Amazing variety reference!
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Thats sold by my friend Chip (Sherwood Seeds) who lives 25min away. I had a few seedlings last year (that also died in my fertilizer accident 
). I believe he said there are other trees he found in his town of Fallsington PA but none near this tree so that why he thinks its self-pollinating (and loaded with fruit, ill have to ask him to show me the tree this year).
Hershey’s trees that i visited some past fall were in a different city over hour away. Did Hershey have other nursery locations outside of Downingtown area?
Note: he just told me Quakers settled the area before that time, so he thinks theres a chance its from them.
PS somewhere between us was a guy who supposed had a 800 pawpaw orchard be4 pawpaws became very popular … but it was on RENTED land!?!
Those trees must have been old as it was a fruiting orchard you could buy fruit at.
So all was lost when he died in 2018. The new owners on the property supposedly chased people off the property looking for them then got annoyed and cut them down according to my source, but i may try to go along the river banks near the area to see if any animals transplanted them in the local area (along the Neshaminy Creek). Info i found on an old article on a website:
I have a friend who has i think some of his seedlings so some of his work still lives on.
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Wow that’s a loss. If the land owners had much sense they would have capitalized on that.
Why chase’em when you can charge’em? Duh
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This is a great list! However, I think a few of these points may be misleading / not common. For example, I think a few folks on this forum have not had ksu chappel grow any faster than their other pawpaws. Also, in a lot of taste tests I’ve seen, Wabash does not win. I’m curious if anyone can centralize a thread of taste tests what would result in the #1, but from what I’ve seen people usually either love “Shenandoah” (vanilla) or they love “Susquehanna” (fruity) pawpaws so there won’t be a definitive #1
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Thats interesting if grew slow in similar/good conditions in that location.
On a sidenote: I was asking a seller about a specific variety which everyone (Cliff etc) says is slow growing (and hence no seller has scionwood of that variety for the past couple years for the public to get). One graft of that variety was slow growing, but the other graft wasn’t at all.
I think he was pondering if he had a nicer rootstock on that one which at least helped push that variety past its slow-growing genetics/limitations.
I prob will graft a few varieties onto KSU Chappel as an interstem to see if it helps growth (grown next to KSU Chappel itself).
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Taste is always subjective and ripeness of the fruit has a large impact on flavor.
These are just basic observations, not law. I literally wrote this in 45 minutes for Neal Peterson.
There are many reports of KSU Chappell being extremely fast growing compared to others. I have planted at least 6-7 KSU Chappell pawpaw trees I grafted, and they all grow really fast compared to others. They display hybrid vigor for sure. Perhaps I should document the exact rate…
I think the debate is whether or not KSU Chappell actually sets fruit faster than other varieties or just grows vegetatively at a faster rate.
‘a few folks on this forum’ reporting something is just that.
The seedling rootstock impacts the growth of the grafted tree, however I see very consistent growth when healthy, strong rootstock is used. It doesn’t vary much in terms of top growth, speed of growth, etc.
I have thought pawpaw interstems would be an interesting trial.
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i was watched one of your old videos about training trees by bending them below perpendicular to the trunk to induce faster fruit budding. in a comment you said you didnt do it for pawpaws. had you not tried or does it not work for them?
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I did find a video this guy posted a video last year that shows diff pawpaws in a line in same part of his yard so i assume same growing conditions (and KSU Chappel is the winner).
You can see how much bigger it is. I think that video convinced me it would be a good interstem experiment.
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I grafted Chappel onto an existing established tree and it did not grow any faster for me. On the other hand Benson grafted to another established tree took off. Pawpaw grows wild here and both trees were good size seedlings.
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Apple trees are stimulated to produce fruiting spurs when the branches are in a horizontal or even downward direction. Vertical growth is stimulated to continue to grow vegetatively. I’m sure it has to do with hormones. However, pawpaws are not known to be stimulated in this same way.
Someone can try it and report!
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I just keep hearing anecdotal reports here. My anecdotal report versus yours.
Hybrid vigor is an established fact of horticulture. It’s not unreasonable to assume KSU Chappell displays this in many (but maybe not all) situations. A lot has to do with growing conditions as well. But, in my own orchard of over 200 pawpaw trees, I have seen KSU Chappell consistently grow extremely fast. As have a lot of other growers. Whether that matters is the debate at hand.
It’s not based on ‘belief’ but observation over time.
When older trees are topworked it’s not uncommon for the scion to grow incredibly fast in 1 or 2 seasons.
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I just saw a similar type of stimulation done for durian trees here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JXOF0c1i1oM where they cut the tree to stress it to produce more fruit. I can’t verify if it works or not, but it seems like a common practice…
Is there similar reports for soursops/custard apples/ or other relatives of pawpaws?
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Yes, my point about the anecdotes from this forum is that chappell could more accurately be described as “fastest growing pawpaw known, but some people do not report any faster growth.” As many of us probably buy scions or trees based on description, it can be misleading if there isn’t a great consensus by people who grow it. Like 4 people on this forum is not by any means rigorous either of course, but if it truly was the lightning McQueen, I’d expect to see less anecdotes of it being a dud for speed
I bought chappel and can report my experience and its growing speed compared to the other varieties in the coming years.
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Please tell me which of these varieties are earlier and which are later in relation to NC-1?
VE-21
Maria’s Joy
Halvin
Windstar
Kentucky Legend Titan
KSU Benson ?
KSU Chappell ?
Some sources indicate that these are early varieties, and other sources of information indicate that these are medium varieties.
I know that Kentucky Champion is well suited for NC-1 (I will graft Kentucky Champion onto an already growing NC-1 tree, or plant it nearby)
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I don’t necessarily agree. You’d have to put caveats on the tendencies of every cultivar of every type of fruit. I’m in z5 and my Chappell puts on twice as much vegetative growth than any other variety. We all have variable growing conditions too…climate, weather, soil conditions, amount of sun, pressure from other plant growth, rootstock, fertilizing/care, etc.
Some of those with slow Chappells may have been given the wrong variety too. But I think the point stands that for most growers, Chappell stands out from the others for its vegetative vigor.
Just my $0.02
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OK here goes the new description, I hope this makes it fair for everyone:
‘KSU Chappell sometimes for some growers may sometimes grow faster. Some growers have sometimes seen it occasionally not grow faster. Some don’t believe it grows faster, some do believe in it, and some believe it’s sasquatch’s favorite variety. Sasquatch has no comment on the growing speed or the taste of this pawpaw’
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I had a 17 pawpaw tree orchard put in 4 years back, all different cultivars and chappell is by far the fastest and largest tree in this orchard, it is at least double in size from any other cultivars and produced 3 or 4 fruit last year - for what its worth. Mango is another cultivar that grows fairly fast and gets large quick but I believe chappell may have it beat. I did not have mango planted in this particular orchard but have grown it in the past.
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I fill their bellies with dog and cat food during season which they prefer over pawpaw fruit. A raccoon will kill over a slice of pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and anchovies.
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Haha ok I just might have to try that. May be the best use for Little Ceasars in general
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I have Mangoes and Chappell’s, and the Chappell’s are the fastest growers by a substantial margin.
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