Tell me more. 
surely. i spent since the first of the year designing my own tree pots. mostly for my persimmon and pawpaw seedlings but my citrus seedlings will probably end up there as well. as with anything theres a balance between features, quality and cost. i should open a dedicated thread as to not derail this one. i also made some cell inserts for 1020 trays that i posted about here:
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Please do.
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Iâm waitinggggg⌠lol I have all sorts of questions about your pot making project.
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Pawpaw seeds exhibit this behavior when the seeds have not completed cold stratification. When properly cold stratified, nearly 100% will sprout in warm, humid conditions. The reason they might take an extra year to sprout is because the cold stratification. was incomplete. The âpots hanging aroundâ is the seeds undergoing cold stratification. But yes, do not always ditch âno showsâ they could just need more hibernation time.
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I had a small bag of seeds I forgot about in the fridge one summer and just left them in there for another winter. The following spring most of them germinated. So no one should give up on seeds they forgot about eitherâŚas long as they stayed moist and mold free.
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AIâs explanation for why some seed take a second year to sprout.
Pawpaw seeds (Asimina triloba) often take more than one year to germinate due to deep physiological dormancy, requiring a long, 70- to 120-day period of cold-moist stratification to mature the embryo. If conditions arenât ideal, seeds may wait for a second winter to break dormancy.
Kentucky State University +4
Key factors causing slow or multi-year germination include:
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Deep Dormancy: The embryo is immature when the fruit falls and requires a specific cold period .
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Impermeable Seed Coat: The seed coat is tough and slowly permeable, requiring moisture to break down, a process that can be slow.
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Improper Storage: Seeds dried out for even a few days can lose viability or go into deeper dormancy.
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Environmental Conditions: If sown too late or if conditions are too dry/unfavorable, the seed will not germinate in the first spring
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Has anyone tried rootgrafting pawpaws?
No reason why it wouldnât work, it should work for any eudicot. By root grafting Iâm assuming you mean taking a root piece and grafting a scion to it.
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Yeah, just because some of my rootstock have thicker root caliper than trunk. I would imagine it would work too, but pawpaws are weird
I spoke with Woody Walker on the phone today regarding BSD / Vascular Wilt. He seems to know more about it than most growers. He shared some very interesting information:
- Pawpaws can recover from BSD infection if they are vigorous and can âoutgrowâ the disease.
- Non-vigorous cultivars seem more susceptible to dying from the disease. Examples include Susquehanna and KSU Benson, as well as Sunflower and Overleese.
- Adding Azomite at a rate of 5 lbs per tree can provide the necessary minerals and calcium to combat stress and make trees less susceptible.
- Itâs important to take into consideration the minerals mined from the soil by pawpaw trees each season (especially heavy bearing cultivars), and replenish said minerals each year, such as through azomite.
- Drought and stress make trees more susceptible to BSD, as well as excess moisture in the soil.
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is this for mature trees specifically or is it for all tree ages do you know
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I would do some testing/know your soil before putting this down. Itâs got K, Ca, Mg, Cl, and Na. These are things my soil has plenty of so it would be silly for me to put something like that down.
You get a LOT of K back if you have well mulched trees.
I wonder if anyone has done pawpaw leaf nutrient analysis - that seems like a relatively inexpensive thing that would be pretty informative.
I also have found it interesting that there isnât a lot of information on how pawpaw actually grow in the wild. I sometimes wonder how many of the issues with pawpaw trees are actually just due to the way they grow naturally. I donât think the median lifespan of individual pawpaw ramets within a colony is very long.
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There are a lot of differences between wild pawpaws and cultivated. One of the main differences is the extremely heavy yield of fruit on cultivated trees compared to meager yields on wild trees. That heavy yielding requires lots of minerals from the soil that need replenishment.
Woodyâs recommendations are for mature trees bearing heavily in an orchard setting in the Eastern USA, with an emphasis on soils depleted of minerals like Ca, Manganese, Copper, etc. It may not be a good recommendation for soils already rich in those minerals currently.
For young non-bearing trees Iâm planning on adding 2-3 lbs of azomite per tree as a preventative. Our soils here tend to be low in Ca. As for soil tests, no lab can give accurate recommendations for pawpaws, they would just be guessing. Some people like to utilize soil testing, I never have gained anything useful from it. Leaf analysis could be more useful.
Individual trees lifespan either grafted or within a colony is around 20 years. There are exceptions with wild trees sometimes living longer.
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might not be alive long enough to see a benefit from azomite:
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Haha perhaps. We have fairly acidic soils in KY. If you donât âbelieveâ in rock dusts, kelp flakes/powder would be a very rapid-release bio available source of many minerals similar to azomite.
I find it hard to believe that all use of rock dusts is worthless. Itâs common practice for farmers in this region to apply ground limestone (not even powdered) for the pH raising. If it was not breaking down it would not affect the soil pH. It takes about 1 year to affect soil pH.
The lack of studies does not mean something is a myth. Studies are paid for by ag chemical and other corporations and also are usually looking at very short term effects of chemicals. Studying rock dust results would be a multi year study and whose going to fund it? But it is odd he apparently could find zero. I found several in about 5 seconds, but have not read them:
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I also found several studies about azomite. It seems to work as well as other soil additives/fertilizers when the soil is deficient in something it has. However, you must be careful not to apply too much because it also contains significant sodium and chloride.
I donât see what the benefit is for azomite over other types of organic fertilizers.
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in reading the research paper its mostly comparing basalt to azomite and the pros/cons there. they do seem to show in lab conditions that it can be used as a fertilizer for macro K and various micro nutrients. they compared using neutral(7.8) and acidic(2.2) extractions in short amounts of time(30m). they say these rock dusts do what they say on the tin but dont give any data in the field.
the cornell article is more succinct in its conclusion:
When used as a fertilizer, rock dust should be considered a slow-release fertilizer as weathering of mineral content is required to make the nutrients available for plant uptake. As this release may take several seasons, rock dust should not be used to address immediate plant needs. Furthermore, different minerals have unique nutrient content so selecting the correct rock dust is important to meet the needs of your plants and the soil they grow in.
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For best results as a fertilizer, rock dust should be applied prior to the seeding of a specific crop. An initial high-volume application followed by yearly supplemental application to topsoil may be required to keep a consistent delivery of nutrients. Soil testing before and during the use of rock dust can be a valuable tool to understand the nutrient needs of your specific soil. Generally, finer rock dust is quicker to weather and release its nutrients. This in turn may require lower rates of application.
Despite growing interest in the potential benefits of utilizing rock dust in soil fertility practices, there is still a lack of comprehensive knowledge on optimal application rates across different soil types, climates, and crop varieties. Recommended application rates for a specific rock dust type can differ from a few hundred pounds to several tons per acre or as little as 2.5 pounds to 10 pounds per 100 square feet depending on the material used and the source of the recommendation.
thanks for pointing to those.
that research paper did say that there might be an issue with aluminum using rock dusts. but it doesnt really provide anything concrete for use outside the lab.
This early warm up (foolâs spring) does not bode well for pawpaw bloom. Here in KY we are seeing day after day of 60s-70s and 50s at night, with definitely more freezing weather coming soon. Our pawpaw buds have swollen ever so slightly, and can take some cold, but it will likely be too much too soon. Secondary buds to the rescue, letâs hope.
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could you take some pictures of your buds in their current state, at a state if they freeze and secondary buds pushing? i think it would make for some solid educational content.
pretty please 