Asimina, or pau-pau, is a flowering plant from the Annonov family. There are about 8 species of this plant. The pawpaw has several other names, such as banana tree and American papaya. In gardens, three-lobed azimine or triloba azimine are most often grown. In addition to fruits that are not ordinary in taste and appearance, azimine is grown because of its medicinal properties.
Description of azimines
Azimina triloba is a deciduous plant and grows 5-8 m in height. The bark is smooth, gray-brown in color. The crown is evenly leafy and broadly pyramidal. Young shoots of the plant are covered with fluff. Leaves are oblong-ovoid, pointed at the tip, light green in color, up to 25 cm long and up to 12 cm wide. Young leaves are covered with fluff from below, and shiny from above. Bell-shaped flowers, brown-purple. Fruits are cylindrical, curled at the end, very juicy. Ripen in late September and early October. They grow up to 9 cm in length and up to 5 cm in width, weight 600-200 g. Unripe fruits are dark green, as they ripen, they first become pale yellow, and then acquire a brown tint. The fruit of the pawpaw has a very thin peel underneath, a delicate flesh of light yellow, orange or cream color. Sweet, tastes like banana and mango. The aroma has notes of strawberry and pineapple at the same time. Inside the fruit, flat dark brown seeds ripen, about 3 cm long.
Planting a pawpaw in open ground
For the fruits of the pawpaw to ripen, they need at least 160 warm days. Young seedlings in the first couple of years need shading from direct sunlight, but then vice versa - the tree should grow under sunlight, since lighting requirements change with age. Azimina is not picky about the composition of the soil, but it grows best on loose, slightly acidic, air and moisture permeable soil. If the soil is heavy, then during planting it is imperative to make a thick layer of drainage.
For planting, it is best to choose two-year-old seedlings, as they are quickly accepted in a new place and develop better. The distance between the rows should be at least 5 m, and between the plants at least 3 m.The pit for planting the pawpaw should be large and deep enough, its depth should be at least 50 cm, and its width should be about 70 cm. At the bottom of such a pit, it is imperative put a thick layer of shebenka or a biography of a brick, expanded clay and gravel will do.
During planting, it is necessary to fill the hole with seedlings not with ordinary soil, but with a special soil mixture. To prepare it, it is necessary to add humus or compost, wood ash and sand to the soil. You need to pour a little earth on the drainage so that you get a mound in the middle, then put the seedlings on the resulting hill and gently spread the roots. Then fill it well with the prepared soil mixture and water it well.After the moisture has gone, the soil around the seedlings must be mulched with peat, bark or humus.
Azimine care in the garden
Watering
When the azimine is actively growing, it needs regular and abundant watering, but it is not necessary to allow waterlogging of the soil and stagnation of moisture, since because of this, the roots of the plant can rot. In autumn, watering must be stopped, as the trees will be dormant. After each watering, you need to carefully loosen the soil around the tree and remove the collection grass.
Important! Water for irrigation must be surely settled and warm.
Top dressing and fertilizers
If organic fertilizers were introduced into the soil during planting, then re-feeding is necessary only for the second season after planting. In spring, a special complex mineral fertilizer with a large amount of phosphorus and nitrogen must be applied to the near-trunk circle around the azimina. Manure is excellent as an organic fertilizer for pawpaw.
Pruning
In early spring, before the growing season begins, pruning should be done. During this pruning, it is necessary to remove damaged shoots, frost-affected and diseased branches, as well as those that grow inward, thereby interfering with the correct growth of other branches. The flowering of pawpaw begins in April, before that time you need to have time to prune.
Transmigration
To increase the yield level of pawpins, genetic cross-pollination can be done between dissimilar varieties. To do this, on the site it is necessary to simultaneously plant two azimine trees, but of a different kind. Then manually transfer the pollen with a brush from one tree to another. This method makes it possible to almost double the yield level. In order not to manually carry out pollination, you need to attract flies to the plant, rotting meat suspended next to the pawpaw tree will help to do this.
