If you manage to squeeze them in the fridge make sure to water regularly. The fridge dries out things very quickly. I had some things in the fridge that I forgot to water and they died. I think you can just pull off the leaves when you pop them in, and lie them down if needed. Scott

I am really considering giving up on pawpaws. I have one seedling tree that is 6-7 years old and just over 5 ft tall it is doing ok but it has taken it so long to grow. The problem is that for what ever reason I cannot keep a grafted tree alive. I've tried NC-1, Potomac and Wabash. They always fail after a few years and now I am another 4 years out for a potential pollinator. I bought a Wabash back in 2014 that was growing like a weed. We had a late frost that burned off all of the leaves but like a champ it came back and grew like crazy just to die that winter. It's roots sprouted and grew nicely the next summer as well as up till today, it was about 3.5 feet tall when a micro burst blew it over right at ground level. I was so mad I chopped up it's remains with a shovel and the ran them over with the lawn mower. I had hoped it would flower in the next year or two. In 2015 I bought a Potomac and it has been in a steady decline ever since, it is almost dead now. It had lots of flowers on it in 2016, 1 flower this year and now no flower buds on it for next year. I do have 2 other seedlings from Peterson fruit that are doing good but they are only in their second season and years away from making flowers. I just don't know if I can dedicate the space and time anymore to fruit trees that are so unproductive. As a comparison my Elberta peach is a good 12ft tall and wide and it is the same age as my oldest pawpaw. I am really considering just going out and chopping them all down. On a side note I have started watering them a more than I did in the past and their growth rate has increased substantially especially on the old seedling. Sorry I just had to vent and I will probably will keep them but this has definitely been an exercise in patience.

I have tons of dwarf pawpaw growing naturally on my property and that is one of the main reasons, extreme diversity and abundance of Lepidoptera host plants, that I selected it. I have planted two Asimina triloba, one is still alive, barely active, and I think the other is dead or at least dormant. I have another A. triloba in a 35 gallon container that I had to move deep into the shade to keep alive. My main source of water is rain water, and after that it has to be hauled in. I have two 1100 gallon tanks for rainwater collection. A. parviflora is much better in arid and drought conditions. They all look healthy as a horse, especially the ones in full sun, despite the drought conditions. I've seen a fair amount of Zebra Swallowtail cats on the A. parviflora, and I believe, I saw one once, on the A. triloba. I'm not sure, but I do think one day there was an early instar cat on the triloba, but it wasn't there the times I went back to look for it.

I've made one with PVC pipe and have given up on it.....too finicky. However, I have since found a much better fig picker. It is sold by Arcoa and is called E-Z Reacher......see the link below. This neat tool works extremely well for picking figs. I intend to supply these to my customers when I open up my 'U-Pick-It' fig orchard........still just a dream. This can also be used to pick those out of reach blackberries. It helped my grandson avoid the thorns while picking those this summer. Also, works great for my original intended purpose.....to pick up prickly pine cones. Dan Here is a link that might be useful: Fig Picker