It is a small tree, seldom taller than 25 feet. Grown in full sun, the pawpaw tree develops a narrowly pyramidal shape with dense, drooping foliage down to the ground level. In the shade it has a more open branching habit with few lower limbs and horizontally held leaves. Shading for the first year, and sometimes the second, is normally required outside, and it is for this reason that pawpaws are almost always found in nature as an understory tree. Plant at least two trees for fruit production, to ensure cross-pollination.
Good drainage is essential to success.
Pawpaws will not thrive in heavy soil or waterlogged soil. In its native habitat the pawpaw has few pests of any importance. There is a leaf-rolling caterpillar which feeds on pawpaw leaves, buds and twigs in the Fall, and can devestate young trees. Another pest is Eurytides marcellus, the zebra swallowtail butterfly, whose larvae feed exclusively on young pawpaw foliage, but never in great numbers. The adult butterfly is of such great beauty that this should be thought more a blessing than a curse, and pawpaw trees may be planted to attract them.