Wood chip mulch, straw, and hay (6-8 inch depth) can be used to mulch around trees for weed control and are usually effective method one to two years. Make sure that the straw or hay does not contain large quantities of weed seeds. For larger plantings, unroll round bales of hay in rows and use for mulching (6-8 inch depth). This method has been very effective in weed control and the hay degrades to add organic matter to the soil. Vole damage can be a problem with other fruit trees when using straw/hay mulch around the trunk; however, voles do not damage pawpaw trunks. This is likely due to the presence of acetogenin compounds in the bark. Flame cultivation can be used for weed control with pawpaw; especially around large trees. Flame cultivators, such as the Red Dragon Home & Garden Flamer, are commercially available; usually they consist of a torch like attachment connected to a LP gas tank. With flame cultivation, the flame is passed over the weeds just long enough to rupture the cells of the plant and kill the weeds. Be careful not to linger too long over weeds with the flame and start the weeds on fire! Additionally, do not direct the flame at the foliage or the tree trunk; the bark can be damaged and foliaged killed. Flame cultivation is not a good method with straw or hay mulch or during periods of low rainfall because of increased fire danger.

Crop Rotation. NOP standards require that a grower implement a crop rotation in the orchard including but not limited to sod, cover crops, green manure crops, and catch crops that provide the following functions that are applicable to the operation: maintain or improve soil organic matter content; provide for pest management in annual and perennial crops; manage deficient or excess plant nutrients; and provide erosion control. With fruit trees, rotation of alley cropping, intercropping, and hedgerows are used to introduce biological diversity in lieu of crop rotation. Often permanent sod is used in the alleyways for the life of the tree and areas surrounding the orchard are rotated in a manner that increases biological diversity in the orchard. Crop rotation can be utilized in the alleyways with legume cover crops to increase the

nitrogen available to trees. Unfortunately, there is not any scientifically derived information concerning the best cover crops (e.g. vetch, fava beans or lupins, etc.) to grow with pawpaw and not over compete with the trees. Cover crop recommendations may also vary by location in the U.S. There is additional information available at http://www.sarep.ucdavis.edu/ccrop/CCPubs/SelectingCoverCrop.html that may help guide growers in cover crops to try with pawpaw.

Nutrient management and irrigation. In organic production of pawpaw, nitrogen must be applied to trees for excellent growth (16 to 24 inches of shoot extension per year in establishing trees and about 6 inches in mature trees) and optimal fruit production. Organic feather, meat, bone and blood meal (such as 10-2-8 from NatureSafe\circledR) fertilizer can be broadcast under pawpaw trees before budbreak in early spring at 1 oz. N/tree the first year after planting, 3-4 oz. N/tree (about 50 lbs/A at 295 trees per acre) in years 2-5, and 5-6 oz. N/tree in year 6 and beyond. Compost is difficult to incorporate if woodchip or straw mulch is used around trees for weed control. Compost containing