Pawpaws 2023

Something happened in my fridge and my seeds — wet paper towel in a ziploc bag — froze In the drawer. Paper towels hard and frosty like ice. Are they done for?

Doubt it. A flash freeze like if you put them in a freezer can kill them, but a gradual, high temp freeze, surrounded by a moist medium is similar to what they experience in nature.

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Allegedly selected by Major Tom Collins in southeast Georgia. Major Collins also according to some reports selected the "Mango’ cultivar. There are claims that "Collins Select’ is a seedling of Mango selected by the Major. Several nurseries in Southern Georgia and Northern Florida have in the past carried both varieties. Both acclimated to growing in the deepest southern range of the Asimina triloba.

very beautiful

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how sweet is real sweet? i thought they were less sweet like sunflower?

why are they brown? which variety?

I don’t have a refractometer to measure brix, so I can’t give you an objective answer to that. I tend to say real sweet when something is sweeter than I expected and is pleasantly sweet. It’s not very sweet or too sweet, but it’s sweet enough for my palette. Any less sweet and those with a sweet tooth might not care for it. It was sweeter than average for a Shenandoah, which, as you mentioned, tend to be less sweet than most other named varieties.

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lol thanks

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Is the reason you see pawpaws by river/creek banks is cause the seed is spread by water easily AND the long taproot prevents floods from pushing/breaking down the trees by anchoring them?

If so, I’m curious how long that taproot can get.

I been planting more pawpaw seeds as understory trees deeper in some wooded trails in any park i visit, but did plant a few along the creeks as well. Although I seen alot of the dirt along the creeks get washed out by recent floods so not sure how well seeds will do there without a year or 2 to get established.

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@armyofda12mnkeys

They love water and the lowland pawpaw leaves are very big. In the wind they are torn easily so do better in a sheltered, shaded , protected spot. See the attached photos and how i grow them here

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Probably only their Creator has all your information…but as you suggest, probably so.
And I suspect it’d have to be deep silt for a taproot to reach gigantic proportions.

Question Pawpaw experts. I got a new Pawpaw in the mail about a foot and a half tall. It has two branches in a V shape at the top. In the mail one of these broke but is still attached by just the bark at the bottom. I have not planted it out yet. Should I just cut this off? Should I tie it up into place and let it eventually heal? Advice appreciated.

V at top is not good- could be a weak crotch so I’d cut off the broken section, no loss.

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Thanks so much. Will this heal on its own? Should I do something at the break point?

I’d just prune the entire damaged limb off at the branch collar right where it emerges from the main stem. For a tree this small, you aren’t losing much. It will grow new laterals once it wakes up from dormancy.

My pawpaws developed an attractive natural fan-shaped branch distribution when planted as a whip (a single small stem with no side branches).

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Cut it off and maybe practice grafting it onto a seedling in Mid-May (i think thats when i heard people graft pawpaws). Then you get two for the price of 1 :slight_smile:

Thanks. Is there any concern with rotting? If I put it out today it will be rained on the next day. I can keep it inside for a couple days if need be.

Thanks!

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You should be fine. My pawpaws are also in a rainy 8A climate, and I’ve never had any issues with rot occurring in pruning wounds.

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Let us know when you do get fruit.
Very curious about when these ripen in zone 5a to 4b.