Pawpaws with seaberry in forested clusters?

I have a few questions about planting pawpaws. These questions apply to one year seedlings started in trays.

should seedlings started in trays be transplanted as soon as possible? if so, permanently sited or repotted?

(Most of this is from a Sustainable World podcast with Michael Judd of Oekologia, W. Va.)  I understand that they like damp soil, but not wet feet. Planting adjacent to a riparian area has been recommended. They should be spaced 10’ apart and shaded for the first 1-3 years of their lives, then exposed to full sun. Co-planting with nitrogen fixers (MJ used leadplant from our pals at Oikos...must be some Greek name cult) is a good idea. this podcast also got me thinking that one year seedlings started in trays have poor transplant prospects.

So, is an orchard or forest-cluster planting preferred? I'm going to plant some of them on swales per MJ's recommendation.

What do you all think of planting them at the bottom of a slope and in a wet ravine, in an alder/salmonberry complex area so wet that alder regularly fall over? Clearing glades in the forest, planting pawpaw with seaberry, waiting 2-3 years then cutting down the alder to clear the shade and provide a burst of nitrogen?

We have 66” of rain yearly but it’s a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers. That worries me but this area is the wettest I have. I’m also not sure the seaberry will like waiting 2-3 years for the full sun it craves, though hopefully there is enough moisture down there that I won’t have to irrigate. I’m told early seaberry plantings need irrigation in summer.

Thoughts appreciated!

I have planted some, but its still early so I am no expert.

But I see them in the wild near my home, so let me share my observations on their wild appearances.

They are clearly understory trees. They seem to like being on slope, but near bottom of slope. They seem to tolerate or like deep leaf litter mulch. The ones that get sunlight bear fruit, but ive never seen one in full sun. So dappled partial sunlight seems like a max level of sunlight.

Potential pairings: clover ground cover, persimmon for shade.

Hi Fredy! I grew up in Belfair and on the olympic peninsula. People grow pawpaws here, but they need shadecloth and irrigation when young. I think you'll have to irrigate them and the seaberries for two or three years, especially if you're on the sandy glacial till that I grew up on. I would lean towards planting them in the ground rather than potting them up, to reduce the total number of times they get transplanted. They're tricky like that