I have 2 paw paw trees left out of 4 originally planted. I checked them today and they both have dozens of flowers. Is there an easy way to tell if they're male or female? They're both four years old and about 12 ft tall. if I'm not going to get any fruit out of them or if it's going to be a process wondering if it's worth just getting rid of them.
Paw paw question
- Thread starter jpe40
- Start date
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I don't know where that Amy Grant woman came up with her info on pawpaw sex, but she's wrong. There are no 'male' or 'female' pawpaw trees.
They are all monoeicious...meaning all flowers on all pawpaws have both male and female parts, but most are non self-fertile, as the parts are typically not functional at the same time...cross-pollenation by another seedling or grafted selection is pretty well required on order to get fruit set.
So...if your 2 pawpaws are not the same grafted variety, they're close enough together, and appropriate pollenators(flies) are present, you should get fruit...though more genetically different potential pollenizers increases the likelihood of good fruit set
They are all monoeicious...meaning all flowers on all pawpaws have both male and female parts, but most are non self-fertile, as the parts are typically not functional at the same time...cross-pollenation by another seedling or grafted selection is pretty well required on order to get fruit set.
So...if your 2 pawpaws are not the same grafted variety, they're close enough together, and appropriate pollenators(flies) are present, you should get fruit...though more genetically different potential pollenizers increases the likelihood of good fruit set
Ahh, I see...Amy Grant fell into the common name trap...In virtually all the rest of the world, 'pawpaw' is taken to mean Carica papaya, which we Americans call 'papaya'. She mistakenly read papers on the trioecious nature of C.papaya,which used the common name pawpaw, and made the mistake of assuming it was our native pawpaw, Asimina triloba.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Lucky_P is 100% correct, and I didn't take the time to thoroughly read that link when I posted it. Pawpaws are indeed monoeicious. Sorry for the confusion, and I apologize for not taking the time to look at it closer.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
One more thing - something you can do to increase the pollination with pawpaws is to take a small brush and transfer pollen from the flowers on one tree to the flowers on another tree. I read about doing this a few years ago and tried it this spring on some of the trees in my yard. Nearly every flower that I transferred pollen to set fruit. Unfortunately, the late freeze we had caused a lot of the fruit to abort later on.
It would be too time consuming to do this very much if you had a lot of pawpaw trees, but if you just have a few in your yard and want to get a better fruit set, it appears to work pretty well based on what I saw this spring.
It would be too time consuming to do this very much if you had a lot of pawpaw trees, but if you just have a few in your yard and want to get a better fruit set, it appears to work pretty well based on what I saw this spring.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The reason I asked if they were grafted trees and if they are the same variety is that pawpaw are not self fruitful. Although they have the equipment for both male and female (they can pollinate and be pollinated), my understanding is they can't pollinate themselves. Unlike a lot of trees that use a bee attracting strategy, pawpaws smell like rotting flesh and try to attract flies for pollination. I'm not sure if flies range as far as bees.
So, if you don't have native pawpaws in proximity and they are grafted trees and the same variety, they are genetically identical, the same tree and cannot pollinate each other. If they are grafted and different varieties or if they were grown from seed, you should be fine.
Pawpaws are great wildlife trees. I would be loath to remove a 12' tree. I'd suggest adding another that is a different variety nearby if you think pollination is your problem.
Thanks,
Jack
So, if you don't have native pawpaws in proximity and they are grafted trees and the same variety, they are genetically identical, the same tree and cannot pollinate each other. If they are grafted and different varieties or if they were grown from seed, you should be fine.
Pawpaws are great wildlife trees. I would be loath to remove a 12' tree. I'd suggest adding another that is a different variety nearby if you think pollination is your problem.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the replies. I bought them all from a guy with a small shrub business that were all the same variety. The flowers seem to have started to wilt so I'm assuming it's too late to try and assist in pollination. I'm just going to let them go and see what happens. I was excited to see flowers I never tried or even saw a paw paw and was looking forward to it
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Before you assist with pollination, you will need to find a different variety pawpaw from which to get the pollen. I would plant another variety of pawpaw near by or grow one from seed.
Thanks,
Jack
The Fishman
5 year old buck +
As has already been stated, you can assist pawpaws in fertilization. I read where some people will pick up road kill and place it near their trees in efforts to increase the number of flies around to help with pollination. I have also read where people will drive quite a ways to get pollen from other trees to pollinate their single or genetically similar trees.
