Pawpaw leaves getting black

I have one seedling pawpaw from about 20 seeds I planted. This seedling is a survivor and better be friggin worth it. It's been having a happy little life with an exceedingly slow growth (I think it took it a month to grow out a new leaf). In the past few days, I noticed the older leaves are getting some black spots around the edges. I REALLY want this guy to do well. You can just see the spots on the darker leaf to the front of the picture. What should I try?

looks like leaf blackspot, it is a fungus. you have had better luck than me in growing pawpaws from seed .
here is a link that might help.
http://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/how-to-grow/fruit-trees/pawpaw-trees/pest-and-disease-control

I have a pawpaw tree in my yard (20+ ft tall). I don't like it. The fruit is what I call "sickly sweet" and the pawpaws have got be picked up before we mow or it's a sticky mess. There are always volunteer plants everywhere ( which I pull and compost). I don't know if there are other species besides the kind I have but the pictures you posted look nothing like my pawpaw leaves.

Jd Gonzalez wrote:looks like leaf blackspot, it is a fungus. you have had better luck than me in growing pawpaws from seed .

Thanks so much! So glad I posted now, before it's a huge problem. I'll try a neem mix. I had 2 seedlings come up from the seeds I got through the pawpaw project last year, but only two sprouted. I dug one up by mistake, and it did NOT like my manhandling. Maybe you can check out the project, if you're interested - you can get the seeds for a small donation worldwide.

Karen Layne wrote:I have a pawpaw tree in my yard (20+ ft tall). I don't like it. The fruit is what I call "sickly sweet" and the pawpaws have got be picked up before we mow or it's a sticky mess. There are always volunteer plants everywhere ( which I pull and compost). I don't know if there are other species besides the kind I have but the pictures you posted look nothing like my pawpaw leaves.

Huh, I wonder what your tree leaves look like. I got my seeds through the pawpaw project, so I'd like to think I got the real deal. I might plant it by the chicken coop to deal with fruit spoilage. Hopefully they taste better than yours, I don't like things that are too sweet, although my partner has coined 'there is no such thing as too much sugar'

Your pawpaw leaves look better than the one or two I managed to get a leaf on before they died. I had to be away in August and though I asked someone to water all my plants, I think the three pawpaws in containers tucked under a small tree for shade got ignored and dried out.

My pawpaw tree is bare right now so I can't post a picture. And like I said there are probably several kinds of pawpaws. I just thought the leaves in your pictures looked more cordate (heart shaped) and mine look more cuneate (wedge shaped or like a single scoop ice cream cone ). The seed of mine look like brown lima beans. Did the seeds you plant look like that?

Karen Layne wrote:The seed of mine look like brown lima beans. Did the seeds you plant look like that?

Yep! They sure did. Neat that there's a fair bit of variability, although having named cultivars would sure make the decision about fruit flavoures much easier...

I'm hoping the dark spot is not a fungus, could the leaves have gotten too cold (I don't know what zone you are in)?

That baby tree has lived it's entire life indoors - we're at zone 6, and I started them last fall in a container... Our place isn't the warmest, but should not be a problem temps-wise. Fungus it is

I've got a gazillion seeds still laying in my chard bed (near pawpaw). If you want any more seed send me a PM with your address.