Only one person would need to do it and then they could spread it from there
I think itd be tough to get that. But youre liekly to grow decent stuff from seeds if you only have improved. Id start there and grow your own rootstock
And tell people with improved varieties to start doing this instead of grafting onto seedlings
The challenge is that pawpaws canāt be propagated via cuttings. Apple rootstocks are propagated via layering/stooling, etc. That way they can be propagated in mass numbers in nursery fields. Pawpaws can be grown via root suckers, but produce only a handful per year (sometimes 10-20). These root suckers are small and would suffer transplant shock the first season and also if shipped bare-root. Apples can be dug and shipped bare root without issue.
The best solution would be tissue culturing for rootstock, but thus far itās proved nearly impossible.
Pawpaws grow just fine without any special rootstock. If you want them dwarfed, just prune very heavily.
Interstem grafting with KSU Chappell (extremely vigorous) could in theory super-charge the top growth, but has yet to be displayed.
If you were going to experiment interstemming with Chappell would you graft Chappell one year and then the preferred variety to that the following year or just do the 2 grafts on top of eachother at the same time? I thought about trying that with a particular unreleased slow grower named after an alcoholic tropical drink. ![]()
Also, does anyone know of anyone that will have 7-1 scion?
I tried the Chappell interstem on a couple rootstocks and it mostly grew out then fizzled out over the summer. The rootstocks though were just bought (cheap $2 rootstocks), and not very established/strong yet (iād say 50% of my overall grafts on those rootstocks were successful in the end).
I bet now that rootstocks more established, might provide that extra oomph to get the 2nd scion more energy to grow. Im going to try it again this year.
Yeah I could see how it may be difficult to callous two grafts on top of each other if the rootstocks werenāt established yet. I wonder if a bud graft on the interstem and a w&t on the rootstock would potentially take better?
A little fyi
As of this post Red Fern still has a few sticks of Plymouth left. This was his description of it to meā¦
I have a variety that fruited for me for the first time this year, that came from Plymouth, MN, a NW suburb of Minneapolis. The fruit ripened very early, as expected. The abundant fruit was very large and very similar to Susquehanna in appearance and quality. I am tentatively calling this one āPlymouth.ā
If I wanted to try to attend an event to sample the widest variety of pawpaw cultivars this year, which one would it be? Ohio?
I find that ā like with apples, at least for me ā there are some cultivars I love, and some I would really rather not eat (which is fine; I can also give to a friend). If Iām lucky with my fall planting, I should be able to graft 5-6 known-that-I-like-them cultivars this year. But looking beyond.
Does anyone have a cross-pollination chart? As I plan out my two small plantings (one in NH, one near Boston), I want to make sure that Iāve selected varieties that overlap enough on pollination windows to be able to eventually fruit. Or is this not as much of a deal as solving other things about pollination?
I think theyāre all pretty close. I believe Woody Walker has said KY Champion is on the early side, but I canāt confirm that. I know all of mine that have flowered tend to bloom around the same time.
I was surprised how fast things went, I didnāt really need anything but I checked about an hour after the email went out and it was 80% sold out already. I wonder if someone didnāt make a huge order for scalping, the price is relatively low and they have no max order amount.
He pretty much sells out within an hour on most of the desirable cultivars every season. I think he had like 150 Canopus when I purchased, but most of the others were a few dozen or much less.
They always had what I wanted in stock in the past and I wasnāt standing by the keyboard for the release. I was ordering several years ago though, it sounds like theyāve gotten more popular.
Woody was telling me over email that Champion requires Overleese, or (second best) summerās delight or nc-1 to pollinate. He didnāt answer my question of whether Titan, which he describes as quite early too, would work. I still donāt have anything with blooms (and wonāt for some time) so just curious.
The Overlies pollinator is suitable for the Kentucky Champion variety.
Itās a pure guess but Caspian, Halvin and Quaker Delight should work better than Overleeseā¦
I did grab this one, thanks for headsup. My friend wants to try pawpaws in zone 5b. so I thought maybe this could be a good one to add for him.
My list of zone 5b pawpaws (early ripeners) I will graft and give to him (already grafted some last year, but will do more this year):
VE-21
Summer Delight
Halvin
Halvin Sidewinder (people say its different than above)
Allegheny
Kentucky Champion (think i read its early, needs Overleese as pollinator⦠is Overleese also an early-ripener? or just an early-flowerer?)
Mariaās Joy
NC-1 (maybe conflicting info, thought i read some people say its late and some early⦠for now lets put it off the list)
Nyomiās Delicious
Shenandoah
Tallahatchie
Taytwo
Taylor
Quaker Delight
Pennsylvania Golden 2/3
Plymouth
EDIT: maybe Prima 1216, based on Timothy Laneās info that it ripens early for him.
maybe mid-late ripeners⦠KSU Benson (maybe Atwood?)?
It might be nice to split it up that list more officially into early-ripeners and mid-late ripeners (well mid-late for that 5b zone but still will work out and ripen in October pretend⦠but maybe its still considered early for people like Cliff with longer summers). My list doesnāt really specify that.
PS Let me know if you donāt think if a particular variety should be on this list (or if any new ones should be added).
That looks pretty reasonable. Yeah I think NC-1 tends to be mid to late for most growers even though itās growing in Ontario. Of course southern Ontario is further south than much of MI and NY too. I think Shenandoah is more mid or at least spreads out its ripening season a little more? I havenāt heard much about the older varieties like Taytwo, QD, or Taylor.
I think straight up 2-10 is supposed to be really early. Cliff has it, but Iām not sure if he would sell any. If you can get ahold of any let me know. Iāll pay you double for what you pay. ![]()
And Charles West has all PA Goldens 1-4 if youāre interested in the other ones. I think only 2 or 3 is considered good.