Despite the fact that pawpaw is often called a banana tree, its fruits resemble bananas only in color, but in shape - very remotely. In size, they can be compared with papaya fruits, and in taste - with feijoa berries. Growing this tree in the conditions of the Central Russian strip is impossible due to the increased thermophilicity of the plant, but you can try to propagate the culture at home.

Asimina, banana tree (Asimina) belongs to the Annona family.

motherland subtropics of North America.

Azimina, a genus of deciduous and evergreens annon family. Shrubs, rarely low trees with juicy edible fruits. There are 8 known species in North America.

A. three-blade (A. triloba) is cultivated in the Caucasus and Crimea as an ornamental plant.

Currently, pawpaw trees are also common in Spain, France and Italy; they were brought to Russia in the last century. The fact is that this plant is very frost-resistant and can tolerate even harsh winters with frosts (down to -29 ° C).

The pawberry plant can be easily formed in a dwarf form, since under room conditions in a container it grows much lower than its natural size.

Azimina is also called banana tree, Mexican banana, or Nebraska banana; she received these names for an elongated, like a banana, fruit shape. It is not only a fruit and ornamental plant; paw seeds and leaves are used in medicine.

It is interesting that pawpaw is a representative of the Anon family, which is little known in our country, distributed almost exclusively in tropical countries. Some species of this family produce valuable, very tasty fruits. So pawpaw is a "slightly tropical" plant. It reminds us that there are many amazing fruits in the world that we have no idea about.

Description of banana tree

This is a deciduous shrub, less often a low tree with juicy edible fruits. It begins to bear fruit at the 3-4th year of life. The fruit is light green, cylindrical; 3-5 fruits can be on the peduncle at the same time.

Look at the photo - the fruits of the pawberry tree reach 12 cm in length and 5 cm in diameter:

Fruit weight 50-100 g. After ripening, the color of the fruit becomes lemon-yellow. The skin of the fruit is very thin and tender, under it is juicy, sweet pulp with a pleasant aroma, reminiscent of a mixture of strawberries and pineapple. The pulp is rich in composition, it contains valuable trace elements, fructose, sucrose. The nutritional value of paw fruit is compared with persimmon fruits. The pulp of the banana tree fruit has a whitish-yellow hue and a buttery consistency. With proper care, the tree gives high yields (25 kg per tree and above).

A fully ripe fruit is very tender and quickly deteriorates from squeezing and bumps. When describing pawpaw, it is worth noting that it is difficult to transport its fruits over a long distance or store it for any long time. These fruits are for local consumption only.

This is a very ornamental plant with a wide pyramidal crown and beautiful smooth bark; the leaves are quite large (up to 30 cm long and 10 cm wide). The large drooping leaves of pawpaw are damaged by strong winds, which must be taken into account if grown on a balcony or in a garden.

The flowers are beautiful, almost black, appear on the plant even before the leaves. The pawpaw flowers are red-violet, monoecious, large (up to 4 cm in diameter); the calyx has three leaves, the corolla has six petals. Pawpaw blooms in the spring, before the leaves unfold; flowering is long (about three weeks). It is a cross-pollinated plant; in room conditions, artificial pollination is necessary with a soft brush or cotton wool.

Indoors, it blooms and bears fruit in the third or fourth year of life.

In October, the leaves of the banana tree turn yellow and fall off. Young leaves appear in May, after flowering. Flowers solitary, produced in last year's leaf axils. Formed in March - May. The flower consists of several pistils, so each color is able to form several fruits (up to 9 pcs.).

The flowers are male and female, but the plant is not capable of self-pollination. For this reason, when growing paws, you will have to cross-pollinate, and this will require 2 trees.

Pollination should be done when the pollen becomes Brown color and become loose. You should also pay attention to the ends of the pistils - they should become sticky and green.

The fruits of the banana tree ripen within a month. They contain up to 14 large black-brown seeds arranged in two rows.

And diseases are extremely rare.

Types and varieties of paws

In room conditions, pawpaw three-bladed (A. triloba) is often grown. Its flowers are artificially pollinated. Cross-pollinated plant, that is, two copies are required for fruit set.

Cultivation of paws and propagation by seeds

When growing a banana tree, you need to take into account that it is photophilous, but young plants will need light shading in the first 2 years of life. Adults prefer to be in direct sunlight. Azimine seedlings develop slowly, but with an increase in daylight hours (up to 16 hours), their growth rate increases: in three months a young tree can grow up to 1.5 meters in height.

In summer, you can take it out into the garden.

In winter, pawpaw enters a deep rest. At this time, the plant is placed in a cool room, where it must spend at least 4 months. Optimum temperature content in winter 3-7 °C.

Freely transfers dry indoor air.

The substrate should be prepared from soddy and leafy soil, humus, peat and sand (2: 1: 1: 1: 0.5).

When caring for paws, you need to water the plant regularly from spring to autumn, constantly keeping the soil moist; however, stagnant water should be avoided. In winter - very economical watering. The soil must not dry out.

During the growth period, 2 times a month, you need top dressing with a complete mineral fertilizer.

During active growth, pawpaws are fed every month with organic (manure, pond silt), mineral (ash from straw or potato tops) and any complex fertilizers.

The pawpaw has fleshy, brittle roots, so it is not transplanted, but transshipped. Up to 2-3 years annually, in the future - once every 4-5 years. Do this in the spring, when the plant starts to grow. For good growth a deep pot is needed, since paws have a developed root system.

The flowers and fruits of the banana tree are formed on the shoots of the previous year, so the plants need to be pruned for replacement. In addition, sanitary pruning of branches is necessary.

Usage. A plant for warm bright rooms, winter gardens.

Reproduction. Seeds and grafting on the seedlings of the pawpaw itself (the latter method is very complicated).

When growing azmina from seeds planting material for good germination, it must undergo stratification at a temperature of 0–4 ° C for 90–120 days. Seeds germinate within 7 weeks; landing late autumn shoots can be expected in the ground in July next year. Young shoots of paws have a sensitive root system, so they are not recommended to be transplanted.

Plants grown from seeds usually begin to bloom and bear fruit after 4–8 years, depending on the quality of the seeds, variety and conditions of detention. A grafted tree may begin to bloom in 2-3 years, but it is very difficult to graft pawpaw.

The video "Growing pawpaw" shows how to care for this plant:

Azimina three-bladed

Lyashenko Nikolai Alexandrovich , breeder (1956-2012)

Among the huge variety of tropical flora, the Annonaceae family stands out. Annonovye - the largest family in the order of Magnoliaceae (Magnoliales) includes 120-130 genera and more than 2100 species, distributed in all tropical and partly subtropical countries of both hemispheres. In this family there are plants that give fruits of high quality: Rollinia muscosa - Rollinia mucosa - the fruits of which are considered one of the most delicious among all Annona (Bernd Nowak, Bettina Schulz, 2002); Stelechocarpus burahol Hook s Tomson - Kepel - whose fruits are so fragrant that the sweat of the person who tastes them takes on the smell of violets.

In the genus Annona itself, there are about 150 species, of which about 20 produce edible fruits. Among the latter, the most good qualities different A. cherimola Mill. - Annona cherimola, recognized by many connoisseurs as almost the best fruit in the world. The taste is reminiscent of a mixture of strawberry, pineapple and banana. It grows in the Andes at an altitude of 1400-2000 (2800) m above sea level in the border area between Peru and Ecuador. A subtropical plant, the hardiest of all cultivated annonas. Representatives of A. muricata L - A. prickly, A. purpurea Sesse s Mocino - A. purple, A. reticulata L. - A. reticulated, A. sguamosa L.- A. scaly and other species. All of them, according to Bowden (1948), have 2n=16. Unfortunately, these species do not tolerate frost and therefore cannot be grown in our country in open field.

