Asimina triloba, Paw Paw, USDA hardiness 5-8 (-25C), Tropical looking America's biggest fruit! 10-50 seeds
Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada, producing a large, yellowish-green to brown fruit.
The pawpaw is a patch-forming (clonal) understory tree of hardwood forests, which is found in well-drained, deep, fertile bottomland and also hilly upland habitat.
A. triloba is a large shrub or small tree growing to a height of 35 ft (11 m), rarely as tall as 45 ft (14 m), with trunks 8–12 in (20–30 cm) or more in diameter. The large leaves of pawpaw trees are clustered symmetrically at the ends of the branches, giving a distinctive imbricated appearance to the tree's foliage.
A. triloba is a large shrub or small tree growing to a height of 35 ft (11 m), rarely as tall as 45 ft (14 m), with trunks 8–12 in (20–30 cm) or more in diameter. The large leaves of pawpaw trees are clustered symmetrically at the ends of the branches, giving a distinctive imbricated appearance to the tree's foliage.
Pawpaw flowers are perfect 3–5 cm across, rich red-purple or maroon when mature. The flowers are produced in early spring at the same time as or slightly before the new leaves appear, and have a faint yeasty smell.
The fruit of the pawpaw is a large, yellowish-green to brown, 2–6 in (5–15 cm) long and 1–3 in (3–8 cm) broad, weighing from 0.7–18 oz (20–510 g), containing several brown or black seeds 1⁄2–1 in (15–25 mm) in diameter embedded in the soft, edible fruit pulp. The conspicuous fruits begin developing after the plants flower; maturing by September or October. When mature, the heavy fruits bend the weak branches down. Full ripening often happens only after the fruit falls naturally, thus signifying a seed dispersal strategy aimed at ground-based, rather than arboreal, mammals.
We offer MIXED seeds from different early and late cultivated varieties like Sunflower, Prima and others
Propagation
Pawpaw seeds require deep planting. Otherwise, the extending taproot will push the seed up above the soil.
Trees are easily grown from seed. Seeds should not be permitted to dry, as they lose viability if they dehydrate to 5% moisture. The seeds need to be stratified by moist cold storage for 60–100 days at 35–45 °F (2–7 °C) (some publications suggest 90–120 days).
Unlike some other seeds Paw Paw will not start germinating during stratification. To trigger germination process they need to be moved where the temperature is 25-30°C (heat mat or near central heating). As a medium for germination I was using sawdust, but perlite and vermiculite should do the job.
The Paw Paw seeds will lose their viability if stored for three years or more; some seeds survive if stored for two years.
Germination is hypogeal. This means that the cotyledons remain within the seed coat, acting as a food store for early growth until the plumule emerges from the soil on the epicotyl, or true stem. Because the large seeds contain enough energy to produce a long taproot prior to seeking photosynthetic opportunities above ground, the seed itself will be pushed upward and into the air if shallow planted in standard pots. Chose tall but narrow pots to plant germinated seeds (I was using milk cartons).
Once the outside temperature reaches +20°C and above you can move your seedlings outdoors. As A. Triloba is understory tree the shading is required. Though some growers claim, that their single trees are bearing fruits, it is suggested planting them in groups to achieve best pollination results and more fruits.
Propagation using cuttings has generally not been successful.
Desirable cultivars are propagated by chip budding or whip grafting onto a root stock. Pawpaw seeds do not grow "true to type" — each individual seed in a fruit is genetically different from the others and from its parent tree. Purchased cultivars do not produce seeds true to type, either, which is why cultivars are all grafted trees. Root sucker seedlings, however, are all genetically identical to their host.
For bigger quantities please contact me or find the separate listing, as shipping cost vary and can't be placed as variation of the same listing.
Shipping policies
Due to the specific moisture and temperature conditions required for maintaining seeds viability they can be send only with European Union, where the shipping time normally should not exceed 14 days.
Shipping for this item and other items from my store can be combined, small additional charge is applied for each next packet of seeds.
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