View Full Version : Pawpaw Power!
amantedelenguaje
06-24-2012, 08:37 PM
In April my parents' pawpaw patch was full of blooms and some tiny fruitlets. Unfortunately, by May the little fruitlets had all disappeared, and the flowering ceased. The trees were absolutely beautiful, but without fruit. Today I decided to look one more time, and guess what I found. One, little, lovely fruit swaying in the breeze. Wow! Quick as lightening, I scampered up the tree and wrapped the one remaining fruit in netting. Maybe I'll get to eat a pawpaw after all. If not, perhaps the netting will catch the large seeds so I can plant them.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XATovFQ2jT8/T-eywxgsILI/AAAAAAAABis/DyprKf_7CYg/s320/001%2B%2528640x480%2529.jpghttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-h0NZ-FQj0/T-eyxBdyKGI/AAAAAAAABi4/R8IdXhzAuDE/s320/004%2B%2528640x480%2529.jpg:birthdaynana:
caliboy1994
06-25-2012, 12:48 AM
Of all the things we can get fruit from in Southern California, this isn't one of them :ha:
I have never known what pawpaw's were. Still don't... :waving:
Iunepeace
06-25-2012, 05:40 PM
lol I concur Yug. I haven't ever even seen those trees here. What we know as pawpaw is what everyone else called papaya.
Carica papaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carica_papaya)
sunfish
06-25-2012, 05:50 PM
Of all the things we can get fruit from in Southern California, this isn't one of them :ha:
Sure you can
PAWPAW Fruit Facts (http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html)
caliboy1994
06-25-2012, 06:35 PM
We don't have nearly enough chill hours where I live for it to fruit successfully. When I move up to the San Jose area for college though I might give it a try :)
sunfish
06-25-2012, 07:16 PM
Julian achieves 1200 chill hours
Iunepeace
06-25-2012, 09:36 PM
*cough* Chill hours?? I thought that pawpaw, the one you guys are talking about, was a tropical. Not so? :(
sunfish
06-25-2012, 09:43 PM
PAWPAW Fruit Facts (http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/pawpaw.html)
sharont
06-25-2012, 09:59 PM
Hi
what is the name of this Paw Paw? I have a few growing and the leaves are very different. Will try to send photo. SharonT
Illia
06-25-2012, 11:03 PM
I'm in a Banana forum of tropical fruit growers and noone knows what Paw Paws are? Man I'm up north.
Paw Paws are basically the only fruit in the Custard Apple family (Cherimoyas, Soursops, etc) that is cold hardy, and I mean, cold hardy. It is native to the states, still has delicious fruit like the others, but less "fruit salad" in flavor and more "vanilla" with, depending on variety, a hint of pineapple or mango.
Paw Paws actually do not require as many chill hours as some say. You can grow them in California, just now S. California. Their most ideal situation is a place that does frost, but still gets hot long summers.
I'm just starting to grow a few Paw Paws, as they're one of the very few tropical tasting things I can grow without overwintering/greenhouses, but even for me, my summers are too cool and my choices on varieties to try are slim. It's worth it though. The only true downside is that they're slow growers, and because of their sensitive taproot, you can only safely get tiny babies shipped to you, so, it takes several years to wait for fruit.
To the OP - Congrats on the one, really hope it makes it for you!
ETA - PawPaw in Australia is what we Americans call Papaya. That's why the leaves are different. Completely unrelated plants.
Brian
06-26-2012, 01:23 AM
They grow in the SF Bay Area and Central Valley of CA if you provide shade when they are young. There's also one that tastes like Cherimoya I've heard.
I bet there are localities in Southern California where you can grow them. I mean you can do Apples, Pears,, etc.
Iunepeace
06-26-2012, 07:21 AM
I'm in a Banana forum of tropical fruit growers and noone knows what Paw Paws are?
Part of the issue, at least for me, is that there's a truly tropical fruit that's also called Pawpaw :D
amantedelenguaje
06-26-2012, 07:47 AM
Other names for the pawpaw that is indigenous to the eastern U.S. are asimina triloba, "wild banana, prairie banana, Indiana banana, Hoosier banana, West Virginia banana, Kansas banana, Kentucky banana, Michigan banana, Missouri banana, the poor man’s banana, Ozark banana, and banango."
--Wikipedia
Iunepeace
06-26-2012, 08:27 AM
lol apparently it tastes like a banana? From what I saw on Wikipedia it looks sort of like a green mango.
Illia
06-26-2012, 10:18 AM
I think the "banana taste" is as true as the Ice Cream banana tasting like banana-vanilla icecream. Most people agree it is more a straight up vanilla custard taste with hints of other tropical fruits than banana.
raygrogan
06-26-2012, 01:45 PM
Good luck when picking time comes - end of summer, early fall. It will ripen best on the tree. They are usually picked individually when they have a little "give".
Taste of pawpaws ... I find about half the people I give them to like the taste. About a fourth love them, and the last fourth think it is a weird taste. If you like tropical fruits you will probably at least like them.
They grow very well in Arkansas and Iowa.