The subfamily Annonovye (Annonoideae) includes three tribes. Tribe Uvarievyh (Uvarieae) unites 40 genera. To this tribe belongs the only extratropical genus of the Annonovs - Azimina, Asimina (Asimina) 2n=18. The scientific name of the genus comes from "assimin", the Native American name for this plant. This genus includes 8 species, the fruits of which are edible and taste like sweet avocados, common in the 25 states of the United States and southern Ontario Canada. These are shrubs, less often trees 1-12 m high, and those growing in the north have falling leaves, while those growing in more southern latitudes have evergreen leaves (Kral R., 1960; Callaway, 1992).

1. Asimina incarna Bartr. (or A. speciosa Nash.) is a low shrub up to 1.5 m growing in southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. It blooms from March to May with large 4 cm in diameter, white fragrant flowers. The fruits are small and tasty.

2. A. longifolia Kral shrub 1-1.5 m high is found in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia, blooms from April to July with white fragrant flowers up to 6 cm in diameter, fruits 4-10 cm long.

3. A. obovata Nash. (A. obovate) tall shrub 2.5 m tall growing in southeast, northeast and north-central Florida, blooms from March to June with large (6-10 cm in diameter) white fragrant flowers, the most beautiful of all genus, with small fruits (5-9 cm).

4. A. parviflora (Michx.) Dun. (A. small-flowered) - height up to 2 m grows only in the south (from Florida to Texas, in southeast Virginia and Tennessee). It blooms from April to May with small 1.5 cm in diameter dark burgundy flowers. The length of its fruits is only 3 to 6 cm.

5. A. pygmaea Bartr. (A. dwarf)- very short, 20-30 cm. Distributed from central Florida to southeastern Georgia. It blooms from April to June with burgundy flowers 2 cm in diameter and fruits 3-4 cm long.

6. A. reticulata 1.5 m high grows on poorly drained Florida sands, blooms from April to June with white flowers 5 cm in diameter, produces fruits 4-7 cm long.

7. A. tetramera Small. is a shrub 1-3 m high, growing on the coastal dunes of eastern Florida and blooming from May to August with dark maroon flowers 3 cm in diameter.

8. A. triloba Dun (A. three-lobed)- deciduous tree. This is the most winter-hardy species. From the Annonov family, the only fruit plant in the temperate zone is distributed to the Great Lakes (430 north latitude) and therefore is of the greatest interest for cultivation in our country.

Azimina can be grown from 5 to 8 climatic zones. In winter, the pawpaw enters a period of deep dormancy. Trees belonging to the northern forms need exposure to low temperatures, no less long than the apple tree of the Northern Scout variety and the peach of the May flower variety. Forms of pawpaw growing in the north of the range: in the south of Ontario Canada, west of the state of New York to Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as in the south of Iowa and east of Nebraska, USA, can withstand frost of -30-35 ° C (see Fig. .1-3). In Rostov-on-Don in the winter of 2005-2006. pawpaw withstood frost of -32°C (Maltseva A.N. 2006).

One of the reactions to harsh environmental conditions is the formation of polypolyids. It is migration in the region with low temperatures air and soil, caused the formation of polypoloids in the northern parts of the ranges of many species. Polypoloidity undoubtedly contributes to an increase in the period of winter dormancy (G. V. Eremin, 1977).

Frost hardiness zones on a map of North America. The map is divided into 3 zones. The average annual minimum temperature in zone A is below -40°C, and the extreme- much lower. In zone B, the probability of a minimum temperature of -40°C is limited. -40°C is unlikely in zone B. Trees capable of deep hypothermia are found only in the southern part of zone A. However, they predominate in the forests of zones B and C.

Fig 1

Plants that can withstand freezing temperatures achieve this in a variety of ways. One of the most important is the prevention of freezing in certain vital plant tissues. Freezing prevention is achieved by deep supercooling, which increases stability only up to a certain limit, but it is never below the homogeneous nucleation temperature of the cell sap (about -40°C).

The range of the genus Azimina

Fig 2

Approximate boundaries of zones with an average minimum temperature (0°C) 1 - below -45, 60°C; 2- -45.6…-40°C ; 3- -40…-34, 40°C ; 4- -34.4 …-28.9°C ; 5- -28.9…-23.3°C ; 6- -23.3…17.9°C ; 7- -17.9…-12.2°C ; eight- -12.2…-6.7°C ; nine- -6.7…-1.1°C ; ten- -1.1…1.1°C . (According to the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, USDA, Publication 814, 1960).

Fig 3

The beginning of pawpaw vegetation occurs at a steady transition of average daily temperatures through 10°C. The sum of effective temperatures (above 10°C) required for the ripening of fruits of early forms is 2600°C (FK Ivanenko, 2008). These forms can be grown in areas where peach and mid-ripening grapes are grown. Mass flowering of paws occurs at an average daily temperature of 12-14 ° C. Shoot growth begins shortly after flowering begins. The growth of shoots occurs mainly in May-August (Maltseva A.N., 2001). In pawpaw, one wave of shoot growth is observed, during which generative buds of the next year are laid on the growing shoots. The laying of generative buds occurs on the growth of the current year, and their formation is completed by the end of growth. The duration of the shoot growth period depends on the onset of hot and dry weather. The duration of the growing season (beginning - mass budding, ending - completion of leaf fall) for the early forms of pawpaw fluctuated within 150 ± 8-15 days.

Photo 1 and 2

Three-lobed pawpaw trees with a wide-pyramidal evenly leafy crown (see photo 1.2) reach a height of 4-7 (at home about 12) meters, a width of 4 m. They grow slowly and begin to bear fruit for 4-8 years. Trees are durable- You can find specimens over 100 years old. In Odessa, since 1948, the oldest pawpaw tree in Ukraine has been growing and bearing fruit. In photo 3, Konstantin Zawisha is holding onto it with his left hand.

Photo 3

The gray bark of the trunk and branches of pawpaw is smooth (see photos 4 and 5).

Photo 4 and 5

annual shoots- brown-brown, smooth. In this plant, the buds are divided into vegetative and generative, mixed buds are absent. In the terminal part of the shoots, the buds are only vegetative. Lateral buds can be generative and vegetative. Vegetative buds on them are solitary, small, pointed, 2-4 mm long, generative buds are round, 3-4 mm in diameter, pubescent (photo 6, 7, 8)

Photo 6 and 7

Photo 8

The skeletal branches of paws are formed strictly in one plane, that is, a classic palmette is obtained. Since the branches are thin, and some seedlings reach a significant weight, it is necessary to put props under them.

The leaves are leathery, whole and entire, dark green, oval-oblong, pointed at the apex and tapering to a short thick petiole, 20-30 cm long and 10-15 cm wide (see photo 9) arranged in two rows on short stipules without stipules, hanging down, give tropical plant. Thanks to the beautiful large leaves of pawpaw, it is very decorative. Large drooping paws leaves are damaged by strong winds, which must be taken into account when planting. At the end of the growing season, the color of the leaves changes, which acquire a bright golden hue. The pawpaw trees in their autumn attire of large bright leaves are very decorative. In mid-autumn, the leaves turn yellow (see photo 2, 10) and fall off, and new leaves grow late spring after flowering.

Photo 9 and 10

Pawberry flower buds, thanks to a thin insulating sheath, are completely free to tolerate spring frosts(see photo 11).

