I had pawpaw grafts need two months to take and show growth. I removed a couple years ago only to discover the graft had taken and they were starting to push. Pawpaws require patience in several ways.
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Interesting how dense they are in sun. Mine are in partial shade with very long branches and wide spacing between leaves. They did flower heavily this year but only a few fruit.
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So I noticed a huge difference in the leaf color on your tree and on the color of treefrogtmās trees.
His look very green.
So weād have to factor climate, soil, variety differences but my knee jerk reaction is to say your tree needs a dose of nitrogen.
What I said was free adviceā¦as the saying goes, free advice is worth what you paid for it.
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My Mango is in 80% shade, grows vigorously but is very stingy on fruit production. Being in shade probably contribute to that.
My Shenandoah has set some impressive clusters of 5 and 6 fruit.
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Does the Mango with vigorous growth, yet low fruit production bloom?
If yes, how much in comparison to the other cultivars?
My Mangoās production should not be used as a measure. It is in 80% shade. I hope someone with a Mango in full sun @SMC_zone6 could chime in.
For growth, I can say that Mango, even in mostly shade, has grown so vigorously and a lot larger than Shenandoah.
Shenandoah, getting about 5 hours of sun, has been precocious and quite productive.
This year, due to a steep drop of temp in late winter and again early Spring, it appeared that such temp swing affected pawpaw production. Some flowered dried up before they opened. Others opened but did not set fruit.
My friend who has 3 mature pawpaw trees. He told me that this spring, his trees flowered profusely but set only a few fruit. This is very different from previous years when temp were more stable and he had lot of fruit.
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I was attempting to determine if your mango didnāt bloom or if it bloomed yet didnāt set fruit.
Asimina triloba has a lot of very unique blooming, pollen germination & Allele rejection or acceptance criteria.
Iām trying to get an idea on what is important for good pollination.
If itās growing fast, then Cytokinins are high.
For most species gibberellins are actually higher in the shade.
So is Auxin important for fruit set in Asimina triloba?
If yes, is it Auxin levels or transport proteins that result in fruit set?
Or could the issue be Zinc Finger Proteins sensing sunlight?
Has any research on this been done?
Has anyone tried shinning a bright flashlight on flower buds at bud break?
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It bloomed, a decent amount but I donāt think there is any fruit set. The tree has Sunflower and KSU Atwood grafted to it. Both of those had flowers this year.
Sunflower has minimal fruit set compared to the amount of flowers it produced.
Atwood is a 2 year old graft that put out a few flowers but it sets 3 clusters of fruit. Thatās a good production.
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Although Mango is reputed to be a very fast grower, that has not been my experience. Mine has been a runty little thing ā maybe it has a dud rootstock.
My Mango pawpaw was planted in March 2021, and in summer of 2023, it looks like this:
For comparison, a nearby Sunflower pawpaw looked like this when the tiny little whip was planted (at about the same time in 2021):
As of summer 2023, the Sunflower looks like this:
Even Campbellās NC-1, a notably slow grower that is planted in an inferior spot where it only gets half sun, is outgrowing my Mango.
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Have you tested the soil in that location, make insure there is no nutrient imbalances?
If no soil imbalances, my guess is that the issue isnāt the amount of sunlight,
But the temperature during pollination.
The bark would be warmer if in the sun, but I believe that the real issue is the lack of heat during pollination.
Mango evolved in the wild near Tifton Georgia.
Atwood is a hybrid of Northern pawpaw cultivars.
A technical manual on Asimina triloba needs to be done.
One that itemizes all known technical information on each cultivar.
Would be useful to know how every cultivar does in different environments.
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Probably the rootstock.
Its sad that there is no quality consistent rootstock for pawpaw.
My mango has struggled as well. It developed a few cankers early on above the graft the first year, but slowly started to grow around them and close off. Then the late hard freeze 5/18 really shocked it and killed all emerging growth. Itās growing back out again, but it looks similar to Martenās treeā¦maybe a hair larger. Mine was planted in 2021 as well.
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So it appears both of my grafts this year may finally be pushing out growth through the scions. I think in the future Iāll wait for more consistent warmth before making the attempts. The late May attempt coupled with a cool, cloudy, rainy June wasnāt the best recipe for success, but it looks like I may get away with it. Fingers crossed.
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Wait, Iām confused ā are you growing a mango in-ground in 5b?
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Mango pawpawā¦yes. Iām on a hillside so I usually avoid the September freezes that the frost pockets sometimes get.
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Thereās a variety of pawpaw called āMango.ā
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Asimina triloba cultivar named āMangoā due to the flavor profile.
It was discovered in the wild in Georgia.
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Welcome to the group!
Ah got it, thank you for clarifying. I am new to the forum (longtime lurker/reader with no membership) because Iām currently hyperfixated on pawpaws. Love to learn!
Iām actually curious ā donāt want to dox you, weatherandtrees, and not sure if we can PM on this forum, but I think you might be around the same location with a similar microclimate as my parents (Grafton County, on a hillside above a lake), so I would definitely take any advice you have for this region and that kind of microclimate!
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The hillside definitely helpsā¦especially up there in Grafton County. Are they on Newfound? Any low elevation lake area around there is going to have some cold mins in the winter so probably a solid 5a with occasional 4b winters. I have a friend 1100ft up on Newfound that stays much warmer on those radiational cooling nights.
But either way we struggle with growing degree days with the typical slow starts to spring. I suppose that can be a benefit after a year like this where even I had a hard freeze in mid/late May, but it still makes annual growth a challenge.
Iām on the north side so I donāt typically have lack of water issues like southern slopes canā¦although most of us are pretty wet so far this season. But the big thing is keep them moist, well drained (no standing water past 12-24hrs), and keep hitting them with the high nitrogen. Some of mine have put on a foot of growth in the last 5 weeks and Iām going to give them another dose of N soon. Some trees are struggling and will probably die. They seem to be fickle like that. My Nyomiās Delicious grew like a weed last year, but the 5/18 freeze seemed to really set it back. The new growth keeps dying and falling off and itās probably not long for this world. Maybe the freeze did some semipermanent damage to the tissue? Not sure.
Definitely get early ripening varieties. I have some mid season ones just to try for those occasional years where the growing season is long, but you donāt want to keep getting them zapped a week before they hit their ripeness. I havenāt had fruit yet, but next year I may have a few trees that flower. My Chappell, Al Horn, Potomac, and Tallahatchie are putting on some decent size.
But yeah, they all tolerate winter well in my 5b. Itās getting them the summer heat and humidity that they crave thatās the challenge.
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