You are correct. That bud is dormant right now. If you prune back the tree before there is too much energy put toward to top of the tree that would be best. Then the plant will put energy into the dormant bud and you'll get the results that you want. The simple answer is do it now! -Little John

NJBiology, The first time I ever saw a real paw paw tree was in the town of Paw Paw, Michigan. My sister moved to the region (SW Lower Michigan) for a new job, and rented an apartment in that small town. Since it was their namesake, many of these trees were planted throughout the town, in public places and in private places. Some were in sun, some in fairly heavy shade in the understory in parks, etc. All of them looked very happy. I was there in July, so they didn't have large fruit at the time, just about an inch long, looked like tiny bananas at that point. The point of my story is, I don't thik it matters much. Like the above poster said, they are an understory tree in nature, and do just fine in the shade. Dennis Michigan

Regarding the comment about "A potting soil made from pine bark, peat, perlite ... works OK for a year and then shows strong nutritional (disease?) problems (general chlorosis) ... I'm still baffled." What is the pH and composition of mineral salts in the irrigation water. This type of problem is common in soilless mixes after they are watered for a while with groundwater that is relatively high in pH and high in disolved lime (Calcium carbonate). It's a very common problem in my potted, acid-loving plants like citrus, camellias, gardenias, etc. My groundwater is very hard and very high in lime -- it crusts over shower doors, coffee pots, etc in just a few days. Aside from using a water softener, 'Lime-Away' brand lime remover is a constant in the household, because the water softener doesn't remove it all no matter where it's set. The untreated groundwater is even worse -- even a single, hour or two session of watering with a sprinkler can leave everything coated with lime scale. For the potted plants, I find it necessary to remove them from their pots about every other year, wash all of the potting mix from their roots, and repot in fresh soilless mix. I also use acidifying fertilizers and trace element supplements in between. I wonder if you have a similiar problem. Initially, the orginic compounds in the soilless mix can absorb and neutralize the calcium, but eventually, the amount of lime from the water just overwhelms the ability of the soilless mix to act as a calcium sink, and the pH rises rapidly, resulting in the chlorosis symptoms you describe. There is realistically next to nothing you can do to purge all of this lime out of the soil at this point that wouldn't also fry the plant, so it's time to replace the soil.

Pawpaw is considered an understory tree and grows rather slow. You may consider shading the pawpaw for the first two years until the taproot has a chance to grow.