Photo 11

The flowering of paws occurs in the spring before leaf buds bloom, in paws of northern origin with leaves blooming at about the same time as the apple tree and lasts 2-3 weeks. In Orenburg, flowering begins in mid-May and ends in the first decade of June. Solitary or in sympodial inflorescences hanging bell-shaped flowers at first green, then copper-red or dark chestnut, which become almost black by the end of flowering (see photos 12-17).

Photos 12 and 13

Photos 14 and 15

Flowers appear in the axils of the leaves on the growth of the previous year, so mature trees are pruned annually for replacement. Pruning for replacement consists in the fact that part of the shoots with flower buds are cut through one by ¼ of their length, and part of the shoots, especially growth ones, on which there are no flower buds, are cut short, by 2-3 buds (Shaitan I. M., Chuprina L. M., 1989). Also, before the start of growth, sanitary pruning is carried out, broken, dry, as well as branches growing inside the crown are removed (see Fig. 4 and photo 58).

Rice. 4

The pawpaw flowers are monoecious original look, the calyx consists of three sepals of light green color, the corolla up to 5 cm in diameter is composed of six triangular petals arranged in two circles; the outer petals are larger than the inner ones. Each flower contains 30 bright yellow stamens, arranged in a spiral, on short filaments with elongated anthers, several pistils rise above them, which explains the ability of one flower to form up to 9 fruits (see photo 18). Pedicel and calyx covered with soft brown hairs.

Photo 18

This species is characterized by a significant degree of infertility during self-pollination, since isolated trees do not bear fruit. The flowers are bisexual, but not self-pollinating.

Azimina can be pollinated by its own pollen, but pollination within the same flower is excluded. The flowers are protogenic, i.e. first, the stigma of the pistil ripens, becoming glossy green and sticky, and when brown pollen from the anthers of the stamens begins to spill out after 2-3 days, the pistil has already withered. Therefore, the first flowers do not give ovaries. In some flowers, these phases overlap, which allows them to self-pollinate and allow more ovaries to form. Even with artificial pollination, the ovaries give about 60% of pollinated flowers, and about 80% of the formed ovaries fall off. The pawpaw flowers have a faint but very unpleasant smell, the smell of rotting meat, which attracts flies - the main pollinators in our area. To increase the number of ovaries formed, to attract flies, paws are laid out under the trees on polyethylene film viscera remaining after cutting fish, poultry, etc. For best pollination, it is recommended to plant at least two trees.

The resulting ovaries do not develop for 2-3 weeks, while most of them fall off, and the rest begin to grow from the second half of July (see photos 19-22).

Photo 19 and 20

Photo 21

Photo 22

In late August - early September, they stop increasing in size and ripen (see photos 24-30). A sign of fruit ripening is a change in color from light green to yellowish green or yellow, their softening and the appearance of a strong aroma. They ripen within 4 weeks, when ripe they crumble. The fruits in the seedlings do not ripen at the same time, but the seedlings fall off only after the last fruit has ripened in it, which is why the first ripened fruits overripe on the tree. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to check the maturity of the fruits in the infructescences after the beginning of their color change. Ripened fruits fall off when lightly touched, while unripe ones hold firmly. Fruits are harvested as they ripen and fall from the tree. The yield of pawpaw, in comparison with many other fruit trees, is very low. At the age of 20-25 years, it is from 20 to 40 kg of fruits from a tree, but this disadvantage is compensated by their excellent taste and absolute resistance of plants to diseases and pests. Yields of up to 48 kg of fruit per tree have been reported; good trees should produce 50-100 fruits.

Photo 23

Photo 25 and 26

Photo 27

Photo 28

Ripe fruits are stored fresh at room temperature for 2-3 days, in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. They must be used immediately after maturation. In order for the fruits to be stored for some time after harvest and they could be transported normally, they must be removed from the tree 5-7 days before full ripening, at the beginning of their softening. Azimina fruits are not very transportable and require careful handling during collection and transportation. They can be plucked from the tree while still firm and stored in the cold for up to 6 months. If the fruits plucked from the tree are placed in a place lit by the sun for several hours, then they do not grow moldy and ripen in room conditions for 10-12 days. Colds even above 0 degrees cause blackening of the fruits remaining on the tree and a deterioration in taste.

The pawberry fruit is a juicy multi-seeded berry, shaped and appearance resembling a small banana, which is why the plant got its unofficial name banana of Nebraska or Indiana, northern banana. It is the largest wild fruit in the United States. The fruits are usually oblong-cylindrical 3x10 or 3x15 cm, weighing from 67 to 200 g, single or in groups of 2 to 9 fruits, usually there are 2-3-5, the inflorescences resemble a hand (see photo 34), for which they received in English the name PAW PAW, which means PAWS PAWS.

Cultural forms and varieties have dimensions of 5 x 16 or 7 x 16 cm, weighing 500-800 g (photo 31-33).

Photo 31

Photo 32 and 33

Photo 34

As it matures, the color of the fruit constantly changes: at first light green, then lemon yellow, and finally dark brown. Under the thin translucent, easily peeling skin of the fruit, covered with a thin prune coating, there is a yellow or orange pulp rich in fructose and sucrose, resembling butter in texture, with a very sweet taste and a delicate pineapple-strawberry aroma. The taste of this very fragrant fruit is hard to describe, something like a creamy mixture of banana, mango and pineapple. Americans call it custard flavor.

By chemical composition pawpaw fruits are close to banana. The sugar content is up to 25% (which is 2 times more than in peaches and pears), vitamin C up to 62 mg /%, proteins up to 1%. It also contains vitamin A, fats, trace elements (potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron). contains more protein than bananas. The calorie content of the fruit pulp is 359 cal/kg, which gives it a high nutritional value. The pawberry fruits contain more vitamins, minerals and amino acids than apples, peaches and grapes. Delicate creamy pulp and original aroma make it an excellent dessert, the fruits are suitable for making raw jams, marmalade, preserves, ice cream, and can also serve as a filling for cakes and pies. Azimina can be preserved with sugar. To do this, cut the fruits along (see photo 35) and remove the seeds from them. In a glass jar, on the bottom of which granulated sugar was previously poured, the cut fruits are placed in layers, alternating them with layers of sand. Sugar will need as much as the pulp of the fruit. The jar is hermetically sealed. In this state, pawpaw is stored. Even at room temperature, it does not lose either taste or aroma (L. Gogolashvilli, Sukhumi). According to travelers, when using pawpaw fruits, the local population was saved from poisoning, and with prolonged use, the human body literally rejuvenated, getting rid of accumulated harmful toxins. Local residents said that a month after drinking pawpaw, the intestines become like those of a baby. From the pulp of pawpaws make face masks.

The pulp of the fruit contains 10-14 brown-black large seeds located in two rows (see photos 35 and 35-1).

Photos 35 and 35-1

Seeds should not be chewed (they have an emetic effect), but accidentally swallowed will not bring harm.

Photo 36

The best forms of pawpaw contain no more than 5-6 seeds and up to 92% pulp in fruits. The pawpaw seeds are large, like persimmons (see photo 36), are equipped with a layer of air-bearing spongy tissue under a hard peel and once in a river or lake, they can swim for weeks and even months until they rot or, having washed ashore, when favorable conditions, will germinate (see photo 37). The wild-growing pawpaw grows in the woodlands of the eastern United States with a humid continental climate, on loose soils in the floodplains, often forming dense thickets (see photos 37-39).

Photo 37

Photo 38

Photo 39

Thickets in this place could have been formed from the fact that several seeds were nailed with water during the flood of the river, from root offspring or pellets of animals eating pawpaw. In nature, the fruits are eaten by squirrels, raccoons, foxes, deer, opossums and many birds (Photo 40).

