Anyone tried Asimina triloba - pawpaw tree seeds?

15 years ago

I have received fresh paw paw seeds from a generous soul in the butterfly forum. They're still moist and from what I've read, they'll germinate better if I keep them moist until planting so I should probably plant them very soon or stick them in my frig.

This is my third try with paw paw. The first time, I just stuck them in the ground with no success. The second time, I winter sowed them and only one germinated of my three seeds and it disappeared. I had already removed the cover and I think something must have eaten the seed after it had sprouted.

I can't remember if I nicked the seeds before. I know with most things that are winter sowed you don't have to do that but these are pretty tough looking seeds.

If you've tried winter sowing pawpaw, did you nick/sand the seeds and what kind of germination did you get? Did you use extra deep pots since they have a long tap root? Did they transplant ok?

I'd like to hear what kind of luck you had even if it was bad luck. Thanks

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Comments (2)

lunajade
15 years ago
Last year for the first time I tried pawpaw seeds. When I got the fruit I cut them open and took out the seeds and washed them off. I think I then put them in a moistened paper towel inside a glad sandwich bag. This would have been probably sometime around October I would think. They remained in the fridge until this spring when I took them out and planted them in flower pots. Nothing happened for quite some time, but then one day I noticed that I had two little green shoots above the soil!!!! Altogether I had 7 seeds to work with. One of my pots seemed to have had the soil disturbed by some animal. I checked in the soil and found another seed that was starting to sprout but this seed has so far not made an appearance above the soil. I don't know if some of these seeds have to make a taproot the first season and then poke above ground next season or not. I do believe though that it is important to keep them in a cold moist environment until you are ready to plant them out. I did not nick the seed coat. I hope this helps.
christie_sw_mo
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you Lunajade. I went ahead and put my seeds in the frig and will leave them there for awhile until I'm ready to winter sow them. One of the websites I came across said they can send out 10 to 12 inch taproots before they sprout any leaves so I think I do need deep containers for them. I don't remember reading anything about how long it would take for the leaves to show but maybe you'll still get some more sprouts from yours.
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Anyone tried Asimina triloba - pawpaw tree seeds?

Comments (2)

lunajade

christie_sw_mo
Original Author

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Anyone tried Asimina triloba - pawpaw tree seeds?

Comments (2)

lunajade

christie_sw_moOriginal Author

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christie_sw_mo
Original Author