How to Grow a Common Pawpaw

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is usually remembered for the nursery rhyme, but this small tree deserves a bit more respect. Pawpaw has drooping leaves and fruit that give the tree a tropical feel. Fall foliage in shades of yellow to yellow-green add interest. The pawpaw is most often grown for its creamy fruit. Plant a pawpaw and soon you will be, "picking up pawpaws, puttin' 'em in your pocket." Read on to learn how to grow healthy pawpaws.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

PawPaw
Knife or garden shears
Shovel
Water
Mulch or other organic material

Step1

Select the planting site. Pawpaws prefer rich, slightly acidic, well-drained soil. Pawpaws will not grow in constantly wet soil. For the first year or two after transplanting, the pawpaw should receive filtered light. Seedlings will not survive in full sun. Once the tree is established, it will thrive in full sun.

Step2

Prepare the shrub for planting. Seedling trees should be planted in spring. Pawpaws can be purchased from nurseries balled-and-burlapped, bare-root or container grown. Container grown trees are reported to have the best transplant success. Remove all wire and twine from balled-and burlapped specimens and cut away half of the burlap over the rootball.

Step3

Dig the planting hole. The planting hole should be dug 3 to 4 times the width of the container or rootball and equal in depth.

Step4

Position the shrub. Place the pawpaw in the planting hole and add a small amount of the original soil to stabilize. Fill the hole with water and allow the rootball and surrounding soil to absorb. Backfill the remaining soil and water again deeply.

Step5

Dress the planting area. Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of commercial mulch or other organic material around the pawpaw and over the planting site. The mulch will help to retain needed moisture in the area. Pawpaw should be kept well-watered during the first transplant year and until the tree is firmly established.

Tips & Warnings

The common pawpaw can be successfully grown in Hardiness Zones 5 through 9. This unusual multi-stemmed shrub or small tree may reach a height of 15 to 20 feet and be equally as wide. It is also known as the Indiana or Hoosier banana.
The fruit of the pawpaw is the largest edible fruit in North America. the 3 to 6-inch greenish fruits look similar to bananas and hang in clusters. There are between 2 and 9 pawpaw fruits in a cluster and when the fruit is ripe, it tastes like a combination of banana and pineapple. The pawpaw will usually begin to produce fruit once it has reached a height of about 6 feet. It may take 5 to 7 years to reach that height at its medium-growth rate.
In order for the pawpaw to produce fruit, two cultivars should be planted for pollination. Four cultivars are available in the US: Overleese, Taytwo, Mary Johnson and Sunflower. For best pollination, plant the cultivars as far apart as possible.
While the pawpaw is considered to a novelty tree in the landscape, it is an interesting specimen tree and in naturalized gardens.