Photo 40

Seeds that are not damaged in the stomach are carried over long distances. The fact is that from seeds that have passed through the digestive tract of animals, plants grow especially viable, which means that they are more likely to survive than plants from ordinary seeds (I. S. Isaeva, 2005)

Azimina is propagated by root offspring, layering, seeds, and grafting.

A little root growth grows from the rhizomes, but it slowly forms its root system and does not tolerate transplanting well. Separating the root shoots by cutting the rhizomes a year before transplanting can enhance the development of the root system.

At seed propagation in the offspring, splitting is observed in many ways, which is widely used in breeding and when introducing pawpaws to the more northern and eastern regions of the country. Azimina seeds have high germination, but they germinate slowly, unevenly, seedlings develop poorly in the first year. Harvesting of fruits for harvesting seeds is carried out when they are fully ripe. Drying seeds taken out of the fruit reduces their germination from 90 to 15-20%. For good germination, the seeds must be stratified at a temperature of 0-4° Cwithin 90-120 days. After separation from the pulp, the seeds are either sown in the ground or stored in wet moss, sawdust, sand, etc. in the bottom of the refrigerator for 3-4 months. Stratified seeds are planted in containers 20-25 cm high to a depth of 3 cm in moist soil. Germination takes place at a temperature of 24-29° Cwithin 9 weeks, and at a temperature of 29-32° C10 days earlier. Seeds planted in late autumn germinate in July of the following year.

A seedling, from seeds planted in open ground on October 30, 2007, sprouted on July 3, 2008 (see photo 41). The first one (it was pulled out of the flowerpot) had a root of 18 cm. The second one was left in place (in photo 43 - stumps in the background) formed many green buds with constant watering. One of them sprouted and by the end of August a shoot with three true leaves had formed (Photo 44).

Photo 41 and 42

Photo 43 and 44

Photo 45 and 46

Photo 47 (nursery)

K. Zawisha was asked what needs to be done so that the leaves on the seedlings growing in a room in Novosibirsk fly around. K. Zawisha recommended drying the plants. Our seedlings sprouted in July, and in September we have frosts, and in order to somehow prepare the plant, we stopped watering from the first of August, but not quite.

During the day, the air temperature was 28 ° C, broken branches from maple, with which we shaded paw seedlings, burned out on the second day (photo 45) and were replaced by new ones. In mature plants, the leaves hang down (Photo 9-10), in seedlings they are in a horizontal position (Photo 42, 46), even when the ground is cracked from the heat (Photo 46). Watering of the seedlings was carried out when, during the morning examination from 6 to 8 o'clock, the turgor was not restored, i.e. the leaves remained drooping. By the end of August, the lower part of the seedlings began to lignify (photo 44 - on the left under the finger).

Young seedlings are sensitive to light and dry air. In the open, young leaves get sunburn(photo 49).

Photo 49

Usually until 12 leaves appear on them and they reach 15-30 cm in height, they are left in partial shade, like that, which is obtained by trees growing in the depths of the forest. To shade the seedlings from direct sunlight and protect them from frost, supports are installed near the seedlings, on which gauze is put on in summer, and insulating material in winter (see photo 53). Young plants for the first 3-4 years must be covered from the cold. The pawpaw has fleshy brittle roots - transplantation contributes to the death of young trees to a greater extent than in the case of other types of fruit crops. Young sprouts have a sensitive root system, so they are not transplanted, but transshipped, grown in containers (see photos 42-45, 50), flowerpots, etc.

Photo 50

To sow seeds before winter, do the following:

A) choose a place on a hill between the trees (stagnation of water from melt water is excluded and shading is provided for future seedlings)

B) dig a hole 30-35 cm deep, pour drainage (expanded clay, broken red brick, crushed stone, etc.) at the bottom of the hole with a layer of 5-10 cm

C) preparation of the "container" plastic bottles with a volume of 1.5 liters, cut off the upper part (leaving at least 25 cm), make holes in the bottom and sides with a hot metal rod (to drain excess water), fill the containers by 1/3 (expanded clay, broken red brick, crushed stone, etc. .), 2/3 fill with soil mixture: 1 part humus, 1 part peat, 1.5 parts wood dust, 0.5 parts sand

D) "containers" are installed in a pit so that the upper part is at the level of the soil, the empty space between them is filled with wood dust, peat or humus

E) seeds isolated from pawpaw fruits or stored in a wet state in refrigerators until planting are sown in "containers" to a depth of 3 cm. The sown seeds are watered, the last watering is carried out before shelter. With the onset of cold weather (below 100C), the "containers" are covered with fallen leaves 25-30 cm thick. In this place, pawberry seedlings grow for 2 years. Normal care - watering, weeding. In the autumn of the first and second years, pawpaw seedlings are protected for the winter in the following way: two slits are made in the upper part of the container from top to bottom 3-4 cm long, the slits are one on top of the other. When the upper part of the “container” is compressed, the cut edges crawl over each other, thereby reducing the diameter of the “container” on which a one and a half liter bottle without a bottom is put on. The height of the bottle depends on the height of the seedling. A box is made around the bottles (from boards, cardboard, slate, etc.), which are filled up for the winter (fallen leaves, plant debris, peat, etc.). In the spring, the shelter is removed. In the autumn of the second year, seedlings that have grown to 30 cm and above are ready for transshipment.

Do this in the spring, when the plant starts to grow. When choosing a landing site in areas exposed to strong winds, the possibility of wind protection should be taken into account, using the features of the relief, the presence of buildings, trees in the directions most exposed to the wind. In a hole prepared in advance for planting a plant (see below), a hole is drilled slightly larger than the diameter of the flowerpot, container, etc. and seedling paws with a clod of earth are placed in a hole, the soil is compacted and watering is carried out.

Pits measuring 80x80x80 cm are dug in autumn at a distance of 4 m in a row and 7 m between rows. If the soil is heavy clay, drainage is done in the planting pits, filling them 1/3 with crushed stone, or broken red brick, or pebbles, or expanded clay, or ASG, etc. The soil should be light, loose, moist, fertile and slightly acidic (pH 5-7). To do this, the landing pits are filled with the following mixture: 3 parts of humus (rotted manure), 1 part of coniferous litter, 1 part of soddy soil, 1 part of sand. Plants grown from seeds usually begin to bloom and bear fruit after 5-8 years, which depends on the quality of the seeds, variety and conditions of detention. Vaccinations are done at the end of April, beginning of May, with a cutting in a split, or at the end of July, beginning of August, by occlusion in the butt. A grafted tree may start flowering in 2-3 years (see photos 51-54). The plant is photophilous, however, in the first two years of life, shading is required from the direct sun.

Photos 51 and 52

Photos 53 and 54

A slight shading from neighboring trees will not inhibit pawpaw and at the first stage will create favorable conditions for the plant, but the trees left in the shade develop worse than in the sun and react painfully during transplantation - growth stops for 1-2 years. Mature plants prefer full sunlight. Azimina develops slowly, however, with an increase in daylight hours to 16 hours, the growth rate increases: in three months a young tree can grow up to 1.5 m in height.

