Issue 745

Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock

Pick a Pawpaw

Pawpaws are common in frost-free parts of northern NSW, so common in fact that they are often overlooked as a staple fruit crop in our gardens.

If you are a composter, likely as not you'll have pawpaws springing up in your heap, as the seeds germinate readily in warm, moist conditions. Ease a couple of seedlings out from the heap and pot them up individually to allow a healthy rootball to form. When planting out, bear in mind that pawpaws are female, male or bisexual and so you will need at least one of each to cross-pollinate. It's impossible to sex the plant until it flowers so plant the seedlings in a grove and cull the superfluous males (you only need one) once you know – the flowers borne by female trees are large and appear close to the trunk; the males are smaller, and carried in clusters on stalks growing from the trunk. Both are creamy white and perfumed.

Pawpaws are easy to grow and will even germinate in the compost.

Pawpaws start to produce at an early age, and the large, green fruits ripen rapidly to orange over the summer months. If fruit bats are a problem in your garden, pick them just before they are ripe, or you will miss out. Allow them to fully ripen before eating otherwise the fruit tastes bitter.

Although they assume tree-like proportions, pawpaws are large, woody perennials and should be treated as such i.e. pruned heavily at the end of the season to promote bushiness and productivity. Their stems are hollow and will rot if water collects inside them, so cover the wound with a tin or plastic container to keep it dry. New branches will soon form just underneath the ones you have removed.

By keeping your female trees small you'll make the job of picking your fruit much easier, because they form in the canopy of the tree.

Growing Gardens with Julia Hancock

Pick a Pawpaw

Growing Gardens
with Julia Hancock