North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[sherwin <sherwindu@att.net>]

On 7/2/2013 3:16 PM, Dr. Lucky Pittman wrote:
> Most of the stuff I've seen printed in scientific/botanical publications
> suggests that transplanting pawpaws (seedlings) shortly after they break
> dormancy, or late in the summer, just as they're 'winding down' is best; as
> the sole surviving temperate genus of a family of tropical plants, they
> evidently do virtually nothing in the way of root growth/establishment
> during the dormant season, unlike most of the deciduous woody plant species
> common to the northern hemisphere.  Their thick, fleshy roots are quite
> different from those of most temperate deciduous species  - though they do
> resemble, to some degree (in my mind), those of the Magnolia species and
> Liriodendron(tulip poplar).
>
> Certainly, if I were going to attempt moving a sucker, I'd be inclined to
> follow Jerry Lehman's model, and pre-dig a season or so in advance, to
> improve chances that the sucker would actually have developed some roots of
> its own.
>
> Lucky
     Not to belabor this point too much, I feel a comment is due here.
     Jerry's method insures that the sucker plant can survive on it's own.
     One can achieve the same effect by moving the plant to a pot or
     into the ground, being careful to keep as much soil on the roots,
     as possible.  The only advantage of a pot vs. in the ground, is that
     the pot can be placed in a protective environment.  Otherwise, the
     root development would seem to be the same leaving it next to
     the mother tree or moving it.

     Sherwin