Thanksgiving and Winterizing Pawpaw Seedlings

They say that pawpaws can withstand winter temperatures as low at negative 30 degrees F, and I know that there are some pawpaws that grow in Canada. But I imagine the negative 30 degrees figure may be for pawpaw trees that are well-established already. And for pawpaw trees that are growing in the ground, a relatively warm place where their well-established and extensive roots can provide a winter home for the pawpaw life-force. But of course, our pawpaw seedlings aren't well-established, and they aren't planted in the ground but are rather planted in cut-off water bottles. So when it snowed and stuck on Thanksgiving, I started thinking maybe I should take some action to preserve them over the winter. 

But what to do? If I were to bring them inside our house and warm them to a toasty 68 degrees F, they might get fooled and think that spring has already sprung.

They've just shed the last of their leaves, that that would be cruel to get them going all over again, and at the wrong time of year. (Maybe I overestimate a pawpaw seedling's naivete--maybe it's very hard to fool them, I don't know.)

The other alternative that I could think of was to put them in the shed. The shed has a drawback-- namely, they'll be in the dark for about three months, and I think pawpaws (and plants in general) perceive daylight hours and set their spring clocks by those, so the perpetual darkness of the shed could throw them off. But the shed is nice in another way: it's not too warm and it's not too cold, kind of goldilocksy.

So they're in the shed for right now, as of Thanksgiving. But I'm going to email the people at Kentucky State University and ask what they think is best in the circumstances. Once I hear back, I'll update this post on winterizing pawpaw seedlings.