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

I just joined, and saw your message. I have a purple LSU fig, and a larger Texas Everbearing. Also have pomegranate cuttings I got from a Louisiana vendor at a fruit tree club. I had a dozen pomegranates from the shrubs last year- delicious! I have Ruby sweet plum, and other peach, pear and apple varieties. I'm interested in your pawpaw seeds; not sure what the Citrange is like (?). I think I'll be getting a trifoliate orange from a plantswap soon.

They (Asimina triloba!) like moist soil but not wet soil. What is the difference? In moist soil, there is enough water that you can detect its presence by rubbing the soil together between your fingers: it doesn't break up like a dry powder. But there is little enough water, that air can regularly penetrate easily all the way down into the soil -- there is no zone of standing water (the water table is well below). In wet soil, there is enough water that the air exchange is limited. This may be due to capillary action from a lower water pool, or to continuous supply from above. You may even be able to press water out, given sufficient direct pressure. These two types of soil will likely smell different (the wet soil is anaerobic, generates methane and gaseous sulfides), as they host different populations of bacteria and fungi, even if they had the same original composition. Some plants tolerate low-oxygen soil (sweetgum, sycamore), and some do not (paw paw). Paw paw favors riverbanks not only because of the (at least intermittently) moist conditions, but because riverbanks tend to be deep fertile alluvial topsoil. To explore just a little deeper: many if not most plants require specific fungal partners (mycorrhizae) to assist their roots' nutrient gathering. If you don't provide proper conditions for those fungal hyphae to thrive, neither does the plant. The fungus is also symbiotically assisted by the roots, which leak a little sugar to feed them. In addition to the fungi, wet soil drives out earthworms, which otherwise increase soil fertility by recycling nutients. What can you do to alleviate wet soil? Reconfigure the soil into ridges with drainage swales between and redirect drainage from slopes and buildings. It's a delicate balance, since you don't want to run all your rain off into storm sewers!