North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hilborn.E@epamail.epa.gov]

I may have been living dangerously this past summer, but I had to consider the severe deer pressure on my plants and the fact that I have seen deer damage on my wild pawpaw stand. I wanted to give my grafted pawpaw varieties adequate protection so that they could become established.

I planted precious Peterson pawpaws in 4 foot tree shelters in full sun in central NC.  However, I took care to prop open the side of the tree shelter about 2 feet up, leaving a 1 -2 inch opening to improve air circulation.

I believe that this approach was successful as the trees seemed to do well all summer, and I never saw any condensation within the shelters.  2010 will be year 2 at my site, I hope to see some good growth on the trees this year. I will report back if they decline.

Betsy Hilborn

7A NC