Wintering
Three-leafed azimina is a cold-resistant plant and can withstand low temperatures down to -29 degrees. The tree does not need special preparation for winter time, its buds are covered with a dense skin, which protects them from cold and sudden temperature changes in spring.
Collection and storage of azimines
With the onset of autumn, the fruits of the pawpaw acquire a yellowish tint and become very fragrant. If you plan to store the fruits, then they need to be cut off a little immature. The fruits are not stored for long, at room temperature for no more than 3 days, and in the refrigerator for about 20 days. Therefore, a variety of compotes and jam are most often prepared from the fruits of pawpins. The fruits cannot be transported over long distances either.
Advice: for the fruits to be stored longer, you need to wrap each fruit in paper.
Reproduction of pawns
Azimina can reproduce both generatively and vegetatively.
Seed propagation
Before planting seeds, they must be stratified for three months at temperatures from zero to four degrees. Then plant them in two seeds in one peat pot with special soil for seedlings. The root system of pawpaw seedlings is very delicate, so it is not worth replanting once again. Seedlings should be grown at a temperature of 18-22 degrees.
Direct planting of seeds in open ground is carried out before winter, in which case stratification is not needed, since in the soil during the winter period the seeds are already hardened. Seedlings planted in a pot germinate in a week, but in the open field the seeds will germinate only with the onset of spring. Azimina, planted in a generative way, begins to reproduce only after 5-6 years.
Propagation by parts of the root
A piece must be carefully broken off at the foot of the tree, then planted in a hole and covered with nutritious soil. After about 30-40 days, new shoots will already appear. If the tree has root growth, then it can be carefully dug out and also planted as an independent seedling.
Reproduction by grafting
Inoculate azimine with splitting. A lignified stalk serves as a graft.At the rootstock, you need to make a small splitting and insert the scion there so that the parts of the cut coincide and provide this place with protection from moisture. This method of propagation helps to preserve the varietal characteristics of the tree.
Diseases and pests
Azimina is quite resistant to various diseases and attacks of harmful insects. Due to improper watering, root rot may appear. This will cause the leaves to turn brown and the growth of the tree may slow down. To prevent this disease from appearing, it is necessary to carefully monitor watering. Viral diseases and harmful insects rarely affect the azimine.
Azimina: useful properties and contraindications
Azimine fruits contain vitamin A and vitamin C, so the pulp of the fruit is added to various cosmetic masks, and not just to food. The fruits contain not only vitamins, but also minerals necessary for the proper growth and development of the human body. The pawpaw fruit has antibacterial and antineoplastic properties. Acetogenin, which is found in the pulp, helps prevent the development of cancer cells. Azimina helps to strengthen the immune system, protects the body from free radicals and helps prevent stress.
You can not use the fruits of azimines with intolerance and during pregnancy, breastfeeding.
Types and varieties of azimines
As it was said above, there are 8 types of pawpaw. Only 2 of them are grown in the garden: azimina triloba and azimina triloba. But at present, breeders have bred another 70 cultivars. The most popular ones are:
- Davey - the fruits are very fragrant. The pulp is tender, sweet and juicy, has a light yellow tint.
- Martin - high quality fruits. The tree of this variety is one of the most cold-resistant.
- Overlease - high-quality fruits with pale yellow pulp.
- Victoria - fruits are large, weighing 400 g each. The pulp is sweet, juicy and aromatic, pale yellow in color.
Less popular, but also grown in the garden are such varieties as Autumn Surprise, Dessert, Strickler, Sunflower, Prima, Balda, Zimmerman, Potomac, Taylor, etc.
If you follow all the rules for growing and caring for an azimine, you can grow a healthy and strong tree that will bring a good, tasty, juicy and aromatic harvest. The fruits can be used for the preparation of various compotes and preserves, as well as for medicinal purposes for the preparation of various masks for the skin of the face.
