Paw paw trees

[1dog1cat6chicks]

Does anyone have paw paw trees (asimina triloba)? My daughter used to grow these for a local guy who is a huge paw paw proponent, and we now have three in our yard. They’re several years old and this year a couple of them have flowers!!! Which means potential fruit! She tells me I have to hand pollinate them, and I was wondering if anyone had done that and if it works. Please share your experience!

 

[Sally PB]

I don't, but have thought about trying to grow them.

Watching to see what others have to say...

 

[Critter721]

Yes, I have a wild pawpaw grove in my back woods. I've never grown any myself; these were already pretty big when we moved here. I've never had to hand pollinate, so can't help you there. My challenge has always been getting to the fruit before the animals do!

Congratulations on your first flowers, very exciting! Hopefully you'll have some yummy fruit come fall!

 

[24Elsinore]

Does anyone have paw paw trees (asimina triloba)? My daughter used to grow these for a local guy who is a huge paw paw proponent, and we now have three in our yard. They’re several years old and this year a couple of them have flowers!!! Which means potential fruit! She tells me I have to hand pollinate them, and I was wondering if anyone had done that and if it works. Please share your experience!

The difficulty in getting fruit from paw paw is that they cannot self-pollinate so there needs to be other individual paw paws around. Additionally, paw paw are colony forming, so when you see a thicket of paw paw trees, it's probably all the same individual that is growing through runners. On top of that they are primarily fly pollinated (hence the maroon, foul smelling flower) who aren't as efficient as bees and wasps at pollinating. Put this all together and it can be hard to find fruits if you just let nature take it's course.

I have never hand pollinated but I have met some people who have and they get a lot more fruits. I find the fruits delicious, and people ought to take more advantage of them as it's a wonderful North American tree. I salute you for your efforts and let us know how they go!

 

[Acre4Me]

We collect fruits some years - as PawPaws tend to cycle between heavy and light producing years. If you can hand pollinate, then do so.

Here is some PawPaw ice cream I made a few years ago. Yes, it was tasty! The PawPay texture is a good compliment in ice cream, and would likely do well in regular custard or a sauce too.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

We have a large stand of them where our property meets the river. We only realized they were there last year. Ours are far to tall to hand pollinate though. Most are 20ft high with most of the flowers in the top 5ft or so. Supposedly the flowers smell like dead flesh and I’ve read that some people hang roadkill in the branches to help attract the specific kind of flies that pollinate the flowers. Personally I have no interest in this and if you have any neighbors in site or smell range they may not appreciate it.

 

[writerskramp]

Pawpaw used to be standard around here.. Old Injun. There is actually one back in the woods off the trail if I can find it again.. Have thought of planting them through out my woods as well, but you gotta be quick harvesting. They don't last long.. only thing that holds me back is preserving, any information on that one?

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I think they have to be used in 3 days or less or they start to ferment. I know someone on here has a recipe for PawPaw butter (like apple butter) that is supposed to be really good.

 

[24Elsinore]

We have a large stand of them where our property meets the river. We only realized they were there last year. Ours are far to tall to hand pollinate though. Most are 20ft high with most of the flowers in the top 5ft or so. Supposedly the flowers smell like dead flesh and I’ve read that some people hang roadkill in the branches to help attract the specific kind of flies that pollinate the flowers. Personally I have no interest in this and if you have any neighbors in site or smell range they may not appreciate it.

Yeah I don't think I'd ever advocate for hanging carrion in trees. I will advocate for paw paws by saying the scent of their flowers is not very strong, so no one should feel like being a bad neighbor for having a paw paw. Hanging carcasses in trees on the other hand...

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Yeah I don't think I'd ever advocate for hanging carrion in trees. I will advocate for paw paws by saying the scent of their flowers is not very strong, so no one should feel like being a bad neighbor for having a paw paw. Hanging carcasses in trees on the other hand...

Yeahhh. I live half a mile from the patch we have and I still don’t want anything to do with hanging dead things in trees.