Pawpaw fecundity

General Fruit Growing
1

I don’t know if I was over enthusiastic about pollinating or what, but I’ve got a gazillion fruits starting in my pawpaw so I’m concerned about overloading the tree. What advice could you give for thinning, if even needed? Shown are four different varieties on two Seven foot tall trees planted 8 inches apart

IMG_2359
IMG_23591920×2560 1.01 MB

5 Likes
2

Needed probably not, and they usually self thin.

Personally I like thinning each cluster to singles.

5 Likes
3

Thanks, Tim. Patience is the hardest prescription sometimes. I’ve only had fruit the last 4 years, so this dense is outside my pawpaw experience

2 Likes
4

Following up: not a one has dropped and now I’m putting wire cloth cages around each cluster for critter-proofing. Big and small, they are all welcome!

3 Likes
5

I rarely get much fruit drop, and unless I thin the fruit my branches get overloaded and sometimes break, and the fruit end up being small. I prefer to thin fairly early in the season so the tree doesn’t waste energy and nutrients growing fruit that will be thinned.

1 Like
6

1st world pawpaw problems :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

3 Likes
7

Thinning is the only solution. I didnt hand pollinate this year (after last years over production and tiny fruit) and ended up with very spotty pollination. Wherever I half heartedly pollinated, I got clusters. And elsewhere, no fruit. Best is to hand pollinate and then thin aggressively

1 Like
8

Thanks. taking both pollination and thinning into my own hands then is my lesson.