Pawpaws 2024

I hand pollinated last year and got zero fruit!
The previous year I didn’t hand pollinate and got fruit!
I suspect hand pollination is doing some damage.

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Were the flowers receptive to pollen at the time? There’s probably pictures on the forum somewhere.

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Pollinating some higher up pawpaw flowers today with a brush extender (a brush taped onto 4.5ft car windshield thingee hehe). Not sure if good idea, but trying it


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That’s like surgery.

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Hoping for fruit this year, hand pollinated with some pollen thanks to @Bradybb. I did not get on a ladder yet, but might early this week if we get a break in the rain.

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I did get a few up on higher branches :). Not so bad if hold with both hands and keep a steady hand.
Curious, for earlier flowers that fall to the ground as they didn’t get fertilized, can you use the pollen from those? or only fresh male ones still on the branch that got past the female stage and haven’t fallen to ground yet?
I may try to pollinate a few more trees tomorrow at a friend’s house and was curious.

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I would be surprised if you could find any pollen left on those.

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I decided not to try to pollinate when I went out to look at my trees and there were plenty of flies crawling inside the flowers. Here’s a few photos from today:

Hopefully those little guys hang on. :blush:

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Little potted tree, third year from graft with two flowers.

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Well, we have high winds today and when I went to check on those pawpaws and were not there any more. I saw two more clusters that are currently still hanging on, plus I have more flowers. Hopefully something sticks!

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Fruit next year?

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Hahahah but exciting nonetheless

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I top worked this tree two years ago, and hopefully this fruit holds. I thinned each cluster to single fruits to hopefully get a better idea of its maximum size potential. I also don’t want too big of a fruit load on this young tree. I would rather have 4 single fruits than one cluster of 4 since clusters don’t typically ripen all together.

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Wow, all that growth is only 2 years’ worth?! :exploding_head:

Well done! What kind of graft?

Agree on your thinning approach. I need to get out and do some serious thinning. The flies performed too well this year. :rofl:

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Just a cleft graft/v graft I made with two buds on a seedling that was established. I grafted it high to get a better diameter match up and to let it sway in the wind rather than snap. I have never supported it with anything other than a thick layer of parafilm around the union.

Union was ugly at first, but now its grown enough to where its smooth.


Photos are the first growing season

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Is two the maximum number of fruit you leave in a cluster?

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I don’t personally have a hard and fast rule.

Depends on the total number of fruits on the tree - if only a few clusters set, I might allow 3-4 fruit per cluster just to be able to get something to eat :sweat_smile:
Can also depend on where it is on the branch and whether it’s bending the branch more than I want etc.

As I think about it, I’ve probably rarely allowed more than 3.

However, if you plan to bag fruit for any reason, one fruit per cluster certainly is much easier.

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I have a Sunflower paw paw that has quite a few small clusters of 3 to 6 fruitlets. Right now it seems like too much but I know lots may fall off yet. Do they fall because they’re unpollinated, or for some other reason? I don’t want to thin before they drop some naturally, but I’m not sure when or why that may happen.

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Yes they can appear to be successful but then drop. That usually happens pretty quickly.
They will quickly start to grow if successful.

But yes later they can drop for other reasons, essentially the tree aborts the fruit. I can’t pretend to know all the biology but generally we think of it as the tree thinning itself due to oversetting.

So yes it’s wise to wait a few weeks or so to let some natural thinning happen. But even later the tree can drop, called June Drop.

You can always remove misshapen or damaged fruit.

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Just curious, does anyone sell pawpaw pollen? My friend’s trees are a few weeks behind mine, and i didn’t save any pollen for him.