Ed, The one paw paw got mowed down might re-sprout. Paw paw usually takes about 4-5 yrs to reach 7-8 feet tall and to produce. Mango is the most vigorous grower of all paw paws. Grafted American persimmon will take about 3-4 yrs to produce. Seedlings of D. Virginiana will take about 5-7 yrs to produce. You may want to protect these trees with wire cages to prevent them from being mowed down. Good luck!! Tony

I'm the Xentar_GW from the previous posts. My largest TN seedling finally bloomed for the first time in 2015, and it produced its first two fruits in 2020. I can only guestimate that the actual tree was somewhere around 20 years old at the time, albeit I've had a Florida panhandle seedling bloom in just a few years. My grafted 'Mango' cultivar also just now bloomed for the first time this year (2022). So, it looks like the mango took 13 years to bloom in my area. As a grafted cultivar, that seems like a long time. Compared to even northern grafted cultivars of paw paw I have, which sometime have bloomed within just a few years of being planted, I was surprised that something like the 'Mango' cultivar wasn't blooming, when the 'Sunflower' and Pennsylvania Golden had been for many years. I haven't kept up with yearly chill hours and what has bloomed or hasn't bloomed, but in 2015, we had 378 chill hours and had enough for the Florida panhandle seedling, a TN mountain seedling, 'Sunflower' grafted, and I believe a Pennsylvania Golden grafted cultivar all bloomed. Although some have stated that the 'Sunflower' is partially self fertile, I have seen no evidence of that btw. Maybe in the north, where wild paw paws are likely somewhere in the area, they are just randomly being pollinated, and people think they are producing fruit on their own. I'm assuming the PA-Golden paw paws are from Pennsylvania, and the Sunflower is from Kansas, Mango from Georgia, and Florida panhandle seedling is obviously from the Florida panhandle. At 378 chill hours, they all eventually produced flowers, sometimes just a couple years, for both seedling and grafted varieties, and sometimes over ten years, also for seedlings and grafted cultivars. Using the origin of each paw paw cultivar doesn't seem to be a good tool to go by, in terms of either how long they're going to take to produce blooms or how many chill hours they need. I can tell you that, as probably one of the only people in the world that has produced flowers from Haskap in Florida, if not the only person, it's not always about the chill hours. People may tell you that there's no way you can get the chill hours needed in Florida for Haskap, but it's actually the heat that kills the plants. From my limited successes, Haskap may not need much, if any, chill hours. It may have its own internal clock, to tell it when to bloom etc. Obviously, paw paws are different from haskap. Many don't like sun, or they may have to be started in shade, but what we really don't know is how far south they can go, and what the minimum chill hours are, for either all varieties of paw paw (asimina triloba) or some specific cultivars. I'm going to venture to guess that, one day, there will be paw paws that can bloom in Orlando, maybe even Tampa, but most of the people experimenting with them are doing it north of Florida, not in Florida, and certainly not that far south in the state. We know there are some Gainesville cultivars and maybe some of the Duckworth cultivars somewhere, which were seedlings from Louisiana that just happened to produce fruit. I don't think people will want to buy a paw paw cultivar that tastes like crap, is too small, and has too many seeds, with very little edible pulp. So, sorting out chill hours and then trying to breed in good qualities may take some time. BTW, my TN seedling has produced more flowers this year than ever, probably over 100. It's currently in-bloom right now, and one of my smaller TN seedlings, right next to it, is also blooming, albeit far less. Hopefully we can get a good amount of fruit this year from it.

I've been growing paw paws from seed for many years. Don't wait until January to put them in the refrigerator. Seeds should not be left to dry out nor frozen. Forget about the styrofoam cups. If you want to plant some outdoors, put them in a protected spot, mulch, and mark where they are. If they germinate you won't see them emerge before next July at the earliest. The best approach I've found is to put them in a container with moist (not sopping wet) potting soil or surrounded by damp paper towels. Put them in the refrigerator as soon as you get them (don't freeze). After about 90 days you may take them out and plant them about one inch deep in separate pots . Use pots preferably at least 10 inches high (25cm). If you see some mold on the surface of the seeds don't worry; it doesn't mean the seeds are ruined. Put them in the warmest part of the house and then be patient. It takes several months for them to germinate once they are warmed up. Doing it this way gives them the whole Summer growing season which makes a significant difference in their size the first season. The seeds will first put out a fairly long root before anything shows above the surface. They may look like they've been broken off when they do emerge because they leave the cotyledons behind in the seed coat and don't have cotyledon leaves like most (dicot) plants. Once the weather warms up, move them outdoors in a protected location with shade during the midday. Good luck

I grew up in Bucks County and had pawpaws there in my parent's yard. I now live slightly north in New Jersey and have had pawpaws growing here for quite some time. They grow easily. Start with potted plants (not bareroot).....they have roots with little root hairs and it is hard for bare roots to survive. They start out slow the first year or three and then take off. Plus is the large tropical looking leaves. The bark is smooth and attractive. Of course the fruit is a plus too.....it is very good (well most people love it, a few will hate it). My yard is small so I originally planted two trees close together. Negatives, which were mentioned, they do get root sprouts as they get older..........and between that and seedlings (from fallen fruit) you end up later with pawpaw sprouts everywhere at least close to the parent trees. I like them though!!