Wish I did, but I’d take ve-21 over maria’s joy and JBG. Didn’t really care for MJ and JBG is too loose for me.
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What are the predominant flavors of Maria’s Joy?Melon,fruity,butterscotch?
I didn’t like the taste so I didnt record it. Leaning towards mild with off flavors.
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Ah — so not necessarily for “starting” the seeds? Thanks! I’ll probably start my seeds in some buckets indoors soon, then, and order treepots for later in the season once they have sprouted.
@zendog — any sense of what temperature is the most helpful for germination? Surprised yours came up like that in a month! That might even be too quick for me, since I don’t want to put them into treepots until April at earliest. My house is usually in the 60s in the winter; if I put them in buckets I am not sure my heating pads will make much difference (plus I need those for my peppers).
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Helpful to know this too. I have a partially shaded place (under a high deck) I could grow some vigorous seedlings in 5 gallon buckets for a few years that won’t get that cold, but would be much easier than bringing in and out of anywhere.
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@petey I’m not really sure what temps are the best, but I had heard low 80s would get them germinating fairly consistently. Since I was going to transfer them all once they had sprouted, I wanted to get as close to uniform germination as possible and it seemed quite successful at those temps.
I don’t think I’d start them in buckets if I was going to transfer them to tree pots soon after germinating, it just seems way overkill for how much they would grow and as you note it would be difficult to get them warmed through with that much height and soil. If you didn’t want to use flats, I’d probably just use whatever you are using for peppers and such. You could plant them now and leave them at room temp and then move them to the heating mats in March or so if you aren’t seeing them germinating yet. They will push root for a while before top growth, so small pots make it easier to dig around and see how they are doing. Once I saw many of mine with roots just starting to poke out, I left them alone and knew they would be pretty well germinated for when I wanted to plant them out.
There is another thread here all about starting pawpaws from seed you may want to look through for various experiences from different growers. I looked back at my posts and it seems the seeds were starting to germinate after about 2 weeks on the mats.
I started mine late spring comprared to most, since like you I was using the heating mats for other things like peppers, etc. and was busy with veggies, etc. so the heating mat gave them a jump start to get reasonable growth in the first year. To do it again, I’d probably put them on the mat in late march, although maybe earlier if I was going to grow in pots and could move them around easily. Since I was planting out in the air pruning bed, I didn’t want to have them sprouting above soil when there was still a risk of frost.
@Petey You may also want to consider your winter storage plan. KSU and others say that pawpaws in containers are sensitive to freezing and I’ve seen numbers in the mid twenties for the soil temps that can kill pawpaw roots. I’m not sure how cold the air temps would be to get into the 20s in the soil, but I have heard of winter killed pawpaw seedlings in pots. They are different than most trees in that their roots don’t grow at all after dormancy, so one danger is if there is some damage the roots will just rot and deteriorate over the rest of the season and there may not be enough left to heal and grow in the spring. If you don’t have a greenhouse you may need to bury your pots or bring them into a garage or other protected but still cold area for winter storage.
Since mine are in air pruning beds and I’m just in 7B, I piled up bags of mulch and wood chips all around the outside, so hopefully that is enough in our relatively mild area.
I also piled mulch around my chestnut seedlings, which should be hardier, just in case, since an air pruned bed has that air gap below and can free up form the bottom besides just the top so I was worried they were more vulnerable. It isn’t as much as around the pawpaws, but hopefully it keeps the cold out from below.
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If you have permanent planting spots picked out for your pawpaws, it’s so much easier just to plant say 3 seeds per hole in their permanent spots from the jump. Never have to move them or worry about much at all, just thin to the most vigorous seedling at each hole. Unless you plan to sell them.
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@zendog thanks for all this. I normally start my peppers in 4” peat pots stuck into muffin tins then put on heating pads. Could probably do that here too, then transfer to tree pots once they germinate or don’t.
I could overwinter young trees in a garage; would just be easier on the deck outside.
Don’t have final slots picked out for them yet and this is all educational. The few spots I do have will go to grafted seedlings first.
Has anyone tried any of those pawpaws from the seedlings of Seren Petrichor? One of his better varieties he’s trying to sell on Etsy for $33 a stick. My guess is it’s probably good tasting, but probably not any better than other improved cultivars and he’s trying to make a few bucks.
I’m not spending that much on an unknown scion, but I figured I’d throw it out there and ask anyway.
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I grabbed the Petrochor 4 last night, as that had a coconut flavor I was interested in… I prob would have gotten the Petrochor 3 too, but seemed a bit silly for me to spend $33+10=$43 for 2 varieties, and then he has all 7 for $49 (but i don’t need that much scionwood of varieties i dont want 
), so i just stuck with #4
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Waking up here in Ohio…These are wild type, the younger named cultivars I have heavily mulched somewhat sheltered under this grove area mostly still very dormant.
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I wouldn’t consider that waking up just yet. That’s just how the dormant flower buds look through winter. That tree looks eager to fruit for you this year, so that’s nice to see!
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Looks fine to me. (Although, if it gets back close to zero degrees F this spring…then your buds probably feeze off…but there’ll be dormant backup buds if that happens.)
agree
@TJ_westPA I understand. There is minor bud swelling, but it’s almost imperceptible. This picture might be clearer. I’m sorry for myself to say that I scrutinize these on my daily walks with my dogs…I’m too eager for spring to truly arrive. @BlueBerry Yes, no damage yet - our temps are supposed to drop quite a bit after this warm spell, but they’ve moderated the forecast to upper 20s F. A late freeze did in a good majority of the blossoms last year.
Unfortunately no fruit is in the cards regardless as this is a clonal grove with nearly 50 trunks, trees 10-15’ tall - the previous owners of our property planted one single seedling then pruned it into a picturesque walkthrough grove…but wondered why they never had fruit. It sends up suckers all over the surrounding area. All of my named varieties are too immature at this stage for flowering. I should try to find a local with pawpaws to beg some pollen, but so far I have come up dry. It could be very bad wild fruit, too - totally unknown, but if it was pollinated well there would be a lot of it.
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I have an Overleese,that flowers quite a bit.Some could be sent for next year.My pollen is stored in small containers,in the freezer,for later use.
Grafting in another variety,may also work.
After just checking,there is some from 2022 and 2023,if wanted.Easy to mail,in an envelope.
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I noticed that Wabash buds early in my southern CA coastal environment.
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Sounds like you have a patch perfect for top working. You’ll get a ton of really nice growth from those established trees after grafting them.
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If they’re native to your area the local park and wildlife people may have planted some trees in local parks.
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