Could be. Your guess is as good as mine. Short of an actual genetic study, we’re still left with inferring from known results and general observations.
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As Jerry Lehman used to say, taste is subjective. I have had 7-1 many times and in every way I personally find 1-4 superior. 7-1 has good flavor and texture, it’s far better than average, but is full of seeds and so is not going to be released by KSU. 4-1 has very low seed weight, small seeds, and the flavor and texture is richer and just a lot nicer than 7-1 IMO. The texture of 4-1 is just spot on, and the flavor is great too. It is very Susquehanna-ish but less intense and a little softer in texture. Both are good but I imagine if tested side by side most would prefer 1-4.
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Kinda different than what you said in your book.
We are talking KSU Chappell(4-1) -vs- KSU Hi 1-4 -vs- KSU Hi-7-1 ???
And you prefer unreleased (Hi 1-4) ?
Have you had fruit from the (Susquehanna x Sunflower) with giant ultra firm fruit?
No difference. When I wrote the book I had only had 1-4 maybe one time and thought it was good. But now when comparing them side by side 1-4 is obviously superior in quality to 7-1 all things considered. But, that is just my opinion. Also, anyone who has eaten pawpaws for many years from the same cultivars will tell you taste and quality can vary year by year slightly. Seed weight does not really change though. And bad pawpaws are always bad. This year the trees at KSU bore excessively and fruit weight overall was down substantially.
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@Blake
You prefer (1-4) over (4-1) ?
(1-4) has richer flavor?
What about aromatics?
Have you requested scions of (1-4) from Sheri Crabtree?
I know Cliff England has frequently got unreleased scions.
How does (Chappell, Tallahatchie, 7-1 & 1-4) compare to Al Horn’s White?
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1-4 is a richer, better fruit in my opinion. It is nicely aromatic also. I have been grafting 1-4 for years and have it in our orchard growing. Honestly I have never eaten Al Horn’s White pawpaw. Likely the KSU selections are better. The KSU fruits are hard to beat when tried side by side with most others. Tallahatchie I do not personally like at all and think the flavor is off. Maybe it was just a bad year for it. But that is just my opinion.
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I had Garage West for the 1st time last night as well and really enjoyed it. Mine was probably that perfect ripeness right before any of the skin starts showing any darker color. I was definitely getting some coconut vibes and even a hint of vanilla. Despite its size it had only 5 seeds in it with 4 of them being very large. I plan to grow those out direct from seed next spring.
Haven’t tried Central. My other ones were unlabeled, but the obvious allegheny ones were very tropical and sweet. I enjoyed them despite their smaller size. Shenandoah was sweet and mild as expected. If I wasn’t expecting a mild taste I probably would’ve been left wanting a little more flavor.
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@Blake have you tried any of David Lee McCray’s aka @Vid wild selections?
Blake are you able to sell (1-4) scions prior to official KSU release?
Are you growing (1-4) as solo trees or top working into existing trees or both?
Are you attempting hybrids with (1-4) ?
Is it possible to get seeds of (1-4) ?
That’s a “Pawpaw patch” for sure. Many are likely root suckers rather than hundreds of plants.
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Ok i need to investigate… this is a gully right behind my house… likely these have washed down? I got probably 1/4 mile of these… do i look for the mother trees upstream?
These pics are taken every 100 yards or so they are everywhere
Now i know where i need to plant my seedlings at least
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Yes, look for an older tree upstream (or a stump near some of those).
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This looks like a pawpaw mommy!
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How much of a difference in KSU varietals when grown in different locations?
Do they tastes better grown at your place or KSU?
You just need to graft a few varieties for cross pollination then there will be plenty of fruits from that patch.
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Awesome find!
Depending on where you are, anywhere from a few weeks ago to a few weeks from now for ripe fruit. Since you’re not seeing any now, I’m guessing either they’re all gone for the year, or they don’t set heavily at that site.
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This is as close as i can find to a tall one so far… this is zoomed and abt 50 feet tall i cant tell if its a pawpaw or not.
This is a gully/ravine and in the middle is a creek.
There are side shoots of the ravines and all have pawpaws on the banks and low lying areas.
Its windy today and widowmakers everywhere so i need to investigate more.
Location is WV
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They are natural understory trees. Them being in the gully is pretty much to be expected. People that turkey hunt see them all the time near shallow creek beds. They will still fruit (or rather should still fruit even below canopy cover).
Those small ones are highly likely to be suckers. I’ve seen suckering as far away as 50 feet in orchard plantings. I suspect it can be farther in the wild. In fact, it’s possible for a stray seed to produce a huge 1/2 acre colony with absolutely zero fruit, just continuous propagation by suckering. As the suckers grow, the lateral root connecting them with the original tree is disturbed by natural events like a neighboring white ash falling or a racoon digging. The process then repeats exponentially. Fastest and easiest way to fix this is grafting.
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