tasted. (I hear the Pawpaw beer is good, but the desserts are worth the trip alone).

~Chills

Chills,
About 18 months ago, I made a batch of pawpaw cookies and brought 'em in to share with folks here at work. Within 15 minutes, a dozen people who ate them were experiencing vomiting & diarrhea. Including me, and my daughter, who ate a couple when they came out of the oven. For most of us, the 'malady' ran its course in 24 hrs, but the director was out for 3 days.
I still catch h-e-l-l about it - in a good-natured way - lots of ribbing about my pawpaw cookies.
I threw out all the pulp I had frozen.
Doubt I'll ever get anyone here to ever try one again.

What caused it?
I mean is there edible and unedible pawpaw?
did they at least taste good...going down.....not coming back up....

Hello PawPaw people! (Well, OK. Maybe not... like some, I've never tasted a Paw Paw...) But that's what leads me to ask this question... What does the fruit look like when it's ripe? Right now, there's only one fruit on my 7 year old Paw Paw tree (finally!!!), and it's green and sort of hard. Will it change color? About what time of year will it be ripening? (I'm in a zone 8.) I'm so excited that I might just get to try a Paw Paw! Thanks for any help that you all can give me.
-Martha

Lucky...That's weird. I've read about university researchers making baked goods using pawpaw and I've tried breads with pawpaw in it at the festival a couple years back. (didn't try the beer, though).

You will be able to tell your pawpaw is ripe by the smell. The fruit will also tend to change color (either lighter or darker, depending on the kind) and it will also soften.

~Chills (who is still waiting for his 6 trees to produce, but two of them did bloom this year, one before the freeze which dropped all its flowers and one afterwards)

Martha
was there more blooms and fruit and they fell off?
or was there only one bloom and thats it?
how tall is it?

I'm still struggling on with my 2 small seedlings
but I took a big step by finally planting them in the ground
I've been keeping them in large pots and just sinking them pot and all in the ground
We were bringing in fill to get the low lands up above the lake level (in spring I end up with 2 acres under water)so I didn't want to plant them where they might have to be moved or buried
I planted them where the blueberries grow well figuring it's acid soil there

The one took the transplant well
The other died back to the lower branch but I now see new growth coming out below the lower branch so I think it will make it

I haven't invested anymore money in any more trees 'cause I want to try a fruit before
I spend more on something that I may or may not like

In researching I want to buy a Susquahanna......

But PPPLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEEE
If any one gets an extra fruit
PPPPPLLLLEEEEAAASSSEEEEE
can you send me one
I'll pay the postage
If I can send hatching eggs priority and they make it , a fruit wrapped
in bubble wrap should make it
I'm not worried about what it looks like
I just want a taste

gee
sound like begging to me.......rotflmao


Chills
They didn't set any fruit at all?
how big are the trees?
are the blooms pretty?
are they all the same variety?
Hybrids?
They take the cold well?

Hi everyone ....I am a little confused here ...in Australia the Paw Paw is very common...like mangos....the reason I am confused is that I have always thought Americans called Paw Paws ....Papayas and that they are eaten for breakfast in the hot months.....so hearing that people don't know what they taste like amazes me!
Is it a climate thing? or are your Paw Paws something else (not papayas) Could someone please enlighten me? :)

*G*. You're right. What you are thinking of we do call papayas. This was in one of the earliest posts;

"You have to be careful when using a search engine because paw-paw is also a name given to papaya in some places, esp. Australia."

There is also a different fruit we call paw paw, and it's native to the US. There are several good links in this thread that will show you the differences.

HTH
Margo

Gee Margo thanks ....I did not know that....that site was very interesting...some of those paw paws have pretty flowers....I can sure see why everyone is interested...what with the History...attractive tree ...pretty flowers and edible fruit ...always a treasure that any gardener .....I found it in my garden "bible and it says zones 5-10 in a woodland setting....it is a member of the custard apple family....frost hardy if sheltered....moist well drained soil....hates dry periods. Well I am familiar with and love the Custard Apple....so you have to love it's rellies....good luck everyone! :) chrissy

Oh I forgot to say Lucky_P....your story about everyone getting sick...I found that these paw paws could be dangerous for the following reason......my dear hubby loves Custard Apples....and ate one- seeds skin and all....it was pretty big .......next thing I know he went into violent cramps vomiting and "the runs"....I rushed him to the Hospital and when I told the nurse what he had eaten he was rushed into Emergency.He was very ill...and they explained that it was the skin and seeds of the fruit that is very deadly and he was lucky to have survived!...that white sap that oozes out is very bad for you too....anyway because it is related I thought that I should point that out to you all because after your story....I think that it must be the same and perhaps someone accidently put the skin or seeds or both into the stuff your folk ate....so be on the safe side just in case and don't eat the seed or skin...only the flesh.

Crestedchick....

The blooms are a dusky maroon-purple not exactly pretty but interesting and a welcome sight. The largest tree I have is maybe about 8 feet tall . I have 3 seedlings and 3 named varieties. The ones that bloomed were named variety plants (Susquehanna and Rappahannok). No fruit was set, sadly.

The only problems I have had with regard to cold damage was on two of the seedlings I had planted in Tubex plant shelters. The next spring I found that all growth above the level of the shelter from the previous year had died. It seems that such shelters can prevent proper hardening off of trees planted within them. One of the seedlings still has its shelter on it and there have been no further problems (but I did take the other shelter off and that tree has done just fine without it).

~Chills

I live in southeastern NC near the coast, and this past September I FINALLY got to taste the paw-paws from my tree! (Actually, just one paw-paw fruit was produced!) I only ate the inside part, and saved the seeds. The fruit inside smelled like tropical fruit and had the consistency of custard. The taste was sweet and "tropical", with a hint of vanilla. Very unusual flavor. (I don't eat a lot of tropical, exotic fruits!)

The tree is about 7 feet tall and seven years old. When I planted it, it was quite small... it was only in a one gallon container. At some point, I'll see if I can get those big seeds to sprout.
-Martha

This message was edited Feb 12, 2008 7:56 PM

Martha,
I'm glad that you got to taste your pawpaws, I'll be getting my first this spring, I guess I'll have to wait awhile for them to mature, I'm hoping they'll be nice shrubs in the meantime.

I have a small backyard, & plan to plant them along the western fence, sort of underneath some pines (which may be removed). Right now, back there, I have some camellias, nandinas, pieris, mugo pines, & a small oakleaf hydrangea. Sounds pretty shaded, but they would get almost full morning sun, & the other plantings are pretty sparse...