Here are a few homemade pictures and links: Picking wild pawpaws in the Ozarks (http://pondermostly.tripod.com/id7.html)
TalyMon
06-26-2012, 03:23 PM
Funny to come across this post I have just ordered a bunch of 2' - 3' Paw Paw. Living in an area where they can grow native I had never heard of them. Started research on them while reading about the Hatfield & Macoys' where paw paw is made mention and I wondering what sort tree this was I never heard of, then found out it bears fruit, hmmm. Can't wait to try although I am going to be waiting a few years or will have to start scouring the farmers markets.
Jsherman603
06-26-2012, 03:32 PM
Paw paw fruit taste like a tropical custard of some sort with a taste of banana mixed in.
amantedelenguaje
06-26-2012, 04:15 PM
Funny to come across this post I have just ordered a bunch of 2' - 3' Paw Paw. Living in an area where they can grow native I had never heard of them. Started research on them while reading about the Hatfield & Macoys' where paw paw is made mention and I wondering what sort tree this was I never heard of, then found out it bears fruit, hmmm. Can't wait to try although I am going to be waiting a few years or will have to start scouring the farmers markets.
Good luck with your pawpaws. I never knew what a pawpaw was, but had heard of them via a childhood song. Like you, I did some research only to discover they are native here to NC. The irony of it all is that after researching, I was able to identify the clump of trees in my parents' back yard as pawpaws. They'e been there for a while. We just didn't know what they were. I have never seen them with any sizeable fruit. I don't know if I need another variety for cross pollination, or perhaps the late frost is killing the fruit, or maybe the wild critters are getting to the fruit. Regardless, I am so happy to see that one little pawpaw. It gives me hope for future crops.
Like you, I ordered several pawpaws online. Right after budbreakhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/--c_Dfz6wvpA/T9-aiAlNGUI/AAAAAAAABgQ/eRv8s4ECbZM/s320/014%2B%2528640x480%2529.jpg, I dug up six 3'-4' sprouts from my parents' place and planted them in my yard. I had a 100% survival rate of my transplants, which is remarkable according to my research. I didn't disturb the dirt around the root zone. That probably helped.
Brian
06-26-2012, 06:07 PM
Clumps of Paw Paws can be the same tree genetically because they send up suckers.
A lot of them do need cross pollination if I remember. You might want to do the Cherimoya trick and try some assisted pollination because I heard that in some places low fruit set can be because of pollination. I heard of people trying to put meat on or under the tree to attract flys . . .
barnetmill
06-28-2012, 07:48 AM
They extend down to at northern florida in their range. Fruit is not so suitable for shipping. There is some work in trying to make paw paws suitable for commercial purposes.
From just Fruits and Exotics webpage.
... are an understory tree in nature. ...., choose a slightly shady spot or plan to artificially shade your tree for the first 2 years. ..y prefer a moist, well-drained soil with good organic content....amend the planting area well with peat or leaf mold and mulch heavily..... prefer well-drained soils and part to full sun.
Pawpaw Pollination
.... favorite pollinator is the green bottle fly. ...to attract this shy creature. One noteworthy method is to place rotten hamburger....s around the tree for a few weeks before bloom to build up the fly colony. W.... you need two pawpaw trees to tango).
Brian
06-28-2012, 01:47 PM
Oh, also remember there's no reason you can't have one tree and just graft a pollinator branch or a few varieties on. Just don't do it in winter like stone fruit/pome fruit. Wait until the "rootstock" tree wakes up.
barnetmill
07-01-2012, 10:11 AM
Oh, also remember there's no reason you can't have one tree and just graft a pollinator branch or a few varieties on. Just don't do it in winter like stone fruit/pome fruit. Wait until the "rootstock" tree wakes up.
That may be my problem with grafting onto wild persimmons and poor success. Perhaps I needed to wait a little longer. My property has at least 20 wild persimmons and my grafting success has been very low.
Brian
07-01-2012, 06:41 PM
So I have never actually had a Persimmon graft take while the tree was dormant. (At least ones I've done, but I often use inferior knifes, etc.) Well the one case I did get take the tree sent out buds the week I did the graft. I suspect that unlike rose member families the Persimmons/relatives and the Annona/Pawpaws families actually do shut down more when they go dormant. i.e. they don't heal the graft/wound while dormant the same way apples, apricots, etc. do.
I don't know this, but I suspect it based on what I've seen here in NorCal.
I bet if you graft after the rootstock shows signs of waking up you'll have much better results.
I am not the most experienced grafter though so take what I say with a grain of salt.
barnetmill
07-02-2012, 02:24 PM
So I have never actually had a Persimmon graft take while the tree was dormant. (At least ones I've done, but I often use inferior knifes, etc.) Well the one case I did get take the tree sent out buds the week I did the graft. I suspect that unlike rose member families the Persimmons/relatives and the Annona/Pawpaws families actually do shut down more when they go dormant. i.e. they don't heal the graft/wound while dormant the same way apples, apricots, etc. do.
I don't know this, but I suspect it based on what I've seen here in NorCal.
I bet if you graft after the rootstock shows signs of waking up you'll have much better results.
I am not the most experienced grafter though so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Sounds like sound counsel that i will follow unless I read differently.
Thanks
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2020, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.