• WalrusByte@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    9 months ago

    Whoa, nice! I hope to find one in the wild someday.

    What state are you in? If you don’t mind me asking

    • newt@sh.itjust.worksOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      9 months ago

      South Carolina. I missed the fruiting season for paw paws this year but I’ll be back next year

      • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        9 months ago

        Keep in mind that there will often be no fruit. Pawpaws spread in monoclonal colonies, and a colony can’t pollinate itself. I live surrounded by many pawpaw groves, but only a few actually make fruit. Supposedly you can spray the trees down with fish emulsion to attract the flies that pollinate them, but that still only helps if you have 2 non-clones next to each other

      • WalrusByte@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        Ah ok, cool! Sorry you missed the season though.

        Supposedly it was kind of a rough season for them here in Ohio. Early frosts and whatnot. Might be a bit better there.

        Hope you’re able to get some fruit next year!

    • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      9 months ago

      Finding them is pretty easy once you know what to look for, but until you’ve seen them, it’s hard. Easiest time to find them as a novice is in the spring. They have very unique flowers that pop out before there are any leaves. Also, in the late summer/ fall, easiest way to find them is by smell. The fruit is so fragrant, if you know the smell, you can find the tree.

      • WalrusByte@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        They have those purple flowers that hang downward, right?

        I’ve seen some pawpaw saplings in pots before, but maybe I should have gotten a closer look, haha! I guess that doesn’t necessarily translate to how they’ll look in the wild. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to get the smell down at some point, haha!

        • evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          9 months ago

          Here’s a few more things to look out for. They are fine growing in shade. They usually are in groups (clonal colonies, technically) unlike some similar looking trees. Deer don’t eat them, so they do really well in areas with an overabundance of deer that eat all their competition.