The tree as a whole is not in decline, just the grafted portion. Here is an article that I mentioned, which started this whole decline issue.
I personally have no experience with this issue, but there is another mention made by Neal (which I cannot find) where he says after 30ish years the rootstock is alive and well, yet the grafts died.
I guess it depends on the reason for the decline. I had it happen. 3 grafted Pawpaws died on me. One died to the ground in the 2. year. 2 more died the 3. year. Only 1 rootstock survived by suckering. The main stem of that rootstock died to the ground too.
In conclusion you are taking a high risk when grafting lower into a declining tree.
Out of my 7 grafted Pawpaws only 4 survived until now. They were planted in 2011. One of them is doing very well (Prima 1216). 3 more are barely hanging on with very little new growth per season. Last season I started to apply heavier doses of nitrogen. There was no reaction to it in the last year though. I will continue to fertilize them more than I did the first years.
Here is a Peterson quote from the article: "“With the grafts, the top of the tree will eventually die as it ages and the roots will resprout. But when that happens, the graft is gone.” but on his website he has a section on grafting to rootstock and doesn’t mention the result will be short lived.
I wonder how many nurseries are selling grafted pawpaw? From what I’ve read named pawpaws should be from root cuttings or tissue culture.
I have scion that I successfully grafted and from what I’ve read I need to figure out how to get it to root if I want it to survive long term.
There’s a site call pawpaw fanatics on FB where Neal Peterson posts from time to time. Might be a question for him.
I posted Pawpaw Decline on the Pawpaw Fanatics FB page and Neal Peterson (Mr. Pawpaw) responded:
“Pawpaw Decline Disorder may not be a single disease. Little is known about this. I believe it may be transmitted by grafting infected scions.”
Wonder if KSU is investigating this. I
Neal Peterson asks for volunteers to attempt to grow improved pawpaw varieties on their own roots. Here’s the technique as used on apples, (equally hard to root on their own roots): :https://elizapples.com/2016/03/20/on-their-own-roots
If “own roots” is possible then we might avert Pawpaw Decline Disorder that may be caused by “infected scions” grafted on rootstock. My question: would such virus also doom an “own roots” pawpaw or does the virus only come into play if there’s a graft? .
I posted on her site since she never revealed the results.
I don’t buy the whole routine that bud strips + parafilm if not removed will girdle but I’ll wait to see what she says.
My first question however is: has Neal Peterson or anyone else ever been successful doing this with pawpaw?
And unless there is empirical data suggesting there is a disease/infection occurring why say anything at all (?)
Looks like there’s a lot of leaps here and theoretical holes.
I may have made a mistake earlier answering that pawpaw scions are not likely to root on their own after successfully being root-grafted. I’d like to clear the air, Hoosier.
Thanks,
Dax
Neal is asking for volunteers to experiment with this technique to grow improved pawpaw cultivars on their own roots. He has not done it. As far as he knows, no one has done it. That’s why he views it as important work to see if this averts/prevents the mysterious Pawpaw Decline Disorder that affects some grafted pawpaws. Eliza just posted a photo of “own roots” Dula Beauty apple, achieved by the girdled rootstock technique. She’s quite credible and quite talented. That’s all I know. I might try a couple of these, say a Shenandoah on seedling rootstock. Steve
Where did she post it? Facebook?
I don’t see it on the blog. And I’m subscribed to any further comments that are posted.
Thanks for sharing/researching this further, Steve.
Dax
Hi Dax- Eliza did post it, with photo, and I saw it about a week ago but cannot for the life of me put my finger on it right now. I asked Eliza to send me the link again. The apple she did it with was Dula Beauty which her great, great grandfather created long ago from a Limbertwig seed. I’ll forward a link to Eliza’s results post as soon as I get it. Interesting stuff.
OK here is Eliza Greenman’s post showing the successful “own rooting” Dula Beauty apple by the technique of intentional girdling of roostock by burying the rubber band/Parafilm graft.https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=eliza%20greenman%20photos
In this post she reports about using a copper wire for the girdling in mulberries.
No worries, I was still thinking about how to make it work. Your point about the nurse root sprouting gave me the idea of keeping any in containers so I could check on the roots easier. I have one “toothpicked” cutting from a seedling to see if that helps and am going to order some Mango scions from Burntridge for a couple seedlings that got rubbed by deer so will try to root graft the extras.
It looks like 4 seedlings have flower buds this year, think they are from KY Champion. Looking forward to some fruit!
I have a decent sample size of toothpick technique pawpaw cuttings. (14) I believe I read in my notes a few days ago.
A container is a great way for you or anyone to see if root grafting works. I like that.
Enjoy your pawpaws & if you didn’t see my post about going to each flower and using just a dab of honey inside each flower, do it. It’s guaranteed pollination and you don’t need to hang a dead animal near the trees for the flies to do the pollinating. Here’s that snip of information regarding bees doing the pollinating:
Dax
I did see that but forgot, thanks for the reminder 
I have a few small trees grown from seed,that some scions could be taken from.They may be a little thin,but might work. Brady
At the next meetup, I’ll ask our local pawpaw guy if he’s seen any decline issues with grafting. I think most of his stuff is Peterson-descended. I don’t recall Jerry Lehman having any problems, but I didn’t ask.
I still plan to try grafting something over this year. A friend has what I’m pretty sure is an old, select variety, and I want to try my hand at preserving it.
I saw a Sunflower pawpaw at the University of Nebraska East campus that is 30 plus feet tall and over 30 years old. A very healthy looking pawpaw tree.
Tony
That’s encouraging !
the ones at UW are 20+ also.
I assume there is something that pawpaw are susceptible to but either it is a pathogen that some resist or never get infected with, or it is some sort of sub-species incompatibility issue, but it clearly doesn’t affect every single tree.
Would it be accurate to assume that for most species of trees, seedlings will generally live significantly longer than grafted trees?
I don’t think so, in a lot of cases the rootstock imparts extra vigor, better roots, and or disease resistance. Dwarf root stocks tend to produce shorter lived trees but I don’t think that you can say for everything it’s a rule