I am happy to see that the Osteen Pawpaw tree has found a good home. 
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I recommend viewing ā Ockoo Farmā Youtube presentation: āAnnonacin Apprehension- or, How I Learned to Stop Worring and Love theā¦ā. I am in agreeance with Mr. Lane concerning this issue.
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PM me for Scientific Data
itās grown very well! a new set of leaves up top and a small branch starting. I would post photos but I donāt want to go back out into the smoke today.
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Very nice work my friend.
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Hello, looking for some advice- I have several pawpaws I started from seed that have been growing in pots, some on their first growing season, and some on their 2nd season. So far I have kept them in partial sun /shade to avoid sun damage, but I am looking to plant them out this fall or the coming spring as I think they need to get out of the pots. How much longer would they need protection from the sun or would they be ok to plant out in full sun now? (PA zone 6)
Plant them in full sun this fall theyll be fine, make sure to give them mulch and lots of water next summer
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Question: am planning some plantings in a backyard situation. Donāt need full fruit production, just would like some fruit and healthy trees.
What is the radius for pollination? I realize this probably depends on how many pollinators I have around, but if Iām looking for sites around the house that are the most creek-bed like and have a good mix of sun and shade, how far apart is too far apart?
Books say space 8 to 12 ft apart. Mine are about 18 to 20 ft apart and I get zero insect pollination BUT I also live in a fairly sterile suburban setting. If I were starting over I might plant 2 varieties per hole, separated by say 15 to 18 inches in each hole.
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The climate here in Maryland, mid Atlantic region, is lethal to my European plums, especially Mirabels. Between various fungi and Japanese beetles and curculio, by August, I have barely foliaged frames that look like they escaped from Auschwitz, I think Iām going to have to send them off to heaven, and replace them with more pawpaws and figs. Even my hybrid and asian persimmons dropped other fruits this year in the middle of summer. They almost reach the size of a small golf balls, and then every single one of them fell to the ground.
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I hear you there! Pawpaws are my most low maintenance and dependable fruit trees by a good margin. Potted figs are very dependable too. I havenāt tried putting any figs in ground due to the amount of winter protection they would need and having to deal with critters. Apples and pears do well here but need a lot of sprays for pest and fungal issues. Stone fruits are just a disappointing headache most years. Some of my persimmons keep getting hit hard by late freezes each year which results in no crop, and the ones that donāt get hit by the freeze keep dropping all their fruit lol. The pawpaws got hit by the late freeze this spring too, but they at least had some dormant buds that were able to avoid it, so Iāll still get a small crop from them.
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Have you tasted those KSU ones you gave me? I got 2 out of the 3 to take. The one that went down looked the best and then the whole tree went down and shot up rootstock. Benson was the main one I was interested in because itās supposed to be round.
āWithin itās native range the pawpaw is a fruit tree with few to no pests, and can be successfully grown without pesticides.ā
āThe natural insecticides in the leaves, twigs, and bark of pawpaw trees can be used to make an organic pesticideā
" Interpretive Summary: Many native plants are natural sources of potentially useful drugs and pesticides. One such plant is the paw paw tree. Its bark and smaller twigs are laced with potent chemicals called acetogenins. Acetogenins are fatty compounds mainly produced by paw paw trees in the summer months as a poison to deter insect feeding. The inhibition of specific respiratory enzymes in living cells by acetogenins contributes to their antitumor and pesticidal properties. We tested the efficacy of paw paw tree extract containing acetogenins to kill two major agricultural pests: green peach aphids and blueberry gall midges. The acetogenin extracts were as effective as the microbial-based pesticide, spinosad and also compared favorably with malathion. Paw paw extract was much more toxic to aphids and gall midges than the broad-spectrum and neurotoxic insecticide, phosmet. Extracts from the paw paw tree have broad, effective and prolonged insecticidal activity, and unlike many currently used insecticides, they are safer to people and wildlife.
Technical Abstract: Annonaceous acetogenins extracted from the paw paw tree [Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal] are natural pesticides, and patents have been granted for their development as commercial pesticides. Their primary mode of action is the disruption of cellular respiration, which explains their broad-spectrum bioactivity against at least 15 species of arthropods and nematodes. Acetogenins (2000 ppm) dissolved in a 9.5% ethanol extract were highly bioactive against green peach aphids, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), rapidly killing 100% of nymphs and apterous adults, faster than the microbial-based insecticide, spinosad. The extract and spinosad were equally effective at inducing mortality for larval blueberry gall midges, Dasineura oxycoccana (Johnson). Toxicity of acetogenins compared favorably to malathion and topical applications were also more effective than phosmet for knocking down aphids and gall midges of varying ages. New classes of pesticides, like Annonaceous acetogenins, are needed to replace or supplement organophosphate and carbamate insecticides in IPM programs. The acetogenins are unusual among many natural insecticides in that they have broad pesticidal activity, induce rapid mortality, and have a complex mode of action that helps to thwart insecticidal resistance."
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No, I havenāt tasted any of those yet. My Chappell has a nice cluster on it, so I should get to taste that variety soon. Iām quite excited to try that one.
Most of my pawpaw trees grew really well this year, despite the near drought this spring. We ended up having a lot of rain throughout this summer (starting mid June), which allowed them to thrive. Iāve noticed that before, I think in 2018, that pawpaws grow exceptionally well in years with a really wet summer.
Benson and Atwood both had strong growth and have flower buds on them, so thereās a good chance for those to produce fruit next year.
Sorry to hear about the Benson graft. Iāll gladly send you more scionwood of Benson this winter.
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Got Attwood and Chappel mixed up, but it was one of those that went down. The other two got about a foot of growth. Iāve got about 9 named trees and I think Iām good on scion. Thanks for the offer though. Iāve got to figure out what to do with the fruit. Ate one today and there is no way you can eat many of the them. Freezer I guess is the next step. I did make some pawpaw bread last year that turned out pretty good.
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Had a pawpaw for a snack before lunch today. Orange inside, sort of small. Came from a wild tree with 3 or 4 trunks that I certainly canāt reach around.
Have a half dozen in the refrigerator from a couple other trees.
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I went for a walk through a park I donāt normally go to and found a couple paw paw patches. Between about a dozen trees of fruiting size there were only two fruit. I am crossing my fingers that my go-to spots didnāt also have a bad spring because I need paw paws!
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Definitely round/spherical in my experience. Keep in mind not every single fruit will be perfectly spherical.
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My first Benson fruit dropped today, round and man the perfume coming off the stem end was the most aromatic Iāve ever smelled. Will eat soon.
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Looks like I have fruit buds setting on my first two treesā¦an Al Horn and Tallahatchie. My Chappell is my largest tree, but it still appears to all be vegetative buds right now although a couple on the leader are showing hints of rounding off.
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