Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
when are paw paw ripe for harvest?
I've been patiently waiting on the paw paw fruit to ripen so I can harvest them.
If you haven't seen my "Everything I love in life requires patience" video aka proverb ... check it out here for a great life lesson youtube.com/watch?v=-lmnfLRMnPk
So when is paw paw fruit ready to be picked? You will find a LOT of misinformation on the internet cause thats what the internet is, a whole bunch of people who feel the need to sometimes give advice on something they know nothing about. Sometimes the information is accurate, sometimes the information is partially accurate, and sometimes the information is totally wrong. Pick any topic, thats the search results you get. However, paw paw has been my all time favorite fruit for as long as I can remember. Anywho who hunts, grows, forages paw paw knows the absolute best time to harvest is when they fall from the tree. Then you have just minutes to a few hours to pick them up before the ants devour them. Can you pick them off the tree? Sure you can, but they won't be ripe. Fruit that is not ripe is not as sweet, not as soft, and not fully developed. Will paw paw ripen on the counter? Not in my experience. What about placing paw paw that is not ripe in a paper bag, does that work to ripen them? No, once you have picked the fruit, you have cut off its main artery for growth. At whatever state you pick a pawpaw fruit, is the state you will eat it and it simply starts breaking down and rotting from that point ... it never gets more ripe, it starts to rot. You might think the fruit is ripening because it gets softer and pliable but technically its degrading. How does picking unripe fruit affect the taste? You ever ate any other fruit thats not ripe? Watermelon, cantelope, muskmelon, etc? What about blackberries, strawberries, elderberries, grapes, raspberries, blueberries? Both fruit and berries that are not fully ripe are bitter, sour, or have diminished taste. And that is exactly what you will get with unripe paw paw fruit too .... if you want the best paw paw fruit and experience, you need to learn to be patient.
When paw paw fruit is ripe, you can squeeze it and it will be soft and deform under pressure. If the fruit is hard and you can't squeeze it, its not ready yet. The ideal pawpaw harvest time is the day they fall to the ground on their own.
when are paw paw ripe for harvest?
I've been patiently waiting on the paw paw fruit to ripen so I can harvest them.
If you haven't seen my "Everything I love in life requires patience" video aka proverb ... check it out here for a great life lesson youtube.com/watch?v=-lmnfLRMnPk
So when is paw paw fruit ready to be picked? You will find a LOT of misinformation on the internet cause thats what the internet is, a whole bunch of people who feel the need to sometimes give advice on something they know nothing about. Sometimes the information is accurate, sometimes the information is partially accurate, and sometimes the information is totally wrong. Pick any topic, thats the search results you get. However, paw paw has been my all time favorite fruit for as long as I can remember. Anywho who hunts, grows, forages paw paw knows the absolute best time to harvest is when they fall from the tree. Then you have just minutes to a few hours to pick them up before the ants devour them. Can you pick them off the tree? Sure you can, but they won't be ripe. Fruit that is not ripe is not as sweet, not as soft, and not fully developed. Will paw paw ripen on the counter? Not in my experience. What about placing paw paw that is not ripe in a paper bag, does that work to ripen them? No, once you have picked the fruit, you have cut off its main artery for growth. At whatever state you pick a pawpaw fruit, is the state you will eat it and it simply starts breaking down and rotting from that point ... it never gets more ripe, it starts to rot. You might think the fruit is ripening because it gets softer and pliable but technically its degrading. How does picking unripe fruit affect the taste? You ever ate any other fruit thats not ripe? Watermelon, cantelope, muskmelon, etc? What about blackberries, strawberries, elderberries, grapes, raspberries, blueberries? Both fruit and berries that are not fully ripe are bitter, sour, or have diminished taste. And that is exactly what you will get with unripe paw paw fruit too .... if you want the best paw paw fruit and experience, you need to learn to be patient.
When paw paw fruit is ripe, you can squeeze it and it will be soft and deform under pressure. If the fruit is hard and you can't squeeze it, its not ready yet. The ideal pawpaw harvest time is the day they fall to the ground on their own.
