I think so.
But, I don’t have sufficient evidence to prove it.
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I’ve never visited JH Gordon’s nursery site… but suspect he was outplanting pawpaws in full-sun locations(?). If I were trying to select a particularly productive plant, I wouldn’t stick it in shade where it would NEED large leaves to capture diminished sunlight.
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I dont plant mine in shade regardless of leaf size either. Ive just read that plants do that.
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Today, the last 4 SAA Overleese paw paws fell off my tree (possibly because an impatient gardener kept poking and squeezing them to see if they were ripe yet). They are not quite ripe enough to eat, although they do give slightly when squeezed, so they should ripen OK on the counter. I think the weight of the hand was also a factor in their falling off a little early. Alltogether, the 4 paw paws weighed in at 1016g (aka 2.24lbs).
The largest paw paw in this hand was 361g (aka 0.8lb, or 12.73oz).
The other three paw paws weighed in at 326, 201, and 127 grams each (aka 11.5oz, 7.1oz, and 4.5oz each).
I feel like this was pretty standard for what I saw from this tree over the season. The tree would produce hands of fruit where the largest was between 300-400g, and the smallest was between 100-200g. On average, I’d say the fruit were around 250-300g each. I keep the tree pruned to about 12ish feet tall, and it produced maybe 9 or 10 hands of fruit this year, with the hands ranging between 4 and 6 paw paws. So, approximately 40-50ish fruit off a 12’ tree. This season, the tree started bearing mid-september, and these last fruit fell down on October 12, so approximately one month of fruit off the SAA Overleese. I’d eat one or two per day.
Granted, my sample size is low (the only other paw paws I’ve had were wild ones down by the creek/traintracks about a block away, and the KSU-Atwoods off of my tree that bore for the first time this year), but this SAA-Overleese (grown in full sun) is so far my hands-down favorite paw paw. The tree has been vigorous with minimal care, it has given me no problems, no fungi or diseases or weird fruit, and the fruit has been consistent, large, and delicious. Highly recommend!
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I concur. The SAA Overleese is an excellent marriage of the Overleese vigor, disease resistant hardiness, and shippability , coupled with the “Sweet Alice” uniquely delicious flavor. I have grown the “Sweet Alice” (old cultivar circa 1939) ,for quite a while and I find it’s fruits to be most delicious. Thanks for sharing. The ‘Sweet Alice’ grows well in the deep South. I once tended this variety at the old family homestead along the Suwanne River close to the Georgia/Florida border last century.
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