Asimina triloba does best in deep, well-drained, fertile, slightly acid soil. It needs ample moisture when small but is able to do well with average moisture when established. It has a low drought tolerance. If you are wanting fruit (pawpaws) later on, I'd recommend planting in full sun. Production drops off significantly in shaded conditions. The tree does benefit significantly from shade during it's first and possibly second year. I often provide a wire cage (for predation prevention) with a shadecloth covering. I cover the entire cage with 50% shadecloth, and then remove the top after the first year. The shadecloth is completely removed after the second year. Tall grass or a big cedar tree would probably provide some shade but would also provide plenty of moisture/nutrient competition for the young tree. I have seen pawpaws re-leaf after they looked dead, but the situation doesn't sound good. Your trees are stressed, at best.

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

Hi Ano, I have some very small (American) persimmon seedlings. You are welcome to some; bear in mind that most persimmons require both a male and a female closeby for pollination and fruit production. So about 50% chance of that with 3 seedlings, sex unknown. However: the cultivar 'Meader' is unusual in that it is parthenocarpic -- it sets large fruit, with a few sterile seeds generally, *without* a pollinator. So that might be worth the additional time and expense to procure? Also note that many opinions exist as to the best-tasting American persimmon; I considered putting in a 'Prok' also but decided to use the space for Chinese mulberries instead. Another cheap possible source: state university nurseries generally raise and sell a variety of trees, once-a year, bareroot, in the late autumn. These sales are usually not well publicized. -- Stan in Hamilton, NJ 609.731.3882

Sandy - Though I now live in NC, I am originally from OK (central) so I know your region well. There are most likely wild pawpaws in your area. They range in damp woodlands all the way to Canada so there is no reason you wouldn't have them. My garden is also large and I went crazy planting and propagating more pawpaws and there is a downside to having a large collection of pawpaw trees - all the fruit is ripe at the same time. You will struggle to eat, freeze, or give away multiple wheelbarrow loads of fruit each day for weeks in late August. I have found that if you have one non relative planted in the same row or very close to a row or cluster of named varieties you will get good pollination. My favorite is 'Sunflower' so I now have a row of them with one no-name seedling as a pollinator. My trees bloom most often in mid February when we have a spell of warm weather. I dump garden debris and leaves at the base of the trees and there are always small flies buzzing around mid winter when it is above freezing. Those flies do the pollinating for me.