Pawpaws in 2022

Is Shenandoah your favorite of those four?

Yes.

Then you probably won’t care much for Susquehanna and Overleese. You should try Allegheny, Rappahannock, Taytoo, Maria’s Joy, off the top of my head… There are other Lehman ones I would recommend, but I need to go back to find my notebook records, cause I mix them up sometimes since I remember them by the number name.

You’d probably like the seedling I have here called Ohio 1. It’s a firmer version of Shenandoah.

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Was admiring your Overleese and then I read this. I hate the aftertaste. One of my named seedlings fruited this year. It had a weird alcohol like aftertaste. Nothing like the metal aftertaste I’m used to. Initial taste was pretty good though.

I could actually dig that. Pawpaw beer is decent.

You know the aftertaste you get from a shot of whisky. Kind of like that, but milder. Perfectly ripe (not fermented).

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You mean the smoky finish? O_o?

No, just the alcohol.

O_o Is this the first year it set fruit?

I’m intrigued, though I’m wondering couldn’t this just be a cause of a slightly fermented pawpaw.

First year fruiting. Maybe different next year. The fruit was perfectly ripe. I did not get a buzz. You never know though, you could be right. Maybe I should let them ripen further to see if the content increases. Who would not want a pawpaw tree you have to be over 21 to eat.

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If there wasn’t a copyright, I’d suggest calling it Captain Morgan.

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Thank you Peachy.

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I noticed mention of ā€˜Sunsprout’…among others from a grower or experimenter in Vermont, apparently.
Any genetic info or any fruit tastings on this gentleman’s ā€˜varieties’? (Buzz Ferver).

Seed saved and stratified, I usually plant at least a couple seeds per one gallon pot. May-July usually.

Usually I get at least one plant per pot that method. 60 to 80% the first season, and perhaps another 5% germinate the second year.
Dividing seedlings in summer works out OK for asimina triloba…better than dormant transplanting actually.

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I had heard many years ago that mango came from Corwin Davis seed being selected in the south, not found in the wild. I was thinking this info came from KSU but I could be wrong. My memory is not the best these days. I do remember the person telling this was a reliable source at the time.

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Some Durian varieties are said to be ā€œalcoholic.ā€
It’s a desirable trait.

A little out of context but I’ve realized many pawpaws have a rum flavor. (I don’t drink).
Coincidentally ā€œtutti fruittiā€ flavor, often ascribed to pawpaws, is sometimes defined as having a rum component.

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That was me. Buzz is a friend (he’s pretty well known by nut junkies like John Brittan was) and if you see new stuff pawpaw pop up from him, it’s probably from me but originally from Ken Drabik, the Illinois pawpaw grower rep for the pawpaw growers association.

There’s a long story with Sunsprout, it involves Neal and a grafted pawpaw dying then sprouting from the rootstock. This goes back 20+ years to a time when Neal was selling trees himself and not licensing through nurseries. Basically, it’s named Sunsprout because it’s a seedling (or said to be a seedling) of Sunflower. I have no involvement with the breeding (well it wasn’t bred technically, not intentionally anyways) or growing of Sunsprout. I just took scionwood and sent it to Buzz. I have tasted Sunsprout. It’s in the middling area of Sunflower flavor.

Actually, I’m pretty sure a bunch of people on the forum have already tried Sunsprout, when I mailed out pawpaw fruit.

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Thanks for coming back and giving info. I have quite a little group of
seedlings…but no named varieties.

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As far as I know, Sunsprout is being sold by at least two Peterson licensed nurseries. They’ve tried it; liked it.

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From my notes: ā€œMango Pawpaw: Discovered in 1970 in Tifton, Georgia, Okeefenokee Swamp, by Major C. Collins.ā€

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