I ordered two pawpaws last year, Susquehanna and Allegheny.
Neither one ever showed any signs of life and they said they would replace them next year. Also, they were tiny I mean really small.
I called them on October 6 2023 and said could I have a refund because it looks like you don’t have any in stock and they told me to call back a week after Thanksgiving, because that’s when they would have them in stock.
Yesterday I was looking at other things on their website and lo and behold, It looks like they had pawpaws for sale, but not the ones I was supposed to get replaced. Already out of stock.
I emailed today and said “hey, it looks like you got pawpaws in stock but the ones you were supposed to replace are already out of stock“.
They replied “yes, it turns out we got them early so you better order soon because they sell out fast but don’t worry your credit never expires.“
I’m not interested in doing business with people that have so little care for the people they already took money from. I requested a refund.
I placed an order of trees also last year from trees of antiquity, and when I told them a tree died and sent them a picture, they put it in the cart for me for next year no charge. That’s the kind of customer service I am interested in supporting.
Anyone know of other places to get pawpaw trees where I won’t have a problem like this?
Hey, listen I’m in my 50s and by the time they get me my pawpaw trees maybe I could’ve had fruit already and I don’t want to be on my deathbed saying oh look I got a pawpaw. i’m paying top dollar for grafted trees and I’m not waiting years to get them and I’m not babysitting anyone’s website that should be taking care of their customers they owe first.
I ordered a grafted pawpaw from them last spring that was tiny and never leafed out either. I never bothered following up with them and will instead graft it myself next year. Not worth the headache of dealing with crappy customer service.
Same experience last year. Two of I think six leafed out. My hot take is that they’re trying to churn them out due to high demand.
But, I’ve also had some really great experiences with them. I bought some trees and bushes during the summer that arrived in beautiful shape, and were large specimens.
Pawpaw are slower growing trees just like many nut trees. We are seeing huge improvements as more domesticated types are developed. The original pawpaws we grew up eating had very specific needs , growing along the waters edge in mostly filtered sunlight and shade in very fertile soil. The good news is that many states forestry services now offer discounted pawpaw trees for $1 or $2 each, and you can graft a better variety to them later or stick with the wild type. I bring this up because i dont blame you for being frustrated trying to get pawpaw started. Getting some in the ground growing is very important if your 20 or 50 years old so you can enjoy as many years as possible enjoying the fruits of your labor. The nurseries trying to sell these trees either tend to sell them very large or very small depending on demand of the trees. Pawpaw is a tree only starting to be domesticated. Persimmons are about 50 -75 years ahead of pawpaw thanks to the works of several individuals. They are both in the infancy of domestication. Here is my own personal experience growing them as an adult
I’ve had good experience with them too. They carry a large variety of things that are hard to find anywhere else, which is great. I’ll likely purchase from them again, but I’d get pawpaws somewhere else.
I bought them before I realized I could in fact learn to graft and have a stand of pawpaws ready to go…I guess I was too intimidated until I tried it out this last year. I have bought pawpaws from Buzz, as well, and they were very nice.
My Sunflower I got from Hidden Springs was the sorriest thing you’ve ever seen. I’ve nursed it a dozen years and finally it’s fruiting. I expect high pawpaw mortaility first year but I don’t expect lousy roots.
While I’ve never required customer service I’ve never had any bad experience with OGW. Always really healthy plants and they ship a few things most nurseries won’t ship me. Not to mention the wide selection, that sucks tho. Hope you’re able to get a decent paw paw somewhere
I ordered three trees from hidden springs and they were the worst looking twigs I have ever seen. Besides being exceptionally small, one had a single strand of root and the second was not much better.
I wrote to them straightaway and sent photos. They said these are good healthy trees and would do just fine. All three died. I kept thinking that I would be embarrassed to send that quality “tree” to anyone.
I ordered from OGW a persimmon, a jujube and Pawpaws as well.
To start the shipping cost was way to expensive to ship to the east coast, then the plants were way to small for the price they sell them. It almos look like I was ordering from wellspring gardens but at least their plants survive.
The plants I got from OGW didn’t wake up the following year, I did contact them and they didn’t give me credit.
My take is to order from reputable sources/nurseries.
I purchase plants from Just Fruits and Organics for the same amount of money that I spend with OGW and their plants ware 3 or 4 times bigger and healthier not to mention the packaging was professionally done.