The plant needs approximately 800 mm of precipitation per year. You need to water regularly from spring to autumn, constantly keeping the soil moist, but stagnant water should be avoided. To preserve moisture, mulching between rows and tree trunks is mandatory (see photo 55). In the future, it is advisable to switch to a system of artificial sodding of the soil with perennial grasses, with their periodic mowing and use as mulch in the tree trunks. Mulching near-trunk strips is necessary element agricultural technology, allowing to reduce the temperature of the soil surface in summer period and contributing to the conservation of moisture in the soil (F. K. Ivanenko, 2008) (see photo 56-57). This creates a more favorable temperature and air mode. During growth, once every two weeks, the plant is fed with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer. It turned out that pawpaw responds well to organic and nitrogen-phosphorus supplements.

Photo 55-1

Photos 56 and 57

Photo 58

Azimina was introduced into the culture a little over 100 years ago, and therefore there are few varieties of it. In culture, varieties bred in the USA and Canada are grown. In total, about 60 of them are known (see Appendix No. 1), the fruits of which differ in ripening time, fruit size, and seed size. Selection of pawpaws is carried out primarily in its homeland in the USA and Canada. At the beginning of the 20th century, it attracted public interest in the United States, where work began on its widespread introduction into culture. To encourage the search for good pawpaw, in July 1916 the Journal of Heredity offered a $50 prize for photographs of the largest trees and specimens of the best fruit. The largest tree photographed in Indiana was 1.5 m in diameter at a height of 1 m and 8 m high. From August 16 to October 28, 75 fruit samples were taken. Mrs. Ketter's from southern Ohio was the best example, called "Ketter," but good fruit also came from Kansas, Maryland, Indiana, and Missouri. Nine cultivars were sent from Illinois, but they were bred in Arkansas, Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois. The flesh of the best of these was light to bright yellow, but there was great variation in fruit size and some variation in seed size.

Zimmerman of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania collected and grew every variety available. He also raised seedlings of the best varieties and other species from Florida and Georgia, and considered the best early seedling from "Ketter" called "Fairchild". Currently, two varieties "Davis" and "Overlease" stand out. Both are yellow meat and are considered to be of excellent quality. Variety "Martin" - is considered quite cold-resistant. Zimmerman crossed A. triloba with A. longifolia and A. obovata. Seedling fruits of the best selected forms had too little to too much flavor.

Kral R. noted putative hybrids of A. triloba x parviflora, discovered natural hybrids of longifolia x pygmaea, pygmaea x reticulata, reticulate x obovata, pygmaea x obovata, speciosa x longifolia, and described other putative hybrids. He notes that hybrids also bear fruit and produce seeds abundantly, like parental species. Hybrids between Azimina species are common, either as intermediates or backcrosses. There is currently a real horticultural boom in the United States, reminiscent of what happened once with kiwi and mango. Our compatriots who have visited the USA also speak enthusiastically about the new fruit. Azimina has huge potential. In addition to nutritional value, pawpaw is used in the development of anti-cancer drugs. A huge number of seedlings have been produced in more than 40 nurseries in the United States. High demand for seedlings and seedlings of pawpaw, he determined the price of one-year-olds at 18 and 27 dollars, respectively.

The center of commercial cultivation of pawpaw is southeastern Ohio, where the Pawpaw Festival is held annually near the city of Albany.

In Russia, pawpaw appeared in the middle of the 19th century, however, until the beginning of the 20th century, it grew, mainly in botanical gardens. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it begins to appear among amateurs on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, where it finds some distribution.

Azimina three-blade is a relatively new fruit crop, but has recently become more and more famous.

In our country, pawpaw breeding has recently begun, but several varieties of Ivanenko F.K. have already been obtained in Sochi, they differ from the total mass of seedlings in larger and more tasty fruits, and increased productivity.

Photo 59 Photo 60

1. Sochi-11 (photo 59)- vigorous variety of early ripening (from the 3rd decade of August to mid-September). The trees have a broad pyramidal habit of the crown, the leaves are large, up to 36 cm long. Fruits of average weight 120-130 g, maximum fruit weight up to 350 g, yield 9-10 summer tree subject to the necessary agricultural technology up to 10 kg. Trees at this age have a crown diameter of up to 3 m with a tree height of 3-4 m. The color of the skin of the fruit is light yellowish-green, sometimes almost yellow when fully ripe, the flesh is yellowish-orange, good taste, the seeds are large, relatively few.

2. Dessert (photo 60) - a variety of medium vigor and medium ripening. The trees have a pyramidal habit of the crown, leaves of medium length, fruits with an average weight of 110-130 g, with a maximum weight of up to 250-270 g. The color of the skin is light green, the fruits are oval or rounded, the seeds are of medium size, the content of pulp in the fruits in relation to the mass seeds up to 93-95%. The pulp is yellow, good taste, tender, melting.

Amateur gardeners grow pawpaw in the Kuban, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd and other cities in southern Russia. There are even amateurs who are trying to grow paws indoors in Ufa and Novosibirsk (see photo 61).

Photo 61

Tasks for the selection of pawpaws in Orenburg:

1. Collect forms of the most northern origin

2. Test them in the form of: stlanets with shelter, stlanets without shelter, in the form of a bush, "C grade", a tree with a low stem, a free-growing tree.

3. Select the most winter-hardy large-fruited crops with high palatability.

4. Make pairs for hybridization among winter-hardy:

A) early-ripening form x early-ripening form (green or white-fleshed late-ripening fruits have a repulsive odor)

B) large-fruited x large-fruited (with an equal weight of the fruit, give preference to those that have fewer seeds, both in weight, in size, in number).

At the first stage, plants were noted that froze less in winter, as well as plants that recovered faster. Received hybrid seedlings between the most winter-hardy and the fastest growing plants that restore the crown. Among the least freezing were pairs for crossing and pairs between quickly recovering. We wanted to consolidate these qualities in the offspring.

There is information about attempts to grow paws in Belarus. In Ukraine, pawpaw grows in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, in Odessa, Nikolaev, Kherson regions, etc. In the Ivano-Frankivsk region, an amateur gardener who has grown pawpaw from seeds obtained from Tashkent, Sochi, Yalta and other cities is trying to get distant hybrids between pawpaw and Annona Cherimola.

It remains only to wish success in the introduction, selection of this wonderful culture and obtaining high yields excellent fruits.

The material was provided by Khusnutdinov Radik Mukhametnagimovich with an addition:

Lyashenko Nikolai Alexandrovich Dedicated to his blessed memory.

The material has not been previously published. Part of the photo material is taken from the Internet.

***

The three-lobed pawpaw in the United States is called “pow-pow”, “Nebraska banana”, “banana tree”. These popular names of the plant are associated with the shape of pawpaw fruits - they are elongated, like at, but much smaller in size.
The main advantage of pawpaw three-bladed is the wonderful fruits for which it is grown. The taste of its fruits is extraordinary - it really resembles bananas, but more tender, and the pulp of the pawberry fruit has a strong and very pleasant aroma.

I must say that the pawpaw fruits seemed to me the most delicious of all that I have ever tasted. And so one day, when a friend treated me to them, I really wanted to have such a culture in my area.

Having accumulated many years of experience in propagating and growing this plant, I want to supplement the site posted on the site.

Azimina in nature and in the garden

The pawpaw genus includes 8 species distributed throughout the United States. Of these, six species grow in Florida, one is found in Texas. And one of the most common types of pawpaw grows almost throughout the country up to the Canadian border - it is he who is of the greatest interest for cultivation in our country. The botanical name for this common species is pawpaw three-lobed (Asimina triloba).

Pawpaw three-lobed (hereinafter - pawpaw) is a small deciduous slow-growing tree that lives on loose soils in floodplains. According to literature data, this plant tolerates frosts down to -25 C.
In the region where my garden is located (Tuapse), there are no such severe frosts. But my friend, who lives near Krasnodar, in the harsh winter of 2005/2006, when the temperature dropped to -28 C, flower buds froze out on pawberry trees (although the wood and growth buds were not affected).

