Naomi’s delicious has been vigorous and grown well for me. Nc-1 has also been a trooper. Whatever versions of PA golden I’ve had did not do well. They seem less Frost tolerant, than the other cultivars I’ve tried. Allegheny, didn’t make it, but that may have been circumstantial; I planted another one this spring. I got some seedlings I started as seeds from buzzfever. They’re doing pretty well, all things considering. Last year I also added ve21 and KSU Chappell, we’ll see how they do.
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i have overleese and nc-1 right now. hopefully they make it. im going to wrap them good for winter the next couple years so hopefully they make it. i blow my snow where they’re planted so i can keep them protected until established.
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Has anyone purchased pawpaw from Starkbros? I am thinking of getting a sunflower from them or Indiana berry.
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I bought a couple Stark pawpaws years ago- had excellent roots, something they’re known for. They also seem to be known for plant damage during shipping. I’ve seen lots of complaints about poorly packed plants. Don’t know if this has been corrected, no recent experience.
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Hello, I just wanted to ask a few opinions after reading through this thread as I’m not as well versed in Pawpaws.
I planted two in my yard this January that were bare root. I went with Shenandoah and Allegheny. I live in Florida, zone 9b. They get pretty good sun. They will get a fair bit of wind and plenty of rain at times. The space isn’t terribly large so I had planned to keep them about 8’ tall in line with the hedges behind them and maybe about 5’ wide.
Am I set up for failure? Do I need different growing conditions or is anything missing that I can change? They leafed out pretty well from bare root but haven’t pushed out a ton of other growth (not worried there). They seem to be doing well, but I didn’t know if I’m missing something for long term success. Please let me know if I can provide any other helpful information.
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they like wet feet, them probably grow faster with sun like that than in the shade how I have them. others know more than me about conditions but though I’d mention they are thirsty guys
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A question for the group. I’ve only had paw paw once and loved it. I’ve currently have growing a Wabash, Allegheny. Tallahatchie, and Mango as well as one seedling. I have a Chappell in ground that is alive, but I’m beginning to doubt it will survive as it is still dormant and my other pawpaws have been growing now for a month.
Are paw paw’s different enough in flavor to justify growing multiple overlapping varieties, or are they all paw paws with some small variations similar to peaches are peaches, some are just better quality?
For the record, I’m at high altitude with a short growing season in the desert. So I planted multiple varieties in several different micro climates to see what would grow and survive. What’s left is what has made it and actively growing for multiple years.
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Yes there is a big difference in size/flavor/texture between cultivars. In your climate you will need to baby them.
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I have a Wells from them, that’s going on 5 years here. Good roots, was well packaged when it came. I don’t generally like to order from Stark Brothers, but the couple pawpaws I got from them were just fine. I definitely prefer getting them from Peaceful Heritage or Buzz Fever though if I have the option.
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I would shade them
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Thirsty yes but they don’t like constantly wet soil actually.
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Of the varieties I have, any recommendations to complement what you see flavor/texture wise? My growing season is medium short with first frost of the season usually by October 15th.
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growing my own but to this point have only had them from someone elses farm. my friend and i picked up a dropped and busted open fruit to taste from a potomac tree. we both looked at each other and said “pina colada”. rum notes and all. its a flavor i will chase forever. shenandoah tasted like la croix after that.
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I had a good experience with Indiana Berry a couple of years ago. I purchased 2 each of Mango and Sunflower varieties which are doing well now.
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My guess will be that the graft is lost, but it will re-sprout from near the ground in awhile. So you could re-graft it if you’re into grafting. I’ve had this happen to me a few times. The green scratch test does not seem to be totally reliable.
When this has happened to me, there’s been no obvious reason (such as cold temps), as I have many other pawpaw’s that leaf out fine.
I wonder at times if some seedlings are more prone to delayed graft rejection than others, or something. Pawpaw cultivation being as young as it is, I assume nobody has really given much thought to selection for rootstock use.
There is one particular rootstock of mine that lost a graft, re-sprouted, I grafted three NC1 scions to it successfully last year, they grew great, and now this spring none of the grafts have leafed, and it’s re-sprouting from the base again. It’s starting to form a pattern here.
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Thank you for the reply! How much shade? Just a shade cloth or something to get them a bit of relief at noon? Would this just be while they are young?
I could put a few potted things there I guess to grant a little bit of shade and reprieve from the sun. I’m assuming it’s just temporary as they need the shade while young and establishing and not older?
In that location they’ll get some water from the irrigation. There are sprinkler heads in the flower garden to the left and along the concrete path at the front. There’s also the potential for flooding during hurricanes and such there. That in the past has been short lived though going away when the tides recede. It really hasn’t bothered any of the other growing things.
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I cut the tops out of my 3 pawpaws I have in my field. I kind of hated to do that because they were full of flowers this year. I got them potted many years ago from an old farmer in Kentucky and have done virtually nothing to them. I never water them, but they are in a lower area of the field and the soil is loamy clay and holds water well. I did throw some fertilizer on them when I first planted them, but not since, and after the first year or so I just let the field grasses and weeds grow right up to the trunk. Here they are before cutting the tops out:
So, I chopped the center tops off to graft to them, but I left some branches down lower on the trunk as nurse branches and in case the grafts don’t take I can try again next year.
Below are pictures of them after I cut the tops out and grafted to them:
This is a wide view of the 3 trees after cutting out the center and leaving a few lower nurse branches on each, and grafting to the main upper trunks.
This is KSU Chapelle and Prima 1216 grafted onto the same tree.
This is Prima 1216 with several grafts on one tree. Just trying to use up scion wood hoping at least one will take now that I have butchered my trees. I noticed the Prima scion wood had weird-looking buds that did not seem to be protruding like the KSU Chapelle, so I hope it is okay and not defective in some way.
This is 5 grafts of KSU Chapelle on one tree. I kind of tore a little piece of bark off the main stem. Hope it will heal. Pawpaws seem pretty resilient here in southern Indiana.
So, that is my first experience with pawpaw grafting. They were all bark grafts. I really hope some will take. The pawpaws on these trees were small to medium size and were not really too delicious. Hoping for perhaps better flavor and maybe larger fruit. I did fertilize them for the first time in many years after the chopping and grafting was done, so we shall see.
I wonder if it was okay to leave the nurse branches on pawpaws or will that interfere too much with the grafts taking? I am new to the grafting process this spring so I have lots to learn!
Sandra
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25-50% shade cloth is my recommendation. Set up a simple wire cage to support it or even just 3-4 bamboo stakes.
Just for this year. Can help to get them established.
You have an uphill battle since they were bareroot. Pawpaws don’t do well as bare root plants unfortunately (with exceptions as with every rule).
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If they are getting some irrigation that will help. I know FL can be feast or famine with the convection at times so that will help during long hot/dry periods. The leaves aren’t looking fried yet, but be ready to shade them if they start showing signs of solar stress. Planting bare root in FL is always a big challenge year one with the strong insolation.
It’s a little difficult to see from the image, but the leaves appear to have green veins and some slightly yellowing margins. It could be the sign of a Mg deficiency or an absorption issue. A soil test would give you more answers. Good compost never hurts. Good luck.
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Indiana Berry will ship you tiny plants.