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[Jwlehman@aol.com]

Martha Wrote: 
Jerry are you talking persimmon pawpaw or both? 

I have had problems in the Chicago suburbs with transplanted 6-12 inch pawpaws without shading.  Nursery stock still in pots reacted to UV within half an hour.  The tree shelters seemed to cook them in full sun. The north side of a fence worked well with a tree shelter.  4-6 foot size transplants that were bare root seemed to be fine without any shading.  It is possible that smaller plants need to have much more care hardening off than any other plant  I have run across, seedling pawpaws left in place seemed OK.   In New Mexico at high elevation I would be very careful with small transplants.

Martha

Hi Martha,

I'm talking strictly pawpaw seedlings.  I have had no problem cooking pawpaws in tree shoulders but never used any more than 2 foot tall.  But have never placed pawpaws in 4 foot airtight tube shelters open at the top. Typically what happens on hot days is condensation on the inside of the tall tube shelter, which has a cooling effect.  But I don't recommend 4 foot shoulders unless you are protecting from deer. 

If planting a fully leafed out potted paw paw I strongly recommend providing open shade for it.  Also take care of the root system, in other words keep it well water. I have never lost a pawpaw seedling, planted as a seed, when the height was sufficient to grow out of the 2 foot shelter even if toward the end of the first summer. 

A few years back Purdue spring planted 300 bare root pawpaw seedlings while still dormant. They placed about 6 inches of mulch around each one and an irrigation system to water them. I was told only 60 survived. 

Now I'm going to contradict myself.  Some years back I sat out 17 fully leafed one year bare root pawpaw seedlings in the month of August.  15 of the 17 survived.  Yes, I did shelter them.

Jerry