Propagation of paws by seeds

In pawpaw, the seeds are very large, like in.
I decided that pawpaw seeds are needed, since this plant comes from the subtropical and temperate zones.

Immediately after extracting from the fruit, I placed the pawpaw seeds in loose, fertile soil, planting them in separate seedlings. Then I dug cups with seeds in elevated areas of the garden, to a shallow depth.
During the winter, he made sure that water did not stagnate in cups with semans.

In April, some pawpaw seeds began to germinate, and I began to plant the seedlings in a permanent place.
During the spring, he carefully monitored the soil moisture, preventing it from drying out.

Since the soil in my area is heavy, clayey, before planting the seeds, I completely replaced it with wood humus (I took it from rotted edible chestnut trunks, which we have a lot in the forest).
Landing pits for pawpaws did different size, placing them both in partial shade and in sunny areas. I made the largest hole about 1 meter deep and about half a meter in diameter - about 20 buckets of humus went into it.

Development of pawberry seedlings and care for them

Azimina shoots appeared from May to August, and out of the 14 seeds planted, 11 sprouted. In the first year, I did not feed the plants, I only watered the seedlings as needed. The growth of pawpaw seedlings for the first season ranged from 10 to 30 cm. In October, their leaves turned yellow and crumbled; young trees have gone dormant.

The next spring, in April, sap flow began at the pawberry seedlings, buds began to bloom on their tops. At this time, I fertilized young plants with nitrodiammophos (about 20 g per bucket of water), but I did not find a particular reaction to fertilizer in plants.
At the end of the summer, he fed young pawpaw trees, and did not fertilize them with anything else that season.

Simultaneously with bud break, 2 more seeds of pawpaw sprouted on overwintered plants, which did not sprout last year.
In the second year, the growth of pawberry seedlings also ranged from 10 to 30 cm.

In the third year, the last seed of pawpaw sprouted, and in plants that sprouted in the first year, the growth was from 20 to 40 cm.

It became obvious that young pawpaw trees growing in the shade developed worse than in the sun. Therefore, they had to be transplanted, to which they reacted very painfully - growth stopped for 1-2 years.

In the fourth year, seedlings of pawpaw began to form lateral branches.

An interesting feature of the pawpaw tree is that its skeletal branches are formed strictly in one plane, i.e. are a classic palmette.

In the photo: a small pawberry tree in summer; pawpaw in autumn.

Due to the lack of free space in the garden, I left only three pawpaw trees for myself, and distributed the rest of the seedlings.
As pawpaw grew, over the years I began to increase the amount of dressing and fertilizer doses, and I used only.
It turned out that pawpaw is responsive to top dressing, especially to nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers.

Flowering and fruiting pawpaws

In the sixth year of cultivation on one tree paws began to form fruit buds. They were the size of a match head, and became clearly visible after leaf fall.

The next spring, pawpaw's fruit buds began to open in March, long before the leaf buds.
Flowers bloomed in April unusual shape and coloring - light brown, with 6 petals and a large number of stamens. The pawpaw flowers have a weak and very bad smell reminiscent of the smell of rotten meat. This smell attracts carrion flies, which in our conditions are the main pollinators of azimine flowers. And the bees are not at all interested in pawpaw flowers.

Azimina can be pollinated by its own pollen, but pollination within the same flower is excluded. The fact is that in the pawpaw flower, the stigma of the pistil first ripens. After 1-2 days, pollen from the anthers of the stamens begins to spill out, and by this time the pistil fades. That is why the first pawpaw flowers do not give ovaries.

In the first year, only 3 flowers bloomed on one pawberry tree, and pollination did not take place.
The next year, there were about 100 flowers on one pawberry tree, and about 70 on the other. Moreover, their flowering continued for 3 weeks, which made it possible to carry out both cross-pollination and pollination of flowers with their own pollen.

The pawpaw flowers are drooping, they are easy to pollinate - just tie a stiff wire to a piece of cotton wool and transfer pollen from one flower to another.
Despite the pollination of paws flowers by carrion flies, artificial pollination increases the percentage of fruit set. Even with artificial pollination, the ovaries produce about 60 percent of pollinated flowers, and about 80 percent of the resulting ovaries fall off - this is normal.

Azimina flowers are often visited, but their participation in pollination is unlikely - these beetles are attracted only by the pollen of the plant, which they eat with pleasure along with the stamens, but do not touch the ovaries.

Immediately after pollination of the ovary flowers, paws began to grow very actively. Within a month and a half, the ovaries reached half their final size.
From 2 to 8 fruits (usually 2-3 fruits) were formed in pawpaw infructescences. There were also single fruits, but they were few.
Some seedlings of paws reached a significant weight, so it was necessary to bring props under the heavier branches.

In late August-early September, shortly before the pawpaw fruits ripen, they grew a little more and began to change color to lemon yellow.
When fully ripe, pawpaw fruits fell off. And if they were damaged when they fell, they deteriorated very quickly - after 3-4 hours at room temperature.
Intact ripe pawpaw fruits tasted best immediately after falling from the tree, and the next day they acquired the taste of burnt coffee ...
I tried to remove pawpaw fruits from a tree shortly before ripening. When they ripened in the mat, their juiciness was very low.

Interestingly, in the infructescence of paws, the fruits do not ripen at the same time. But the seedlings crumble only after the last fruit in it has ripened, which is why the first ripened fruits overripe on the tree. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check the degree of maturation of each fruit in paw fruit seedlings after the beginning of the color change in the fruit.
Ripe fruits of pawpaw are easily torn off when touched, while unripe ones hold firmly.

In the photo: maturing fruit of pawpaw; harvested pawpaw fruit

It is necessary to use the pawpaw fruits immediately after they ripen. Their skin is very thin, translucent; it peels off easily, like a banana.
There is evidence in the literature that jams and compotes are made from pawberry fruits. But I only used them fresh because of the small harvests.

I must say that the yield of pawpaw in comparison with many other fruit trees is very low. Even in mature trees, the yield is from 25 to 40 kg of fruit per tree. But this disadvantage is compensated by the excellent taste of the fruit and the absolute resistance of this plant to.
In 26 years of growing pawpaw three-lobed, I have not noticed any damage to my plants. And from none of my acquaintances who grow pawpaw, I have not heard that it is damaged in any way.

Selection of pawpaws

Azimina was introduced into the culture a little over 100 years ago, and therefore there are few varieties of it.

In total, about 60 varieties of pawpaw three-lobed are known. In different varieties, the fruits differ in terms of ripening, size, size of seeds in fruits. Obviously, in the near future, breeders will eliminate such a disadvantage as the low yield of pawpaw.

Now I grow five varieties (more precisely, variety types) of paws in my garden. Of these, two varieties were obtained by me from the Institute of Mountain Horticulture in Sochi, where pawpaw is selected in Russia. One cultivar of pawpaw was bought on the market, and its origin could not be established. Another variety type of pawpaw was obtained from near Sukhumi, where pawpaw was selected during the Soviet era. And another one grew from my rootstock, which remained after the death of the grafting of the varietal pawpaw.

I must say that the taste of fruits in different varieties of paws is very different from each other. The sweetest were pawpaw fruits from my rootstock, the graft on which died. And the most unsweetened fruits are in Sochi varieties of pawpaws; but on the other hand, they ripen later than the others, which allows you to extend the period of consumption of fresh fruits.

