I live in the country. We enjoy planting native trees to keep a natural look, just red buds & tulip poplars so far. I have never even eaten pawpaw fruit. I hear it is delicious. I like that pawpaws will provide fruit for us and the critters. I haven't found a pawpaw patch on my own.

I wanted a native pawpaw because I read seedlings are difficult to transplant due to the long tap roots which is easily damaged and they might adapt better to our clay soil. I would like to get a few established over the winter indoors.

Thank you for the advice. I'll look into cultivars and check out animal scat next September.

Pawpaws from local sources have no advantage or disadvantage with soil type. The transplant issue is related to transplant shock due to taproot damage, not adaptation to the soil. If you plant a pawpaw tree, do it in very early spring to optimize it's chances of survival. You would want to address any pot-bound root-system problems, but otherwise try to keep root damage to a minimum. Be prepared for the plant to pout a little, if it has any foliage. If it's dormant, you may notice less transplant shock problems. If you buy a cultivar from somewhere like Nolin River, your plants will likely arrive dormant and ready to plant.

Forgot to mention...If you plant seeds, I would recommend planting them in their permanent location to start with. Protect them from predation, if possible. Providing shade during the first year or two is preferable. Shadecloth over wire fencing works for most potential predation and provides shading. You can remove the shade cloth after at least one year, but before the plant sees it's third spring.

If you have the opportunity to get seeds from really good cultivars (NC-1, Overleese, or any of Peterson's cultivars), your chances of having better fruit goes way up. Getting fruit from one of those would also provide the opportunity to see what the fruit is like before you grew any.

Stoney Creek in Carter County Tennessee