Best practice for pawpaw transplanting

Hello Permies!
I’ve been on my property for nine years but only recently discovered lots of pawpaw trees. Turns out, they look an awful lot like immature hickories.
A couple months ago I marked several four foot tall trees for transplanting. My backyard is perfect and provides adequate sunlight. I’ve spent a lot of time looking for advice on how and when to transplant them. I get a mixed bag of answers so I wanted to find out what you fine folks think.
Should I transfer the plants in fall or spring? Are there any special considerations I should be aware of.
Before I knew they were all over the place here naturally I was given stratified seeds by a dear friend. I currently have twelve saplings growing upstairs. Here’s a couple pics.

You may have difficulty transplanting trees of that size; if they are saplings from seed, each will have a very deep taproot. If instead you marked smaller “trees” growing in a patch together with larger trees, these may be “suckers” off the roots of the larger trees and have little independent root system of their own.

In my experience the difficulty is that pawpaws have deep taproots that need to be undamaged or the  transplants have trouble surviving. Good luck!

Pawpaws like to grow in thickets.  That is why you found them all bunched up; the immature trees are so photosensitive that they will not make it away from the shade of the surrounding bigger trees.  So even when an animal poops out seeds on its merry way, they will not spring up and flourish - unless they happen to be dropped in dappled or deeper shade.

Trees younger than 4 years or so need to be planted in a well-shaded area, or protected by a shade cloth.  Mine are scattered around under some large live oaks; plenty of room to grow but also lots of shade.

You also may need to stake these; my husband has plowed a few down with the lawn mower.  With a couple of exceptions, pwpaw varieties are quite slow-growing.

I have successfully transplanted many paw paw trees. I agree with the other posters here.  Only try to transfer them when young.

Another important tip I read is that they should only be transplanted when actively growing. When dormant, (leaves have fallen off), they don't adjust well.  So, early in the spring after the leaves have grown out or late when it's cool and the leaves are still on. I usually have the hole dug before I transfer them, and try to transfer the whole tap root intact with the soil, so it just fits right into the next spot.  Takes a bit of planning, but it's worth it.  

I plant seeds, then transplant the tiny trees.  Yes, some shade is required for the really young ones to make it.  
John S
PDX OR

All of your comments have been very helpful and appreciated! I didn’t realize they had such a deep taproot.
The places that I picked to plant get a maximum of four hours of summer sun. That’s only for a month or so. Maybe if I transplant in early spring the low, indirect light won’t be too much.
Does anyone think I should still provide shade?

One practice that many people have adopted is to build a little box on top of them.  It only has to be so high, to provide shade. After the first year or two, you wont' need it anymore. And you probably only need it from say May to October.  That's what I would do. Then you don't have to move the plant again when it is larger and the tap root is deep.  

John S
PDX OR

In my experience, lots of watering is key to successfully transplanting pawpaws. It's almost impossible to over water them the first year or two, and a drought will wipe them out fast.

I get mine from a nursery that grows them in a tall liner. I tried to keep one in a pot for a couple years and it didn’t go well. Now I get them and plant them right away in with some tall annuals to provide some shade and protection, Chile pepper plants worked great the first year. I have 2 planted at an edge under a big tree, they have not grown well. Then I have 6 that I planted with annuals for shade and they grew a couple feet the first year. Hope this helps

I had my pawpaw germinated in a pot and the seedling was transplanted in ground a few months later. It grew only a little in the first two years (6 inch tall then 1 ft tall). It finally took off in the third year, outgrowing peppers and tomatoes around it reaching 4 ft. I would plant the seedlings out now and let them go dormant over the winter then plant some annuals around to provide shade as others suggested.