I don’t think this was answered yet, but I might have missed it. Does the “unique smell” of durian piggyback with the taste on the pawpaws tasted by folks here? It seems to me that if the taste could be captured without the smell, it would be a really desirable achievement. I’ve not experienced durian myself yet.
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How much more difficult is it to graft than other varieties? Would Pina Colada be more difficult than say Al Horn? It sounds amazing.
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Too bad they haven’t just propagated it via root suckers given that it’s difficult to graft and they have the ortet.
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Horn’s White grafts fine but in my experience grows slowly in the field.
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No, it’s just a subtle flavor you can get sometimes.
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I still think the smell is strong but i associate it with an amazing food, so it smells like burgers on a grill would smell to many an American 
I know you and I have talked about it before but for some reason I thought you’d said yours all died. Perhaps I’m thinking of @marc5.
That’s awesome that you have some fruiting. So strange that it’s been so difficult to propagate reasonably.
Thanks for lending an expert’s voice to the durian-pawpaw lore. Good to know more have noticed it.
I think i’ve said it already but: what I had back in 2016 was not very strong durian, with all the “funk”…it was subtler. But it was unmistakable and more than just a hint.
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Yeah that’s sort of what I mean. Before you taste it you get a whiff of that smell and your mind just says “stay away from that thing”. But once you try it and get an appeal for the taste the associated smell takes on a different meaning in your mind. I definitely still smell it, but my brain knows there’s something good coming behind that smell.
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I got 4 from you last year including a Horn. This whole pawpaw adventure is an experiment for me in central NH given my lack of GDD due to the slow spring warming from the cold north Atlantic. I don’t expect the Horn to produce reliable ripe fruit here before the first frost in the fall, but if I can get edible fruit for 50% of the seasons I’ll consider it a win.
Your trees are definitely the most vigorous coming out of dormancy compared to Nash and OGW. I actually lost 2 OGW trees over the winter (shenandoah and susquehannah). Your KSU Chappell, Nyomi’s Del, and Al Horn all jumped out with great growth this spring. If the Horn is slow growing I wouldn’t have guessed it yet. The Golden Moon started leafing out and pushing out growth, but has stalled over the past week. I’ve been giving it some water during this warm and dry stretch we’ve been having, but have refrained from fertilizing it until I see more signs of life. Maybe I’ll do a light dose of some fish and seaweed fert.
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Roger!
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I’d recommend heavily fertilizing all your paws this time of year. They only put on above ground growth from about May-July, then they lignify whatever growth they put on. So it’s important to really fuel that spring push hard. Unless you want pawpaw fruit 8 years from now (of course you don’t).
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They look spot on to me. Mine are only slightly ahead. I usually remove the lowest shoots below about 2ft of trunk. But the grass/weed compettion under your trees is very bad. It will be detrimental to their establishment. If it were me I would flatten cardboard and put all around the base and then organic matter on top. You need a grass and weed free zone of at least 1-2ft around each tree.
Yeah it looks worse than it is, but point well taken. There’s probably about 6” radius free of grass and weeds around each tree. Most of that is just inside the perimeter of the cages and leaning inward as it’s growing twice as rapidly as the lawn around it because of the urine applications. I have 24” cardboard squares that are ready to go down once I pick up a yard of “hortimulch” (natural mulch/compost mix) from the local landscape supplier.
Do you keep piling on more mulch/wood chips year after year or would you rake some of it out in the spring and do a new layer of cardboard/mulch? I’ve been piling the mulch around my american chestnut trees every spring, but it’s building upward faster than it can break down. Thanks again.
My entire pawpaw mini orchard is wood chips.
I only replenish when it gets thin, about every other year or so.
This could be why I’ve had seedlings fruiting in their 5th year - no competition except the neighbor’s tree line (which does impact the back row).
But boy yeah, we’ve gotten off topic for sure!
Probably should nip it after this so folks don’t have to wade thru it LOL
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Yeah…it’s babysteps with my wife with regard to this mini “food forest” adventure. I’ve floated the wood chip field many times, but no dice yet. I’m still trying though! BTW…I watched all of your videos last year. Love your setup.
Smoothly transitioning back on topic, I assume scions from this durian tasting tree can’t be obtained without permission from KSU? Are these college breeding programs generally strict with what they allow the public to have? If one of us Joe Schmo’s contacted them with an interest in 4-25 with the promise to not redistribute it in legal writing would they laugh us off?
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Maybe, maybe not. KSU is very giving and so you might try. I have a number of their unreleased selections, but am also licensed with KSU.
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In our climate wood chips break down REEAAAL fast so I reapply annually. 6 inches is a good depth of mulch generally. But most of our pawpaws have landscape fabric because I can’t keep 200+ trees mulched organically.
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Oh lord, now I’m hooked and I have never tasted a PawPaw. Now I need to figure out which two will do good down here in Pensacola Florida on the shady side of the house. Any suggestions for this high humidity area?
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Thanks a lot! not sure how long i will be able to keep up all that mulch. Probably a couple hundred or more wheelbarrow trips from the pile to the garden 
hahah nicely done!
Mango is often suggested for the deep south, I believe, but not sure there is a ton of science behind this recommendation. Aside from that I don’t have much advice. If you can determine which varieties are more susceptible to fungal issues, including using this forum, you might avoid those.
I’m sure other people can offer better info.
It comes from south Georgia, reportedly as a wild selection, though I believe I’ve also seen a report that it was the seedling of a wild selection. Regardless of whether or not it was a seedling or selection, it is from south Georgia.
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As long as you get enough chill hours just about any pawpaw should do fine. I know people doing them in zone 8b Gulf Mississippi no problem. Zone 9 is pushing it due to very low chill hours. ‘Mango’ pawpaw is very mediocre and obsolete. Pawpaws are adaptable and accustomed to heat and humidity, just not subtropics or extreme cold winters.
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