So how did you like the wabash fruit?
I am probably not the best person to answer that because I am not a huge fan of pawpaws. I have Mango, Susquehanna and Wabash, Mango fruit is more different than the other two. I don’t notice a huge difference in taste between varieties but there is a big difference in when the fruit is picked. I am not a fan of the overly ripe fruit so try to pick it right before they turn soft and mushy. My fruit due to my location ripens in July in 100 degree weather which means I usually only have a very short window of time to pick it and for me that can be hit or miss. If I pick them off the ground it is already too late for my liking.
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I discovered a patch of wild Paw Paws on the property and planted some named cultivars 4 years ago including KSU Atwood, Benson, Susquenah, Shenandoah, Sunflower, Overleese, Mango etc.
KSU Atwood sourced from Blake fruited this fall with the best tasting Paw Paw flavor I have ever had. It was like a mango mixed with sweet pineapple and banana. I plan to plant and or graft some more KSU-Atwood.
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@Blake Colthorn at Peaceful Heritage is running an honest, clean and organic nursery in Kentucky. He was kind enough to visit my farm and help with Orchard Planning. Peaches in my Avatar came from him, I posted another picture of a KSU-Atwood also came from him. He also started me on Figs and Jujubes. You can not go wrong with buying anything from him.
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KSU Chappell™ Pawpaw Tree has been called the most vigorous pawpaw tree ever. There are a couple of places that still have it. I am going to give it a try.
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Helping to process scionwood for a couple of the Peterson licensed nurseries.
It’s less messy than rotted fruit.
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Dunno. Technically all these trees in plantings are grafted on genetically unique seedlings. (KYSU had a rootstock study but it’s never been redone, and it was relatively small in scope.) Overall, there’s not suppose to be much difference between rootstocks, but that’s hard to evaluate when all the rootstocks are technically different, and there are known to be regional variations in the way cultivars perform.
If we’re comparing original trees, that might be more apt, in which case, Kentucky Champ seems like one of the tallest and largest pawpaw cultivars. That said, how do you define vigorous? There are dwarfing rootstocks in the apple world for example that grow fast then peter out quite fast. There are full size rootstocks that grow slow but get quite large.
I have the KSU trees. I don’t find them to be more vigorous than random seedlings I have let grow out. Sunflower seems to have a bit more early vigor but growth evens out at the 5-6th year.
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Don’t try to sell them to me, looking at the flowers on my trees, I probably have to throw a bunch in the woods nearby like I did last year. I grafted a bunch a few years ago producing a few years already, this year they are loaded. My biggest tree is also loaded with flowers but this one need to be pollinated, got some every year but not like it should. Neighbors here don’t want to try it just one loves them. I don’t have the latest varieties. What I have is what I have. Love the looks as a ornamental tree. Pruned them so they grow wide.
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FYI, for those who are going to graft pawpaws soon and are receiving scionwood through trades with other members or through purchases.
Pawpaws are unlike other fruit trees with regards to asexual propogation.
You might receive what would be considered “blind” wood, as in without any visible buds. This isn’t a problem for pawpaws because they form what Cliff England (@KYnuttrees) calls “adventurous advantageous bud system.”
I was skeptical myself when pawpaw grower association members have sold or gifted me older blind scionwood. However, it’s worked out. If you just go ahead and graft, buds will form so long as you provide suitable length (at least 1 or 2 inches in my experience). Many of my grafts that fruited last year on my mature pawpaw were the result of grafting blind wood in the year prior. I feel it’s more common to use blind wood on established trees for top working because the older wood has better calipers. The only other time I typically see scion calipers like 5/16+ on first year wood is with suckers (which are obviously useless you’re collecting from the original tree).
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You probably know, but those are called adventitious shoots, when they arise at places other than the leaf axils.
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Not sure of the nomenclature. Wiki says they are different (adventitious shoots vs adventitious buds)? I’m more familiar with hearing the term “adventurous adventitious shoots” with respect to tissue culture, which is suppose to be difficult for pawpaws. I’ve also heard it when people refer to suckering, which does happen a lot on pawpaws once they get mature.
The “adventurous adventitious buds” that Cliff refers to I assume is only referring to grafting “blind” lignified wood, as obviously sticking a pawpaw cutting in the ground, or whatever results in no bud formation putting aside the challenges of rooting.
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Give him a break…he still has a better vocabulary than most college student these days.
I just spent half an hour explaining the difference between growing from seed, buying seedlings, and buying grafted plants. At the end, that person asked “ok, so I need two pawpaw, can you send me two seeds or seedlings that have different name.” After explaining that it’s impossible for any two seeds to be genetically identical, and that seedlings don’t have names. They said they understood that seeds and seedlings don’t have names, but then proceeded to ask if it was possible for me to send them seed or seedlings that weren’t identical… @TrilobaTracker @Vid @Bradybb @tonyOmahaz5 @SMC_zone6 Slam head on table
I want so hard to believe people read and understand basic concepts, I don’t care if I get grilled over my use of botany vocabulary.
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@BlueBerry I’m not trying to give anybody a hard time here. But do want folks reading here, who show up from search engine, or looking for info and knowledge, to get good information.
If there is a thing called adventurous buds, that I don’t know about, I’d like to know about it. The fact that JustPeachy put it quotes, led me to believe that the term was being repeated, as stated, by Cliff England.
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Some people only want to drive their car and take it to the dealer to have wiper blades and headlights changed. I think the same kind of people want to be given fruit trees, walk away and at some point in the future come back and eat a big tasty pawpaw. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s probably a challenging way to go about living life in the long run.
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If either of you figure out that secret, please let me in on it. Even if it only works on cars or pawpaws, I guess, but the global secret sounds more appealing.
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My apologies. I was repeating Cliff, but he wrote “advantageous bud system.”
That was a transcription error on my part. I just realized my phone’s autocorrect decided that it has supremacy over anything I type. Usually, it’s right, and I am wrong.
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In case anyone receives scionwood from me and can’t find info. I have about 20 seedlings collected from Ohio and PA orchards that I grew out. They are into a mature age and I am evaluating them now.
Ohio 1 is probably the first seedling that I’ve shared scionwood of. I’ve had two pawpaw grower association members taste it. One is the rep for IL PGA and the other is a licensed KYSU and Peterson nursery owner. Ohio 1 similar to Shenandoah in that it’s lighter in flavor, but lacks Shenandoah’s background-phenolic/bitterness. However, it’s has more fruity notes than Shenandoah. It’s also slightly creamier than Shenandoah and it matures about one to three weeks earlier as well. Seed to flesh ratio as well as size is roughly in line with Shenandoah. I haven’t decided a name for it. I might do something like Neal and just name after mountains since he took all the iconic river/valley names. “Blue Ridge”?
A bunch of them are meh for two to three years now. Interesting traits like color break, flesh coloration (intense yellow or near kinda orange), but the taste is passe. They are getting beheaded this year for bark grafting.
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I did and thanks for sending and the info.Even more will be helpful with some others,like"Garage West" and is it “Cherimo West”?
It looks like the question was discussed last year in this thread.My forgetfulness.