Seriously, Murky, what you just suggested is brilliant! GREAT IDEA! For one, you are 100% right, I've already got fruit tree fever bad enough that I KNOW I'm going to learn how to graft this summer! I'll probably be doing silly things like taking scion from one tree and putting it on another and vice versa, even though I'll have both varieties in full, just so I can practice and learn to graft. Second, your plan would leave me with some good sized paw paws in a few years, at which time I can 1) do what you suggested and topwork them with better variety if I need to. Also, since I have plenty of space in my "orchard" I can still buy and plant some better varieties in the next few years if I want to. Then if the seedlings don't work out, I can either cut them down or rework them. In short, your suggestion would only cost me about $30 dollars now and would give me several options in a few years, whereas if I do nothing and/or just keep looking for the "right" pawpaw, I may easily let a year or two slip by with no progress. Can I please ask one related but slightly off topic question? I have a good looking mature, but healthy, crabtree that is probably 6-8 inch diameter trunk. I'd like to topwork it into a good fruiting apple, which I've read is very possible. But here is my question....which would be FASTER (in terms of getting a good fruit producing apple tree that is producing a good crop)....topworking my crabapple or cutting it down and just planting a new, potted, 5-6 foot apple tree? On one hand, the top worked tree obviously already has a large, well developed root system that could support a new top graft. But on the other hand, a 5-7 foot tall tree that already has SOME roots that are ready to start spreading/growing seems like it is at least 2 years ahead of the small scion I'd need to graft onto the 3-4 foot stump, and there graft would take some time to heal and start growing (I assume). I've wondered about this for a long time and for other situations I have. So, in short, is it faster to plant a good, tall, root balled tree or to cut down a decent tree and top work it with new scion. (This assumes I have both available, and that the topwork graft is successful). Thanks

I think 70 feet would be OK. Do you know the trick about hanging something stinky and rotten in the trees just before the buds open? I've used chicken skins, fly bait out of a fly trap, and rotten eggs, and it really increases the fruit set. Mostly pollinated by flies attracted to carrion, and I wouldn't think 70 feet would be much of an issue for them. I don't think clay is an issue, either. My two original trees are planted in heavy clay that sometimes has a little standing water for 2-3 days at certain times of the year, and they thrive. By "heavy" clay, I mean the kind that is so thick and nasty it sticks in heavy, heavy clumps to your boots when wet.

I think you may be excessively concerned about freezing in winter. The feeder roots go where the action is and will always come up to the surface if the mulch isn't something like pine needles or fresh wood where they just cannot function. Go into the woods right now and push aside the leaves and see how many fine feeder roots various species are sending right to the surface. If you don't think there is enough root established below to make it through winter insulate them with some half rotted oak leaves or pine needles in the fall. Sounds to me like you should be very pleased by their growth. Paw paws tend to be quite sluggish for their first few years.

Hmmm...well Smivies post got at least one more of my brain cells turned on. Massachusetts does have a fairly broad range of climate (much more so than I would have guessed for such a small state). Some areas, especially in the northern and western parts of the state, stay cold for much longer than I imagined. I should have looked before posting, but was lazy (or enough brain cells weren't firing). Pawpaws have fleshy roots that tend to rot if planted and left dormant for long. That's why you'll always see advise against planting pawpaws in fall or winter (unlike many other types of trees). Even though Smivies seems to have caught my off-timing issue, I'm not sure the instructions on when to plant were stated as meant. If the pawpaws had broken bud at Easter, then you should plant them then; they would have already began their growth. It's if they haven't that you might wait until your May visit. Another way of addressing timing would be to consider where in the state your parents live and plan that way. If they live in the eastern part of the state or around Springfield, plant during your first visit. If they live in one of the colder areas, you might be better off to wait until that second visit. Your goal should be to avoid letting the fleshy roots lie dormant in wet soil for an extended period of time but to also get them in the ground in time for them to become somewhat established before hot weather. See the map linked below. The last frost date isn't what determines root survivability, but it will (in the case of fleshy-rooted plants) give you an idea of when it's too cold for the necessary growth to occur. Here is a link that might be useful: Massachusetts Last-frost-date Map