Pawpaws - sun or shade?

Last winter I bought two pawpaw trees and planted them in a shady area because I was concerned about them scorching. They are now about 20 inches tall. This is my first time growing them. I have read that they like some shade but I have also read that they fruit better in the sun. Should I move them to a sunnier spot this winter or leave them where they are?

I planted two seedlings several years ago and one struggled from the start and has now died - I am looking to replace it this next season. The other tree is looking good and has sent up several suckers in the past few months. It gets quite a bit of sun, but has high shade during the heat of the day from bigger trees nearby. (Understory) Here is a discussion on planting from Kentucky State University where a research study has been conducted. http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/pawpaw/ppg.htm

Yuska

This message was edited Oct 22, 2006 10:25 AM

I planted mine underneath two pecan trees. I thought that they would get partial shade but it turned out to be shaded almost all day. I may root prune them and leave them there for one more year.

If you want to get a decent amount of fruit fruit they need to get a couple hours of sun minimum. I have found they do OK when planted right in the sun, but they are not so happy for their first year or two there. Some people put up shade cloth for their first year to help them adapt to full sun. Once they are adapted they do fine in full sun. I am experimenting with two locations for my pawpaws, one with 2 hours of sun per day and one with sun most of the day.

Scott

What kind of shade cloth would be used? I'm assuming something like solar screen?

I think someone mentioned using 50% rowcover or something like that -- cut out half the sun with whatever you have handy, rowcover, old sheets, burlap, etc. Or block out all of the sun in the hottest part of the day. Lots of possibilities. The main trick is fastening it down well so it doesn't blow away; it probably would also help cut some "U"s in fabric to let some wind through.

Scott