At the end of August, the first fruits of pawpaw ripen - on the tree that I received from near Sukhumi. They are sweet, but dryish, and their weight rarely exceeds 100 g.
At the beginning of September, the fruits begin to ripen on the pawpaw tree, which I bought at the market, as well as on the tree grown from the rootstock. In these two larger-fruited varieties of paws, the fruit weight reaches 200 g.
And, finally, in October, the fruits ripen on the trees of the Sochi selection; their weight is also about 200 g. Below I will give the characteristics of these two varieties of paws.

Azimina three-blade "Sochi-17"- fruits up to 200 g, harmonious taste (but, in my opinion, they have little sweetness), average yield.

Azimina three-blade "Dessert"- the taste and size of the fruit practically does not differ from the previous variety. But it has very small seeds, which increases the volume of pulp in the fruit. The yield is average.

Inoculation pawpaw

I want to say a little about pawpaw vaccination. In one of the articles I read that it is difficult to plant paws - I cannot agree with this. From my own experience I can say that grafting pawpaw is no more difficult than or a pear.

I graft pawpaw at the beginning of sap flow (in March) with a lignified cutting split. I cut the stock and split it lengthwise by 1-1.5 cm, and I sharpen the scion in a wedge-shaped manner and insert it into the split of the stock. The cambial layers must coincide on at least one side.
I tightly wrap the graft with a polymer film, and cover it with a polymer cap on top to protect it from moisture.

The pawpaw vaccination usually takes root within 2 weeks, as can be judged by the time the buds awaken in the scion. After that, I remove the cap, but at first I do not completely open the place where the scion grows together with the stock (I just loosen the strapping). Only a month and a half later, when the vaccine takes root well, I completely remove the harness.
Of the six inoculations of pawpaw, five took root in me.

As a result of the vaccinations, now I have five varieties on three azimine trees: on one tree - three varieties, and on the remaining trees - one variety each.

Placement of paws trees in the garden

For better fruiting pawpaws, it is important to choose the most appropriate place for planting a tree.
As for the optimal placement of paws on garden plot: it seems to me that, at least in the southern regions, paws should be placed in partial shade.

In my garden, one pawberry tree grows near the forest on the border of the site, where the sun is about 4 hours a day.
Another pawpaw grows next to a tree that shade pawpaw in the morning.
The third pawpaw tree grows between trellises with lianas that protect it from the sun in the early morning and evening. As a result, this tree is in the sun for no more than 3 hours in the middle of the day, and it is on it that the best fruiting is observed.

In the garden season of 2015, when September turned out to be dry and hot for us (daytime temperatures were not lower than +30 C), on the pawberry tree, which was in the sun for half a day, all the fruits on the sunny side were baked. And on the rest of the paw trees, the fruits were not affected.

So far, the yield of my pawpaw trees is low: it does not exceed 10 kg per tree. But I believe that over time my trees will be able to produce more.
I believe that pawpaw deserves wide distribution in personal plots, at least in the south of our country.

Vladimir Vasilyevich Chernyak (Tuapse, Russia)

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There is a wide variety in nature fruit plants. Some of them are well known all over the world. Others are not very popular, but this does not make their fruits less tasty and healthy. These plants include pawpaw three-bladed, which has truly unique properties. In her honor, a special fruit festival is even held in the US state of Ohio near the city of Albany. What is this culture?

Azimina three-bladed

The pawpaw three-bladed fruit crop is a deciduous moisture-loving plant, whose homeland is North America. In nature, it is found only in the United States, where it grows in the form of shrubs along river banks and in shady forests on fairly moist soil. Some cultural forms of paws have become widespread in other countries. Under favorable conditions, the plant often looks like a tree, which reaches a height of 12-15 m. Despite the fact that pawpaw is a subtropical plant, it has high frost resistance.

This is fruit tree can serve wonderful decoration garden. The pyramidal crown of the plant looks very interesting. It is formed by large glossy ovoid leaves up to 33 cm long and up to 12 cm wide, which appear after the flowers bloom. In this case, the lower surface of each leaf has a reddish-brown tint.

During flowering, pawpaw has a very decorative appearance due to large bright flowers of purple or red hues up to 6 cm in diameter. Each flower consists of only six large petals, which form peculiar lobes arranged in two rows, which made it possible to call pawpaw three-lobed. A feature of the plant is a slight, but unpleasant smell of stale meat, which disappears when the fruit appears.

paw fruit

Each flower of pawpaw three-lobed is able to set several fruits, since it has from 2 to 9 pistils. However, the very early maturation of the stigma of the pistil excludes the possibility of self-pollination of the flower, so the plants require cross-pollination. The fruits of pawpaw are berries of an irregular, oblong-curved shape. They ripen in late September - early October and, depending on the variety, have a mass of 60 g to 200 g.

The fruits are covered with a thin green skin, which later becomes yellowish. Inside the fruit is a sweet light pulp, which has a peculiar strawberry-pineapple aroma. The taste of pawpaw resembles both banana and mango at the same time. The fruits of the plant are collected in seedlings, in each of which there can be up to 9 of them at the same time.

In shape, the fruits have some similarities with bananas, which is why many people call paws a banana tree. Similarities can also be found in the composition of these plants, the main riches of which are pectin, ascorbic acid and trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. Each fruit is high in nutrients. Azimina fruits, like other fruits, are used freshly picked, they are also used to make jam, jam, jam.

Different parts of the plant have specific medicinal properties. For example, azimine seeds contain the alkaloid aziminine, which is used in case of poisoning as an effective emetic that helps to remove toxins from the body. A decoction of young leaves is a good substitute for diuretics, and freshly squeezed juice has a noticeable anthelmintic effect. In addition, pawpaw three-lobed is capable of exerting a fairly strong antitumor effect. The extract from its fruits strengthens the immune system.

Azimina fruits are the most valuable food product. In addition to their nutritional and medicinal properties, they give a person a pleasant taste sensation, contributing to the production of endorphin - the “hormone of joy”. This allows us to see a banana tree in pawpaw, which is a kind of substitute for a creeper with well-known fruits.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Azimina (lat. Asimina), or pow-pow- a genus of flowering plants of the Annonaceae family, which includes 8 species, distributed, for the most part, in the nature of the United States. Azimina is also called a banana tree or American papaya (pow-pow), since the fruits of all three plants have some similarities with each other. For the sake of these edible fruits, the three-lobed pawpaw, or pawpaw triloba (Asimina triloba), introduced into cultivation in 1736, is grown in gardens. It is grown in regions with a warm climate, for example, in Italy, France, Japan and Spain. The pawpaw also grows in Ukraine, mainly in its southern regions. Azimina in Russia is found mostly in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, although there are cases of its successful fruiting in Orenburg. In addition to the taste qualities that deserve recognition, they are also of interest medicinal properties paws.

Planting and caring for pawpaw (in a nutshell)

• Landing: in early spring.
• Bloom: in April for three weeks.
• Lighting: bright sunlight.
• The soil: loose, moisture and breathable, slightly acid reaction.
• Watering: in the season of active growth - regular and plentiful, in the fall watering is stopped.
• Top dressing: from the second year of life in the spring, complex mineral or organic fertilizer in liquid form.
• Reproduction: seeds, root shoots, grafting and parts of the rhizome.
• Diseases: root rot.
• Pests: almost unaffected.
• Properties: the plant has medicinal properties.

Read more about growing paws below.

Azimina - description

Azimina triloba is a deciduous tree from 5 to 8 m high with a smooth gray-brown bark and a uniformly leafy broad pyramidal crown. Young shoots of the plant are covered with pubescence. Oblong-ovate, tapering to a short, thick petiole and pointed towards the top, light green leathery leaves can reach a length of 22-25, and a width of 7-12 cm. The lower side of the young leaves of the plant is covered with pubescence, and the upper one is glossy. At the same time as the leaves, in their axils, on the last year's shoots, attractive bell-shaped brownish-purple flowers open in April or May.

