Way down yonder in the Paw paw patch !!

This year my Paw paw tree fruited. There were five in a cluster.
I took the two smallest away. Then the other two fell off last month, not ripe.

Last night we had a storm and this morning I saw that my paw paw fruit fell to the ground. It was ok though !!

 

This is the inside.




This all the seeds after I ate it. It tastes like custard. The seeds are engulfed in the fruit so you have to kind of suck the fruit off the seed.


If anyone wants to try growing some from seed I'll be happy to send you some.

 

Pawpaws don't do so great here, but they do survive. I have two and used to have more. I have to hand pollinate them to get any fruit at all. I think they need more summer rain than we have here, and more humidity.

When they bear fruit, they are very tasty!

 

They are very tasty !!
I hand pollinated mine as well because there were no bees around when they flowered. My trees are only 5 years old so I'm hoping I get more as years go by.

I thought Pawpaws had a wide growing range ?

 

Aah, so now I know what a Pawpaw and a Prickly Pear look like

They'll grow here but our season isn't long enough for them so I'll pick that Prickly Pear with the claw

We've got a similar fruit, the Medlar or Custard Apple. They need to "blet" on the tree before eating (old English word for going rotten) otherwise they're too hard to eat. I'll take a pic of ours tomorrow. Jersey Devil will love the shape of them

 

Nice Paw Paw.. what do they taste like? I’ve never seen one. Very interesting fruit.

 

Like custard but I also tasted just a very slight hint of banana, not enough to talk about though.

 

They say I can grow Medlars here. My soil is right but I never see any growing here so, it would be a bit chancey to try them. What do they taste like ( I'm sure I'd have no problem getting them to rot !!)

 

Yummm sounds like an exotic fruit.

 

They say it's the only fruit native to the US !!

 

Oh interesting … really? Tropical?

 

Nope, they grow, if I remember correctly, everywhere but desert areas and in south fl. Daniel says they don't grow well in his garden. They like to be bunched up close to taller trees. I lost the two trees I planted my pawpaw trees near but they seem not to mind that. Afternoon shade is essential, though.

 

@Pacnorwest I'll send you some seed if you want to try them .

 

Thank you for the offer … very kind to offer your paw paw seeds. It would be fun to try to grow one . I looked them up and they are hardy to zone 5-8. How big do they grow ? and , how long before they set fruit after planting?

 

Understory tree so, 20-30'. Mine are 5 years old and only 10' tall. 5-8 years before they set fruit. Two of my 5 year olds set fruit this year, one is only 5' tall and did not set fruit. I like the form of them. Even if they didn't set fruit, they grow differently than other trees.

You can see the smaller one to the left and the big one, whose lower branch is horizontal, is where the pawpaws grew.