SMC,
Have your Sphenadoah flowered this year. Mine looks like it has flowered. Quite surprising for the tree is so small. Last year, the leaves turned yellow to brown by Aug. I thought I lost it and the nearby Mango.
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Those are flowers. They will get bigger and darker.
Scott
mamuang,
When the flowers get a little farther along,they will develop pollen,which can be collected with a small paintbrush and a cup or something to catch the stuff and then frozen for use on your other tree in a few years,or if a variety is grafted on,maybe sooner.
I use a small,clear plastic container,about the diameter of a 50 cent piece,that has two parts that screw together.They come in sets of about two dozen and sold at craft stores. Brady
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@Chills for confirming it.
@Bradybb, that is a great idea. I completely forgot about it. All I could think about was that what a waste because Mango shows no sign of flowering.
I don’t know how long it takes for pawpaws to flower and fruit. My trees are 3 d leave this season but they were set back last year when I move both of them. I cut of their long tap roots by accident. They were in ground only for only one season so I thought they would not grow much. I was wrong.
With roots chopped off, last year they barely grew. Then, their leaves turned yellow in early Aug (we had a drought) and dropped by late Aug. I thought I might lose them.
I will go to craft store for both paint brush and containers. Thanks again.
Do you or anyone have pictures of pawpaw flowers when their pollen is ready to be collected? Love to see the picture. I learn more by seeing…
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Tim,
Thank you. From what you wrote, the flower on top was male and the one below was female.
Then you said it started out female and turned into female. Are you sure?
The top flower ( male) looked like it just opened. The bottom one ( female) looked more developed.
Shouldn’t it starting out as male and turn into a female?
More importantly, when do I collect pollen . When they are still a male?
I’m not an expert, but he definitely said that they are female first. My trees are the same age as yours, with only two flowers (and those have been nibbled by rabbits). They do seem to look more like the female flower right now.
It’s very easy to see the pollen,well maybe a little difficult,because the flowers are usually pointing downward,(I lay down and get a small light and magnifier,with my small trees)but looking up into the opening,the pollen will be surrounding the central area.[quote=“mamuang, post:35, topic:6094”]
Then you said it started out female and turned into female.
This is what Tim wrote,“They start female then turn male.”
That’s what they do,female,then male. Brady
[/quote]PS If the pollen is not collected in the male stage,the stuff will most likely fall to the ground as the flower dies.
How tall is your tree? My barely 2 ft tall. Not sure why Shenadoah decides to flower when the tree is so small.
Thank you all for your advice. It is nice to know I could get to eat home grown pawpaws in a year or two.
When is a good time to graft pawpaws? I mean at what stage of a tree development.
Right now the leaves are still not fully awake yet. Should I wait until the trees leafed out some?
There are three in the front yard,a seedling Kentucky Champion,Overleese and Wabash.They are all about three feet,but could grow faster this year.The Wabash was probably four feet at least,but was snapped in two last year,by a neighbor moving a fifth wheel trailer.I’m not sure if that one is going to live and may get replaced by one of a few in containers,that are maybe four feet and multi grafted.
The Overleese is the only one that is flowering. Brady
When leaves are growing out a bit,yes,that’s when I had the best success.Not fully developed,maybe a third their full size. Brady
My Shenandoah and Overleese are flowering this year. Both for the first time. The same yellow-to-brown-leaves thing happened to my Shenandoah last year. I thought I lost it too, but it came back fine this year. Maybe it was because of the drought. Here’s a picture of Overleese flowers in the early stages.
SMC,
How old are your pawpaws? Did you buy them potted? Mine were bought in 2015 from Logee’s.
The Mango variety grows a bit taller but no sign of flowers.
The Shenandoah was bare root from Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery in spring of 2015. It was pretty big when I got it, about 4 feet, but I think it struggled being transplanted at that size. Overleese was also spring of 2015. I think it came potted from One Green World. It was maybe a foot tall. I’ve also got a few other potted ones from Edible Landscaping and a few bare root from England’s. I don’t think I lost any due to transplant problems.
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Great. You have much more opportunities of cross pollination, even this year. Good luck. My Shenadoah is too small to carry a fruit, anyway 
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PA golden planted in 2013 as been the fastest grower for me. Twelve feet tall and has flowered the past 3 years.
Susquehanna planted in 2013 stalled for a couple of years then shot up to about 7 or 8 feet tall.
NC-1 planted in 2015 I would say medium growth speed. It grew faster than Susquehanna for the first couple of years before Susquehanna hit a growth spurt. It is probably four and a half feet tall now. It was planted two years after PA golden and Susquehanna.
Mango first tree died. Second tree planted in 2017 has barely grown.
KSU Atwood medium growth speed. It has put on about two feet of growth since 2016.
KSU Benson planted in 2017 medium growth speed, slightly faster than Atwood as they were planted a year apart but are the same height now.
Maria’s Joy planted in 2016 rabbits have topped this tree twice so it is still the same size after several years.
Taytoo planted in 2016 rabbits have topped this one once but it seems to be a medium speed grower.
Wells planted in 2016? medium to fast speed grower. Slightly faster than the KSU trees.
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Hi guys, I have looked the group for comments about pawpaw. I have planted 2 varieties acouple of years ago, small 2 years trees. It seems to me that they are doing well but i have a dilemma, they aren’t very vigorous and quite small diameter, about half an inch. While one of them is quite straight, the second one is curved, in such a way that tutoring I don’t believe it would help. Can I just cut the curved one to 3-4 feets, and wait for the tree to get thicker?
Regards,
Catalin
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This is my KSU Atwood, bought in 2015. It’s on the north side of an east to west fence in San Diego, not exactly Asimina triloba country. As you can see, not very vigorous here.
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Is that planted within the stump of another tree that used to be there?
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