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Pawpaw

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Muskyman:
I’ve read that something funny happens with them when try doing anything other than eating them raw. Can’t remember what happened exactly but I’ve read they don’t keep well.

Eric Krewson:
The paw paws in your picture are not ripe yet, treat them like a banana, they will ripen on the counter. I don't eat the peel because I pick the fruit off the ground in the woods, eat them in place and don't wash them. The peel on a green one is bitter; it is edible if you let the fruit turn yellow.

Because of all the seeds, I break the fruit in half and dig out the meat with a spoon. I suck the meat off the seeds and spit them out along the trail I am walking; I am a Johnny paw paw seed spreader; I do the same for muscadine seeds when I pick up wild muscadines in the woods

I planted some seeds down in my woods in a small clearing, they germinate in a strange fashion, I planted my seeds in August when the fruit was falling from the trees, some came up the following spring, some seed took several years to sprout. I marked all of my plantings with a flag so I would know where they were. The bucks rubbed all of the saplings that for over 5' tall and killed them, they keep sprouting from the root but I gave up on having a paw paw patch and bushhogged them. They continue to sprout from the roots.

Paw paws develop a patch by sprouting from the root system like wild plums. They have a tap root that goes to China so you have to have a specialized extra-long pot if you are trying to grow seedlings. It is my understanding that the seedlings spend their first year after germination growing this tap root before they sprout above the surface.

For the best germination result from the seeds it is important to not let the seeds dry out, keep them moist until you plant them. I did this and got close to 100% germination from the seeds I planted.

Here is one of my small seedlings first emerging and two years later.







   

Muskyman:
Wish ida seen this earlier. Tried a couple today and would say not much flavor. Still have a few left in the fridge. Did find probably 100 trees today. Most are small 6-8 ft tall. Found one tree that has 20-30 fruits on it. Kept the seeds from the couple I ate. Gonna send them to sleek. I’ll try one again next few days. Gonna look for them to be yellow inside. One was somewhat yellow other was not really yellow.

sleek:

--- Quote from: Muskyman on September 16, 2025, 10:14:54 pm ---Wish ida seen this earlier. Tried a couple today and would say not much flavor. Still have a few left in the fridge. Did find probably 100 trees today. Most are small 6-8 ft tall. Found one tree that has 20-30 fruits on it. Kept the seeds from the couple I ate. Gonna send them to sleek. I’ll try one again next few days. Gonna look for them to be yellow inside. One was somewhat yellow other was not really yellow.

--- End quote ---

Wow. Makes ya wonder if one would make a decent bow.

Eric Krewson:
You want them yellow on the outside as well. I usually leave them on the ground in the woods until they turn yellow for the best eating. I walk by and check them several times a week, when they are properly ripe, I pick them up. They go from ripe to too ripe in a couple of days.
 
I don't shake the trees to make them fall out because they will be too green.

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