I like the greener lot better than the brown dried llot. Pawpaws do need a good amount of irrigation.
Tony
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I do too.
But I remember what happened to Neal Peterson.
Currently I have zero debt.
If I can grow here, plus manage to sucker clone drought or heat tolerant trees as rootstock for grafting or manage to tissue culture clone, then I think I will take the risk!
I will fill greenhouses with my new cultivars packed in like sardines, then buy the land.
Will need to be growing a cash crop where I currently live to have the funds in a few years to buy such a place.
Going into debt when already as old as the hills,
even if a much nicer place, might not be wise.
It or a similar place is at the top of my goal list as the new home of my future prospective hypothetical heat tolerant pawpaw cultivars.
Something worthy of being the designated site of the Sonoran Desert Pawpaw Festival. 
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I have a problem & need assistance
I’m germinating the last batch of Peaceful Heritage seeds & Sunflower seeds gifted to me by @Osteen
Previous batches germinate fine.
I developed a hydroponic formula.
I started these germinating.
These is a musky stench coming from the container.
They were being germinated at 86°F.
No signs of mold.
I have sniffed all seeds & smell okay.
Yet when sealed overnight on a heating pad, there is stench the next morning!
Ideas on finding the bad seed???
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You can submerge all the seeds in water. Throw away all that float to the top because those are not viable.
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@ZinHead It could just be from sealing them up. 85° and moisture is a recipe for rot and mold so they need to breath a little in my opinion. Ive never had any issue with
storing and even germinating them in a bag with damp peat moss but i think a bag isnt as air tight as many containers would be.
Not related to your question but have they been fully stratified already?
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I remember that topic coming up with Neal Peterson on Pawpaw Fanatics.
Neal said that a lot of viable seeds will float on water.
Are you talking soaking for a few hours, then tossing floaters?
Maybe I will soak a few hours, then remove floaters, then rinse remaining seeds.
Then bag floaters separately.
Then see which group stinks, floaters or both.
@Persimmon1, I know that both Neal & Cliff England respect your opinion greatly.
Suggestions please.
How do I identify a bad seed if not visibly moldy & only slowly out gasses bad smells?
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They were stratified by Peaceful Heritage before release.
Stored by Osteen until march.
Stratified by me from March to October at 38°F to 42°F.
Previous batches from the group woke up fast with no smell.
But were woken up with only Citric Acid in the water.
No fertilizer, nor Epsom salt, nor micronutrients.
I’m suspecting that the problem is waking up with Epsom salt in the solution!
Has anyone tried before?
If so was results bad or good?
Maybe Magnesium acts as a catalyst for creating the aromas?
Smells similar to pawpaw flowers, but much stronger!
Or maybe Magnesium Sulfate stimulates mold growth especially when sealed in a warm container?
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Appears to me you found a poke plant on the internet and labeled it as tobacco?
Some of the pix have the name of the company they belong to?
Hard to figure out.
That is Nicotiana glauca aka wild tree tobacco & is very different from cultivated tobacco.
It is very heat & drought tolerant.
It is all over the place in ditches here.
Very readily available, as I can park along a road & gather thousands of seeds in a few minutes.
I even have a plant growing on the north side of my property that I can take seeds from too.
Was thinking about attempting rooting cuttings of it.
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Learn something every day…
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Pawpaw is one of the few I’m aware of where many of the viable seeds do float…
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Okay thanks!
Well I soaked the seeds & bagged the floaters separate.
Rinsed the rest several times.
Wrapped them in microfiber & then back into the tray.
Hopefully, tomorrow smells better.
If not then maybe the peat moss approach.
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Yeah, the float test doesn’t work for pawpaw seeds. They have a small air channel around the rim of the seed coat which can cause them to float. That allows them to travel further if they fall in a creek/river, which they often grow near. Neal Peterson mentioned this before in one of the facebook groups.
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Thank you! I probably will try to do so eventually. I found a wild grove recently so I think I’m going to attempt starting some from that and grafting later.
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“2nd: Richard Owens - variety Jerry’s Big Girl (275-39)”
Clifford England & a few others have occasionally listed JBG as 275-39, but “250-39” is what is correct.
Jerry’s trees where identified by location in feet.
“250-39” is the correct location of the original tree.
Having lived in Tacoma & having a sister in Seattle, I can tell that many plants ripen at a very different time there from that of other environments which get both hotter & colder.
Many species & varieties wake up at very different rates there, as well as ripen at different speeds.
Talk to Northwoods Nursery, as they would be the experts for your area!
https://www.northwoodsnursery.com/category/846/
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Ordering some seeds from Mr England. Whats the best way to sprout these? I have a heating mat and will get a water tub type thing to help keep the humidity up as I’ve seen mentioned in an earlier post. What type of pot should I use for the seed itself?
Thanks
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@eggthethrone
If you can direct sow the seeds where you want the trees to grow then I’d go that route. Even if you have to provide some afternoon shade and extra watering. If you need to grow them in pots then just be sure to get something with adequate depth for the taproot. I use 4x14 tree pots but have had better growth with larger containers like a gallon bucket or for multiple trees ive used 50gal plastic barrels that I cut in half. I always drill a bunch of holes in the buckets & plastic barrels and dont use any mix that will stay waterlogged. They need to be watered well and seem to grow better in partial shade the first year or two. I avoid trying to get a early start on them like growing indoors. The most I’ve done is pull the bag of seeds out of the fridge a couple weeks before the last frost so that they are just sprouting and ready to be planted at the time the threat of frost is gone.
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Post removed by author.
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I purchased 50 scions of 18 varietals of pawpaw.
We will grafting to some to a friend’s trees.
Most will be part of this year’s cloning experiments.
I’m finally getting close, thanks to the genetic material you provided to experiment upon.
Your preferred varietals are in the cloning experiment.
It reaches 100°F with around 8% humidity by Mothers Day.
If green on them, I will announce success on that day, else maybe next year.
Mature dormant cuttings will be planted in pH & nutrient modified soil, based on results of my hydroponics experiments with germinating seedlings.
If successful, in should have cloned plantlets by spring 2025.
ThankYou!
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