Pawpaw Seedlings and Sun Damage

Like I say, we got back from Spain a week ago today. While we were in Spain, my dad took care of the pawpaw seedlings (which first sprouted on 7 June 2016). He also took care of this year's batch of planted pawpaw seeds (which I hope will sprout sometime next month).

When I took the seeds and seedlings over to my parents' house, I set them out on their back patio, which is covered. I set them at the edge of the patio, so that they could get some shade but also get more sun than they had been getting. 

When I got back from Spain, I found that this year's batch of planted seeds have remained inert, although as you see below they attracted a large flying insect.

After I took a pic of the flying insect, I looked around for the seedlings and found them moved from where I had placed them. They were moved far from the edge of the patio, pushed up against the house, far into the shade. They had developed more and bigger leaves but something was wrong...

The leaves on each seedling were curled and almost shriveled.

See: 

When Dan Carpenter came over and took a couple of the seedlings back in March, he asked if they could be out in full sun. Like me, he had heard that pawpaw seedlings need shade. I told him that I had read that they need shade for the first year but after that they should be okay for full sun. But, also told him, I didn't know if "first year" referred to the year they sprouted or the year after they sprouted. Too bad these 2016 pawpaw seedlings got sun damage, but I'm glad to have found out that "after the first year" means keep your pawpaw seedlings in the shade during the year they sprout and also the year after they sprout. I'm hoping these ones can recover from having their first few leaves burned and can still grow up to be good strong pawpaws.

FYI--Here's what KSU has to say about shade and sunlight for pawpaw seedlings:

Site, soils, and habitat

Although the pawpaw is capable of fruiting in the shade, optimum yields are obtained in open exposure, with some protection from wind (on account of the large leaves). Germinating seedlings, however, will not survive under those conditions because they are extremely sensitive to full sunlight, which can kill them. (Containerized seedlings may be grown without shade in a greenhouse.) 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. The soil should be slightly acid (pH 5.5-7), deep, fertile, and well-drained. Good drainage is essential to success. Pawpaws will not thrive in heavy soil or waterlogged soil. In habit 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. 

KSU info available here.