Yes Susquehanna and Shenandoah are very slow growth for me compared to the others. KSU Chappell being my most vigorous right now.
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I’m thinking they need lime more likely instead of the acid from Hollytone.
But, it depends on your location. Many a creek or river edge/bottom is .
6.5 pH or higher and that’s the location of many happy ones in nature.
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Yeah, I’m not sure what their preferred pH range is but I remember reading to use acid-loving fertilizer. I suspect they tolerate a wide range since they grow in so many places. Just checked Neal Peterson’s website-- he says pH 5.5 to 7.0, which he calls “moderately acid to neutral.”
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Like @disc4tw mine died back to the graft after extremely slow growth. Only pawpaw I’ve had die. I suspect that my initial tree was not strong. I would like to graft onto my own vigorous seedling and provide the licensing fee to Neal myself. I think I’ll have more success that way.
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May I ask where you purchased your Peterson’s paw paws please?
Welcome Larry! @Matt_in_Maryland goes by @Matt_in_Pennsylvania now.
But for reference, I purchased my Peterson Pawpaws from Edible Landscaping in Affton, Virginia if that helps you. Lots of places sell them, if you check out Peterson Pawpaws website you’ll see who is licensed to do so.
This is our newest pawpaw cultivar - AVATAR. Discovered by us in Lexington, KY in a seedling planting. Produces bushels of large, delicious fruits with smooth custardy flesh of excellent texture and low seed weight. Ripens early September. Just amazing production and you can see the fruits are BIG. We will have it available this May. BTW- Our 2022 grafted pawpaw crop will be bigger than ever, so hopefully more people can get our trees before we sell out…! [www.peacefulheritage.com]
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@Blake Good find! Glad to hear someone is planting seedlings in hopes of finding something special.
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Nice one! Do you have a picture of it cut open? How would you describe the flavor compared to others you offer?
On a similar train of thought as Vid’s question, any idea what the parents would have been?
Hello,
The parentage is likely Sunflower mixed with Peterson genetics. It has similarities to Sunflower. The texture is creamy and dense and the flavor is sweet and just classic pawpaw, more on the caramel side. It’s been a while but that’s how I remember it. Out of many seedlings in this planting it was obviously the very best and was a real standout on par with the better pawpaws out there. I am very super picky about what pawpaws I sell and also which ones I release to the public through our nursery. This one is good! Fruit is also quite large as you can see. I’ll try to get photos of it cut open next year. We’re releasing a few other new superior ones this spring also. I’ll keep you posted.
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I’m planing seeds too. I hope more people will.
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I just got: 
KSU Chapell and Tallahatchie…
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Sounds like a KSU seedling from the upper orchard block
If KSU was located in Lexington and not Frankfort that would be a good guess. 
This is a seedling from a planting in Lexington about 15+ years old, containing about 40+ specimens. After exploring all the seedlings for many years this one is obviously the best.
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Some might be interested to know our farm contains about 30+ cultivars of pawpaws and about 30 selected seedlings we are testing for superior characteristics for about 200+ pawpaw trees total and growing. We are offering a little scion wood this season but in the years to come much more will be available. Late freezes the last two springs have set us back a little bit (many young trees died or had to be replaced, and all flowers were destroyed both times). However it is coming along and we have some pretty rare material. I’m not going for collecting anything and everything, only cultivars with lots of merit and trialing many promising ones, and planting better than average genetics hoping to identify some winners. It’s interesting to see the genetic differences even before fruiting. This is a photo taken late last summer:
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I meant a seed from the KSU orchard, not that the tree is growing there.
I do suspect that you are correct on that.
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It’s all good - it just sounded familiar because I have several seedlings from that same block myself! 
I noticed KSU seedlings generally have more vigor than standard collected from the forest or creekbank…but not every time.