Planting bare root paw paws... ideas please

15 years ago

I hear larger paw paws are a transplanting risk, but I did buy 2, 4' bare root plants by mail anyways. Just to try!

They are still completely dormant.

The natural ground is very moist (wet) silty/clay/peat. It can't yet be worked, it needs another 1-2 weeks of sun to dry out a bit.... late spring here.

Would they be best just directly in that, or maybe put into pots until fall (peat moss mix)?

Yeah, I dont know. I read somewhere that LOTS of vermiculite is the paw paw transplanting trick?

Thanks for any tips!

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Comments (3)

denninmi
15 years ago
Well, it sort of depends on the quality of the plant. I bought some years ago from a mass-market type mail order nursery, and they were pathetic little shoots with minimal to no root system, and they didn't take. I got some from a much more reputable specialty nursery that also came bareroot, but had a good root system with a lot of fine feeder roots, and these took and did fine, and buds are now breaking on them.

I've also dug up and spread around a lot of the suckers produced by my two mature trees, and they generally take as long as you get at least four or five inches of the taproot that comes off of the parent root.

Personally, I don't see a problem planting them in the wet ground, I think that actually would help them to get established, since drying out would be the main reason for failure, assuming the plants were sound to begin with. I would just augment the native soil with some good compost and sand, and go for it.

However, if you want to pot them up, that will work just fine, too. I've done this three or four times for friends, using a standard soilless potting mix, and letting them get established for a year prior to giving them away.

So, whatever you think will work best for you.

Dennis
SE Michigan
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dirtslinger2
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Dennis. They have a very nice root system, so I think from what you have said, they may just do fine.
Thanks for the help!
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brandon7 TN_zone7
15 years ago
It's generally best to avoid amending soil when planting trees or shrubs. The amendments can cause drainage problems, and soil-layer interfaces have a potential to cause root growth problems. If you are able to add enough amendments to change the composition of the entire potential mature root zone and to a depth far enough down to access a better draining soil layer, that can change things. But if you fill a bathtub up with well draining soil, it still holds water.

Soil amendments are sometimes needed to change pH levels or for other specific situations, but mostly are something that should be avoided when possible.

A berm is one option that might help your drainage situation.
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Planting bare root paw paws... ideas please

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denninmi

dirtslinger2
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Planting bare root paw paws... ideas please

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denninmi

dirtslinger2Original Author

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dirtslinger2
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