Will Paw Paw bear fruit & grow healthily in a large(?) pot in an east facing balcony that only gets direct light from early morning to 10:45am then indirect light for rest of day( less in winter), in West Los Angeles, near Santa Monica(less than 3 miles from the coast? Actually in the past I visited some one's yard about a mile west of me & she had several flourishing fruiting Paw Paws, but she had direct sunlight in a yard & they were planted in the ground. And when I say fruit I mean more than 10 pieces of fruit in a season. I had had hoped to grow other plants, but recently had a reality check given to me by someone working in a nursery who said that things like blackberries, which I had wanted to grow, wouldn't guaranteedly fruit or would fruit negligibly with less than 5 hours of sunlight, especially if its the weaker morning light. I sure thought I'd seen blackberry bushes with alot of fruit in shady areas... but I don't want to invest the time and $ & end up with a weak or sickly plant &/or negligible harvest. Right now I'm still thinking I'll grow a Thimbleberry which everywhere on the internet says either partial shade or partial shade to shade. And I've been told by some that blueberries don't need as much light, but told by others that they do, so not sure about those yet. I read that evergreen & red huckleberries are also shade tolerant as well as some other dark round berries like elderberries & others I haven't heard of... but I've never tasted them, & don't know where I could. And though berries like blackberries, raspberries etc are my favorite I'm less fond of grapes, currents, etc. Its true I have never tasted a Paw Paw, but I love bananas, cherimoyas, mangos, sapote, custardy things, & tropical fruit... so I figure its more likely I'll like it. Plus though its probably out of season, if it isn't I could get a taste from a farmer I will see in a couple of weeks. And of all the fruits I've mentioned, & seen listed on the net, Paw Paw is listed as the only 1 truly loving shade(even if it can flourish in the sun). Thank you for any advice you can give me! ~Diana

I did everything I could think of to help them out. First of all the long first season as described above, following advice I got in the container growing forum (planted in 5-1-1 mix, fertigated weekly with Dyna-gro Foliage Pro) They had leaves well after top growth stopped, so I think they were growing their roots. I prepared the ground where they were to be planted the season before, while they were in pots. To do that, I killed the grass with Roundup in August. A week later I planted a mixed cover crop (Soil builder mix form Peaceful Valley Farm Supply plus alfalfa) and mulched those seeds with maybe an inch of compost. The cover crop was over 3 feet tall by October when the frosts came. I added several inches of leaves that fall (no tilling ever, just put everything on top). I planted the trees that spring as soon as their buds started swelling. I shaded them that first season in the ground with two layers of window screen, and fertilized every couple weeks with Miracle Grow at half strength. They grew well that year, but it was the next season that they really took off, with some of them putting on 4 feet of height that summer (2012). More raked leaves on top of the soil in the fall. The next year I continued feeding with Miracle grow, and they did not put on quite as much height, but had great growth of their lateral branches. I've always kept a diverse herbaceous layer underneath them and in the whole planting plot. This is a great way to add organic matter throughout the soil (through root turnover). I also throw all the prunings/twigs from my yard there. My goal was to mimic the soil of the pawpaw's natural environment, the forest understory, as closely as possible (lots of roots, lots of organic matter, a nice layer of organic litter on top, fungally dominated). The difference in the soil compared to the surrounding lawn, in both color and texture/structure is amazing (started with orange clay). Lots of mushrooms show up in the patch as well. Alex

No real secret to growing the easiest hybrids with Anigozanthus flavidus parentage, but they do prefer both good drainage and regular warm season irrigation. In habitat they even well tolerate seasonal winter flooding and summer wild fires. Full sun, good air circulation, planting out in cooler months to minimize drought stress,(typical nursery container mixes for them very quickly dry out if you aren't adequately wetting the root ball, and probably accounts for most plant deaths). They are extremely easy once established, but don't crowd the foliage or insist on overhead spray irrigation which encourages ink spot disease.

Bob, thanks for that list, and the welcome! I actually have several good hummer plants already. They are mad for my 2 b&b, and I have a couple of salvia greggi, and some bat faced cuphea, as well as some pentas, etc. The Kangaroo Paw is just so exotic looking, I thought it would look good on my porch. But I have limited space on the porch, so I'm trying to keep the porch for plants the little guys definitely like. Standard65, thanks for the welcome. That's a very interesting link and a cool photo. The flowers are quite interesting looking when opened, as well. I'm told that the hummers actually love a number of the Australian plants, such as the red flowered grevilleas, and the Anigozanthos such as kangaroo paw. However, I have put in several plants the hummers reputedly love, and spend my time watching the hummers ignore them on the way to the feeder! :) As for the Kangaroo paw, and other anigozanthos, they are indeed carried by nurseries here. We've got the climate for the australians, I guess. In fact, Lowe's is carrying the Kangaroo paw.