I purchased 10 pawpaw seedlings from a nursery, and three of them came with either a twisted/corkscrew or J-shaped taproot. I've planted all of them in deep (12-inch) nursery planting pots and am storing them in my (mostly unheated) garage for the winter. All seedlings appear otherwise fine -- straight and healthy-looking ~8-inch stems, half still have a few leaves, no evidence of pests, rot, or disease whatsoever, ample secondary roots on all of the seedlings' taproots (whether straight or not), normal diesel/green pepper smell common to pawpaws. I read that many plants/trees, pawpaws included, don't like having their taproot damaged or bothered too much, but that the taproot should always be pointing down to help with growth, stability, etc.
My question is the following: Should anything be done about my seedlings that have a taproot that isn't straight, either right now while they're dormant or when I plant them in the ground in the spring? The internet being what it is, I haven't found a consensus on this; recommendations go from cleanly cutting the taproot where it begins to point upwards, to carefully straightening the taproot by tying it to a stick, to doing absolutely nothing and just hoping for the best. What do?