Yes I agree! I do think I have some low-level sensitivity. But like you said, I can’t stop eating them anyway! 
I had a fella tell me he ate one in the woods as a kid and his “face swelled up like a balloon.”
So, yep!
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Think you are right on. The humidity is a killer. Oddly enough - I only have lost a couple to what looked like cold. One big Wonderful died back - but resurrected the next spring. Then it was a long waiting game again - for fruit.
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Last Shenandoah cluster dropped today.
I have two more clusters of Sunflower that will probably drop after Halloween.
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I find wonderful to be among the more cold tender ones. It dies back to the ground almost every winter in my area - or it did when I used to grow it.
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I don’t believe I had found it anywhere else on the forum, but does anyone have a lead on the cultivar ARK-21? As far as I know it was the best selection of a breeding program from LSU that is no longer in existence and the original tree is possibly no longer alive. The best I’ve found is a blog that mentions a seedling of it being grown in Texas, but it appears to be dead from a drought.
Last year I made pawpaw popsicles for my kids and they worked out well. I just removed the pulp and placed in preformed molds (like a deep icecube tray). Tasted pretty good in their frozen state, don’t know how the texture would be once thawed.
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Which pawpaws did you use to make them? I’d like to try and see if that works for me.
I feel like this could be shortened to pawpopsicles.
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They were just some over-ripe wild ones, but I feel like it would work well with any variety if very ripe.
I wonder if I am just one of those people overly sensitive to pawpaws. Or maybe others are less sensitive? Wild pawpaws aren’t really my thing. I’ve tried. It usually doesn’t go very well. >_<
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How about pawsicles?
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I’ve also tried to track down Ark-21.
I attempted to email the guy who ran the LSU trial but never heard back.
I found one person who has a very young grafted tree. Maybe in a few years this can serve as a source to get this cultivar out there.
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Oh man, you actually found someone with a graft? That’s awesome. Are you able to keep in contact with that person? I’d be interested in getting that material at some point too.
I also never heard back from LSU after emailing them.
Between all of the enthusiasts on this forum, it would be great to create an unofficial genetic repository for all of the known cultivars out there. Obviously it’s a huge undertaking to do so, but it seems like you, @JustPeachy and @Barkslip already have a pretty good head start, along with the other forum members and nurseries out there with impressive collections like England’s, One Green World etc. I know there is an “official” repository that was mentioned at the pawpaw conference this year but I never received any further information about how to request that genetic material. If I had the opportunity, in the next few years I’d be interested in turning the hillside at work into a pawpaw /persimmon/nut tree forest. My boss doesn’t know this yet but he won’t complain about the free trees. Or maybe @jaunders1 would be up for the task of planting a substantial patch on his property. I know he’s interested in some apple breeding as well. So many possibilities, so little time.
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Yes I plan to stay in touch.
When I think of repository for pawpaw I just think of KSU, as they’re the official USDA germplasm repository for pawpaw.
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Seems like a genetic repository would be a great project for you! That way you could actually sell paw paw scion wood verses just having listings on your site that appear to be potentially available for sale. 
Lol, I know that your site is for informational purposes only, just thought I’d encourage you to start a new business venture. 
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Yes! But as far as I know, we aren’t able to request specific cultivars to obtain from KSU. When I think of a repository, I would want it to be available for people to get that genetic material. I posed that question at the end of the conference and received no confirmation on it.
I appreciate the encouragement! I do also own a real .com url for that purpose @FarmGirl-Z6A but I haven’t created the website yet, nor do I have enough of a start (or property) to make it happen. All in time.
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The late Jerry Lehman had a pretty good collection. Though, he operated a business, he by far was the most generous person when it came to germplasm. He often gave scion away without asking anything in return.
As far as publicly available, Cliff England probably has the best collection at the moment. You can buy pretty much everything sans the trademarked Peterson and KSU stuff as scionwood. Cliff is extremely generous with his time if you’re trying to find a cultivar with very specific traits.
The main problem with pawpaw scionwood as a business is that you’re really investing a LOT of time before it gets off the ground. You probably need to wait 8 years from planting. You can’t really afford to cut scion early, because it will stunt growth unless you’re willing to dedicate the plantings to scion generation and never want a fruiting orchard. You can’t excessively prune at first bearing year, which is usually 6 years, because that is still too early. You probably can’t start harvesting scion significantly until its a few years past the first year of bearing fruit. The only way around this is probably to topwork wild pawpaw or lop off a significant portion off the central leader and bark graft.
With apples, you almost can pretty much establish a library within 3 years with dwarfing or high vigor rootstock.
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Anyone else experiencing very slow growth with Susquehanna? I planted mine in spring of 2020 and it’s grown maybe 5”. I’ve been very impressed with the growth of Wabash, Green River Belle, and especially Chappelle.
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If by slow growth you mean dying back to the graft union, then yes I have experienced slow growth. All kidding aside, I’m interested to hear others experience here too.
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Yes on slow growth. Hit it with gobs of compost, then deep and wide wood chip layer on top, then some form of N in March, April, May, June. Sometimes I use Hollytone- broadcast (or under the mulch is best). Then deep soak at least every two weeks spring/summer.
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