That looks awful... hope someone can help as I have babacco papaya tree too.. is paw paw the same as a babacco papaya? Meixue

Do you think it is going to become shady under your tree/s? In the wild here, paw-paw forms little groves within the woods and it is shady. However, the only time I have seen it grown in a home yard, it was single trees that were limbed up amd did not even seem to be producing suckers. It was sunny under those trees. If not too shady, you might get pole beans or squash to scramle up the tree. A long time ago I was able to do that with an ash tree about the size of a mature paw-paw. Some sort of onion or garlic added in seems practical. Perhaps one whose leaves you would use, rather than the bulb, so that you would not have to disturb the tree roots too much. Would you be interested in "spring beauties/fairy spuds?" Sunny or shady they could go underneath the paw-paw since they complete their growing cycle mostly before paw-paw leafs out. They producee an edible tuber no bigger than the end of my thumb (usually smaller), but their early spring blooms mark where to dig them. They will persist and spread n the soil as long as you like. I don't know if your summers are hot, but here, I've been told gooseberries like a bit of shade in summer, so maybe you might try gooseberries a few feet away, on the northeast-ish side of the tree/s. Alexander, what are you thinking are the challenges to be met planting paw-paw with other things?

Sure, you can have what's left plus the planting instructions. Just email your address. Do you want any seeds Ray? Perry's sell the seedlings for $25 each. You need two as they need to be cross pollinated. Postage for two within SA is also $25. They are working on grafted varieties. Pawpaw is a very hardy tree and the fruit have a unique blend of flavours, including banana and pineapple, and are very sweet. My email is gwi31567@bigpond.net.au

I purchased some mosquito fabric small enough to prevent noseeums with intentions of making my own papaya bags. Does anyone know if the wasps can sting through the fabric? My Red Lady (double) just produced about 15lbs of fruit that I had to destroy. This is a prized tree with cropped tops and vibrant purple stems so I don't want to go through this again. I've also heard that hanging brown bags stuffed with plastic grocery bags from the branches can deter bees/wasps from even coming into that trees space in fear of pissing off another hive. Similar to a scarecrow? Paw Paw