If you manage to squeeze them in the fridge make sure to water regularly. The fridge dries out things very quickly. I had some things in the fridge that I forgot to water and they died. I think you can just pull off the leaves when you pop them in, and lie them down if needed. Scott

I've made one with PVC pipe and have given up on it.....too finicky. However, I have since found a much better fig picker. It is sold by Arcoa and is called E-Z Reacher......see the link below. This neat tool works extremely well for picking figs. I intend to supply these to my customers when I open up my 'U-Pick-It' fig orchard........still just a dream. This can also be used to pick those out of reach blackberries. It helped my grandson avoid the thorns while picking those this summer. Also, works great for my original intended purpose.....to pick up prickly pine cones. Dan Here is a link that might be useful: Fig Picker

I've got 3 baby trees-- well this is their fourth year in the ground, anyway, and one coming back from the roots (I hope) after being brutally killed by an errant weed-eater. But none have flowered yet. They're doing really well though, in decent if heavy soil and (formerly) partial shade. I just cut down the pine trees that were shading them so they'll be in full sun now. Yellowy? Well, more a bright spring green. It is my hope that some year soon I'll see a flower. They're all just random seedlings though. I plan on putting in a few Mango or Overleese grafted trees this fall...

cougie, You're correct. The seedling understock of grafted selections will eventually start sending up suckers - and they may be yards away from the original stem - and yes, that would essentially give you two cultivars. 'Mango' was selected in Tifton, GA - from seed collected in PA. It's a proven producer in the Deep South, but its origin suggests that virtually any selection from north of the Mason-Dixon line would probably be OK down South. A.triloba is the sole surviving temperate member of the tropical Annonacaea; I doubt that chill-hours really are a concern. Unlikely that you'll find pawpaw fruit in a grocery or even at a farmer's market. The season is very short - late Sept/early Oct here, and the fruit have a very short shelf life when they reach ripeness - we're talking on the order of a few days. Most people who have the opportunity to eat them fall into two camps - those who find them delectable and those who find them disgustingly insipid. I used to love them, but I've become somewhat jaded about them - I can eat one fruit, and that's enough until next year.