I have two trees that I bought from a nature center dedicated to
preserving native species. They are supposed to be able to cross
pollinate. I planted them about 5 years ago and one is about 5' tall and
the other - in a bit more sun - about 7 feet tall. Both are very full
with really big leaves. I have never seen blooms, yet alone fruit...



Vox Humana wrote:
wrote in message
.net...

How long does it take for pawpaw seedling to begin bearing fruit? They
grow so slowly.



I have a bunch of pawpaws in the wooded area of my lot. They are from
suckers, not seeds - in my case. The smaller ones don't even bloom. A few
of the older trees flower but only set a small amount of fruit, say 10%. It
is my understanding that in order to bear fruit, they have to be pollinated
from a tree that is not a genetic clone. Therefore, they are not
self-pollinating nor could they be pollinated by the genitally identical
trees that result from suckers. In all, I only see a handful of fruit in
any year and the wildlife always gets 99% of that. Its hard to understand
how anyone could make this a commercial crop.