@TrilobaTracker
Likely a Pawpaw Peduncle Borer, Talponia plummeriana.
At work
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Iāve heard of those for sure, but due to my lack of detailed knowledge I didnāt expect to see them this early in the year. I always assumed their damage didnāt manifest until much later.
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trying my hand at pawpaws here in z4. will be putting them on the sunny south side against the house. should be protected from the n.w wind and the sun reflecting off the light gray vinyl should keep it at least a z5 microclimate there. ordered 2 unnamed paw paws and have pa golden and allegeny to graft to them. wish me luck!
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Those should be good choices to trial Steve, keep us updated on how it goes! I might have some others that could work in a few years if the cultivars you picked do not make it.
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thanks Ryan. not alot of info on cold hardiness for pawpaws. these seem to be some of the best from what ive read. weāll see how they do. they will definitly get pampered along. 
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My concern is whether or not the fruit will rippen in time. Even in my zone 6, I have to be careful about growing the varieties that can ripen in time.
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I had the same problem with mine last year! Iāll definitely be spraying the trees with pesticide once the buds start to swell.
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For anyone looking for early ripening, I just saw Woody Walker is selling Kentucky Champion scions on eBay (I purchased one). It was one of the harder to find trees as Englandās did not have it stocked when I inquired about it this year.
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both the pa golden and alleghney are early ripening so weāll see.
Good to know. I am looking out for tasty, early ripening pawpaws.
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plantdatabase.earth/pawpaw
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Is there a good Pawpaw to grow for Florida zone 8 for shipping (long shelf life)?
Summer Delight is purported to be early.
I think itās a solid tasting pawpaw.
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Some folks do ship pawpaws but it sounds risky to me. Deep Run orchard does or used to sell their fruit via Earthy Delights mail order.
They were growing the Peterson varieties like Shenandoah and Susquehanna.
KSU Benson has a rounder shape that they hope would make it easier to ship.
Check @disc4tw ās website for descriptions- a couple purport to have thicker skin.
But of course one of the major challenges of pawpaws is short shelf life and fragility.
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The other option is frozen pulp! It is expensive, but shipping is available. There are companies making pawpaw pulp ice cream too, as Iām sure you are aware, but I donāt think they widely distribute.
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I took multiple of these off and dissected them- no sign of a larva or any tunneling or frass.
In other words it doesnāt scream insect invasion.
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It happened to one of my pawpaw flowers last year. Overnight, it looked like someone cut the flower in half vertically. No tunneling, no sign of larva, no frass. I donāt think it is that pawpaw borer.
It assumed it was the work of a leaf roller based on their work on my pears and apples.
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Good feedback!
I sometimes wonder about birds.
Especially since these pawpaw trees are new in their environment and being in the city, there are none nearby.
Last year I had 2 baby fruits cut in half like someone just took scissors to them. I think it had to be a curious bird.
Maybe the same with the munched-looking flowersā¦
EDIT: or it could simply be a cell division problem - the buds never fully formed properly, like a birth defect in humans.
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No, mine was perfect looking one day and half gone the next. My tree was only 4 ft tall with only a few flowers. Believe me, I looked at every flower everyday 
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I know what you mean!
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