Azimina fruits - juicy cylindrical berries with twisted ends - ripen by early to mid-autumn. They are collected in clusters of 2-9 berries, reach a length of 7-9, a width of 4-5 cm, and can weigh from 60 to 200 g. The fruits, painted in a dark shade of green, brighten to a pale yellow hue as they ripen, and then turn brown. Azimina berries are covered with a thin shell, inside of which there is a delicate light yellow, orange or creamy pulp of a very sweet taste, reminiscent of both mango and banana, and emitting a strawberry-pineapple aroma. Inside the pulp, located in two rows, 10-12 dark brown seeds flattened from the sides, reaching a length of 2.5 cm, ripen.

Planting paws in the ground

It takes at least 160 days without frost to ripen pawpaw fruits. The first two years, young trees need to be shaded from strong sun, but with age, plants need bright light, and they grow and bear fruit well under direct rays.

The composition of the soil for paws does not play a big role, but it is desirable that it be slightly acidic, loose, moisture and breathable. Of course, pawpaw is also reconciled with heavy soil, but in this case, when planting, it is advisable to lay a thick layer of drainage material in the pit.

Two-year-old pawberry seedlings are best accepted and further developed, which, when planted, are located at a distance of at least 3 meters from each other, observing row spacing 5 m wide. The planting pit should reach 60-70 cm in diameter and be 50-60 cm deep.

In the soil mixture with which you will fill the pit, you need to add 5-10 kg of humus or compost, a little wood ash, sand and mix everything thoroughly. Placed at the bottom of the pit drainage layer of broken brick or gravel 15-20 cm thick and pour a hill of soil mixture on it.

Having placed the seedling in the center of the pit on a mound of nutrient soil, straighten its roots and fill the remaining space with the same soil, lightly compact the surface around the seedling and water it abundantly. When the water is absorbed, the basal circle need to be mulched humus, peat or bark.

Care for paws in the garden

In early spring, before the growing season begins, paws are pruned, during which broken, frostbitten, diseased or improperly growing shoots are removed and the crown is shaped. Pawberry blooms from April for three weeks.

In the season of active growth, pawpaw needs regular and abundant watering, but care must be taken that it is not excessive, otherwise the roots will begin to rot in the plant. In the fall, when the dormant period begins, watering is stopped. After watering the soil trunk circle loosen, while clearing the root area of ​​weeds. Water for irrigation is used settled and heated in the sun.

In the photo: Pawberry flower

Azimina in the open field requires top dressing only from the second year of life: for the first season, the organic matter that was introduced into the soil during planting is enough for her. In April, that is, at the beginning of the second season, a solution of a mineral complex with a high content of phosphorus and nitrogen is introduced into the soil under the azimine. If you prefer to fertilize the land in the garden with organic fertilizers, then pond or manure is most suitable for paws.

It is possible to increase the pawberry yield by artificial cross-pollination between genetically heterogeneous plant varieties. To do this, at least two trees must grow on the site, and then you can transfer pollen from the flowers of one tree to the flowers of another with a brush. This technique allows you to increase the yield of fruits at least twice.

Since flies play an active role in paw pollination, it is advisable to hang them in the garden during flowering. different height bits of rotting meat.

The pawpaw is three-lobed cold-resistant and withstands frosts down to -29 ˚C, so the cultivation of pawpaw in the open field does not imply protective measures before the onset of winter. The flower buds of the plant that appear in mid-spring are covered with a dense shell that protects them from frost.

Reproduction of paws

The azimine reproduces generatively - by seeds, and vegetatively - by parts of the rhizome, root shoots and grafting.

In the photo: Azimina fruits on a tree

pawseed seeds before sowing, it is necessary to stratify at a temperature of 0-4 ˚C for 3-4 months, and only after that 1-2 seeds are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm in peat pots with seedling soil: seedlings have a very sensitive root system, so it is advisable not to disturb it once again with a pick or transplant. Contain crops at a temperature of 18-22 ˚C.

If you decide to sow pawpaw directly into the ground, then do it before winter, in October, in which case there is no need to deal with preliminary stratification: the seed will harden in the soil. Seeds sown in pots can germinate in as little as 7 weeks, and winter garden crops will germinate only next spring. During the first year, the seedlings grow up to 10-15 cm. The pawpaw from seeds will begin to bear fruit only after 5-6 years.

A piece of rhizome for pawpaw propagation can be broken off from the base of the tree. It is planted in the hole, sprinkled with a nutrient substrate, and after a month or so, the first shoots can already be expected. In the same way, you can plant root shoots if your azimine forms it.

In the photo: How pawpaw blooms

Inoculation of pawpaw carried out by the "split" method, using lignified cuttings as a scion. The stock is split to a depth of 1-1.5 cm, and a pointed cut of the scion is placed in the gap so that the cambial layers of both parts coincide. The grafting site is wrapped with a film to protect it from moisture. You should know that grafting is the only way that preserves the varietal characteristics of the pawpaw.

Pests and diseases paws

Disease and pest resistant azimin as a result of excessive watering can affect root rot, from which the growth and development of the plant slows down, and the leaves turn brown. Therefore, it is very important that the hydration of paws is balanced. Viral and bacterial infections, as well as harmful insects, paws are extremely rarely affected.

Collection of paws and storage

At the end of summer or at the beginning of autumn, pawpaw fruits stop growing in size and begin to ripen. Ripe fruits exude a strong aroma, become soft, and their green peel turns yellow. If you are going to store pawpaw fruits for a while, you will need to remove them a week before ripening until they fall off on their own.

The pawpaw fruits do not withstand long-term storage: they can be stored in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for up to three weeks, and at room conditions - only 3-4 days, so they are most often frozen or processed: jam and compotes are cooked from them.

The pawpaw fruits also do not tolerate transportation well, so they need to be transported in an unripe form, trying to protect them from mechanical damage. Better and longer fruits will be stored if each is wrapped in paper.

Types and varieties of paws

In nature, there are eight types of paws, one of them is a natural hybrid. Only pawpaw triloba, or three-lobed, is cultivated culturally, but thanks to the tireless work of breeders, today there are more than 70 cultivars of this plant. The most famous of them are:

• Davis- a plant with high quality fragrant fruits with yellow sweet pulp;
• Martin- a variety characterized by cold resistance and high quality fruits;
• overlease- pawpaw, the fruits of which resemble the Davis variety in quality;
• Victoria- a variety with fruits weighing up to 380 g with sweet and fragrant yellow flesh.

In demand among gardeners are such varieties of pawpaw trilobes as Autumn Surprise, Dessertnaya, Strickler, Sunflower, Prima, Balda, Zimmerman, Potomac, Taylor and others.

Properties pawpaw - harm and benefit

Useful properties of pawpaw

The pawpaw fruits, which are also called Mexican bananas, contain vitamins C and A, which have antioxidant and rejuvenating properties, so the pulp of the fruit is used not only for food, but also for making face masks. In addition to vitamins, fruits contain mineral salts calcium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and potassium, amino acids, sugars, fats, pectin and fiber. Azimin has a unique antimicrobial and antitumor effect: the acetogenin contained in the fruits helps prevent the development of certain types of cancer cells and stop the growth of already formed oncology. Pawberry extract has a strengthening effect on the immune system, increasing it protective function, protecting body cells from free radicals and the negative effects of stressful situations.