I have a pawpaw tree planted by a great-uncle over 50 years ago. He ate lots of wild pawpaws and planted seeds in many places. I’ve only found about 3 fruits on it this whole time. There were no other pawpaws nearby to pollinate it. But , now , a 3 year old graft has maybe 2 dozen fruits growing, but the old part of the tree still has no fruit.
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My tree is nowhere near the size of those wild trees. But i love the fruit.
So, i understand the pawpaw is family with chirimoya in south america and magnolia. Any chance at all that pawpaw leaves or bark are medicinal? Or that pawpaws can get pollinated by magnolia?
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I sure thought it was a vine on the tree, too. Wow. He’s big
Do you have any idea why the tree doesn’t fruit? Does it flower? You don’t think it’s because of the age somehow, right?
It ripens the week of Sept 13 in central NJ zone 6b (not7b). I enjoy the flavor very much. I’ve found that people either love it or hate it. It’s a tropical sort of flavor. Papaya-y, musky, banana-y. Eaten when ripe, they’re great! If i let them get too ripe, they taste good, for the first bite, then overwhelming and sort of gross. Cloying is how it was described by my brother who is a hater. Under ripe they’re astringent, similar to how bananas and mangoes are before they’re ripe. The small ones can even be a little bitter, especially underripe.
I sort of forgot Mango is a grafted pawpaw. The graft isn’t obvious. Since it’s a grafted tree, basically I have 2 varieties, but the rootstock hasn’t been allowed to grow. If i let a rootstock sprout grow, any idea what I’ll get? I’ll check, but I believe it’s from Stark Bros., purchased 2008ish.
Now I’m even more curious to know what my friend’s tree will produce. It is the 1 known seedling from my tree. It grew in mulch on top of a board. So it is Mango, self fertilized, or Mango x something on the wind (or flies, actually, right?)
Did I say it right that grafted trees are the lifespan I was portraying? Seedlings are different. Grafts die.
For me a handful of persimmons is the way to go every fall. A pawpaw here or there works for me.
Dax
I’m 6b
If my pawpaw can only be expected to live 10-12 years, that’s horrible! It looks totally healthy so i don’t think it’s on its way out yet, but I’d better get working on learning to graft NOW. I looked it up, and i planted it 2013 (much later than I thought )
Edit: that was a kiwi note in my book.
Pawpaw was planted 2008, first fruited in 2012. 2014 was 1st big pawpaw harvest.
The tree is also supposed to get to only 10-15 feet tall. I’m not sure how tall it is, but it passed 15 ft a long time ago!
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Wahl, Tom @ Red Fern Farm has been growing pawpaws/breeding and doing u-pick for decades and he knows his stuff.
It’s plain and simple really. Just as every conversation is with him. When I need advice, I ask Tom. I’m pretty much in the A-, A, B+ grouping of people with horticultural knowledge on a lot of fronts. Tom is one to two steps ahead of me in thought, always.
Dax
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Ive been around fruit trees much of my life. Never tried Growing. Jan 1st. 2020. I started PawPaw & Peach Trees from Seed. Notice the PawPaws are substantially smaller than Peach. 18" vs 48" . Peach Trees grow & produce faster but Pawpaws last up to 3 times longer. PawPaw trees can age to about 60 years vs 20 for most peaches. Last few years I’ve harvested about 40/50 gallons of PawPaws in buckets from my tree in backyard of my office. PawPaws are more of a dry wood. I think this is why they live longer, but have limbs that break off causing damage in storms that other fruit trees seem to avoid. In 13 yrs ive had 2 catastrophic wind damage.
I enjoy listening to music & fiddling with my fruit trees.
Hopefully a hobby that pays off in some canning in years to come if not , whats the harm?
Anyways happy Growing.
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Peaches grow like lightning compared to pawpaws.
My friend planted a huge peach orchard, commercial scale, with whips. In 2 years he had big bushy trees. He couldn’t believe how slow my pawpaws were growing 
I have had some pawpaw seedlings ahead of the curve, 7 feet after 3 years, but most are not that fast.
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First one to get ripe. Found it on the ground soft enough to eat. Others on tree are firm. Storm probably knocked it off. Very good flavor but leaves a slightly bitter aftertaste. Hopefully tree ripened ones will not be bitter.
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Still hard?
Yes all of them are hard. I wonder how often I need to check back on them. How are your wild ones doing this year?
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I got a few from Nashville, I will PM you their whereabouts- there may be more left.
But the wild crop is super low this year as you know due to the freezes in mid April.
So pretty much a bust. The wild trees near me usually have poor tasting fruit so I don’t even bother.
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I’m 70 miles or so NW of Nashville… only have two fruits set on my grafted & named-parentage seedling trees, thanks to the spring freezes…kind of surprised at those. Still firm, last time I looked at them, but that was almost 2 weeks ago… heck, they may be gone already. Usually ripe about first of September.
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Cool!
Down here near Nashville and points south, I know Of some established trees in full sun that normally (no late frosts) start ripening first of August. But wild trees in my experience are definitely later.
My Shenandoah in full sun dropped its very first and only fruit on 8/16
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I mentioned in a previous post about Paw Paw Trees being prone to storm damage. One of these wounds is actually from an attempted Tire Swing by my sons & Neighborhood Kids.
Oddly Also If anyone wants to chime in all the limbs this tree has lost were on the Shady side of the Tree. My Sons & I Removed a Maple Tree that was shading it.
I decided to seal the tree because of so many simultaneous wounds. Yes, Thats Polymer based Silicone. Ive seen it used several times prior.
Any Input on Polymer?
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Earlier in the season I had concerns over the small size of my Mango Pawpaw fruit. However nearly a foot of rain in the last month has sized them up nicely. Found this one and a few others that had dropped over the weekend. The flavor was excellent and without the slight bitter aftertaste that a seedling tree has that I used as a pollinator.
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Yeah that looks nice and beefy! Congrats 