# A Question For Home Gardeners: Atre PAWPAWS Easy To Grow?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-home-gardeners-atre-pawpaws-easy-to-grow/225615>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 22, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-home-gardeners-atre-pawpaws-easy-to-grow/225615 "2004-01-22T13:33:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-home-gardeners-atre-pawpaws-easy-to-grow/225615/1 "2004-01-22T13:33:18Z")

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I’ve been thinking about planting a few PAWPAW trees…the catalogue says they are very easy to grow…anybody have actual experience?  
And, I’ve never seen or tasted the fruit…it is said to taste like a banana.  
So, how long will it take my trees to bear fruit? 🆒

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-home-gardeners-atre-pawpaws-easy-to-grow/225615/2 "2004-01-22T13:43:38Z")

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I don’t have personal experience with Pawpaws myself, but location is important. They are native to the North American Midwest (one of their many nicknames is “Indiana Banana”) which is not known to be a particularly gentle climate. Unfortunately, with the new format your location (if you specified) no longer seems to be given, but the closer your local conditions are to the Midwest, the better your results are likely to be.

There are several groups with websites who are interested in and promote Pawpaws - you might want to google them and ask there.

P.S. - Does anyone know where in the Chicago South Suburbs/NW Indiana I can find Pawpaws for sale? I’ve been wanting to try one for years now…

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-for-home-gardeners-atre-pawpaws-easy-to-grow/225615/3 "2004-01-22T13:55:56Z")

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It is probably worth mentioning that the name Pawpaw is used to describe two very different fruits - one of them is a large tropical tree _Carica Papaya_ - also commonly known as just ‘papaya’ and the other is _Asiminia Triloba_ - a smaller, temperate tree.

I assume you’re wanting to grow the latter, which is native to some parts of the USA - Try Googling on **Asimina Triloba** - there appears to be a wealth of informative writing available, such as [this](http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-505.html) document.

(NB: I’m not trying to curtail the discussion here with a ‘just google it’ suggestion, merely trying to assist you in your own researches.)