Author Topic: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread  (Read 8428 times)

Triloba Tracker

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2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« on: February 27, 2017, 12:38:31 PM »
With the early warm weather in many areas, it seems like we're ready to start the pawpaw watch this year!

I was out visiting a tree yesterday in the Nashville area, and it already had flowers starting to emerge on some buds. Petals still green and tightly closed, but they had begun emerging from the fuzzy brown buds for sure.

We had a low of 28-29 F on Sunday morning, so not sure how they will be affected. Lows over the next 15 days are all above freezing except for one day that's currently predicted at 32F.

We had a mild winter last year too, and bumper crops of wild fruit in my area. Hoping for the same again, and fingers crossed for no late frosts.

Anyone else have updates yet?

TriangleJohn

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2017, 01:18:24 PM »
My yard trees' flowers are starting to open up. Out of three mature trees, only two are heavily covered with buds/flowers. The middle tree has only a few. A wild one I have up by the house also has only a few. Mild weather here in Raleigh NC. At this point they only predict low's of 28 this coming weekend and again next weekend. I will be too busy covering everybody else so the pawpaws will just have to snuggle up to keep warm.

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2017, 10:24:38 AM »
It appears the 2 nights in the 20's a couple of weeks ago have not really impacted the pawpaws here.

On Sunday I was checking on the same tree I mentioned earlier and it seemed fine...several flowers in receptive stages. I did not notice any pollinators, but I didn't have much time. I know last year the trees around here were just buzzing with lady bugs and flies, and we had a really good crop of wild fruit. The previous year i didn't notice much pollinator activity and the crop was low.


Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2017, 10:15:27 PM »
Was out last weekend and trees are starting to leaf out and flowers are mostly winding down.
I do think some early flowers may've been zapped by the cold weather a couple weeks ago.


At this point it's pretty much a waiting game until July or so. I've seen a lot of fruit drop in May/June before. So even early "fruitlets " are not necessarily indicative of much.

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #4 on: May 08, 2017, 08:10:45 AM »
I'm afraid it's not going to be a good year for wild pawpaws in Middle Tennessee.

I was out in the woods yesterday, and there were hardly any "fruitlets" to be seen.

Instead what I saw were a lot of flowers that looked freeze-dried - dark and shriveled. I'm afraid the very warm February followed by 2 nights of hard freeze temps may have done-in the crop this year.

On the interior of the forest, the more shaded trees had a couple of baby fruits. The trees on the edge had been coaxed by the sunlight into flowering sooner and thus were more impacted by the freeze, presumably.

There were some healthy-looking flowers still in bloom in a few places. Maybe these will produce some fruit.

On a positive note, I made 7 cleft grafts of PA Golden, Overleese, Wells, and Taytwo out in the wild patch. Not very experienced with this, so we'll see how it goes...

Delvi83

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2017, 03:12:05 AM »
In the Wild do Paw Paw trees reproduce by suckers? Somewhere i read that few trees can make a little bush sharing the same roots..is it true?

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #6 on: July 17, 2017, 11:12:11 AM »
In the Wild do Paw Paw trees reproduce by suckers? Somewhere i read that few trees can make a little bush sharing the same roots..is it true?

Absolutely. They definitely produce suckers in the wild, though I have never seen a pawpaw "bush." The suckers look just like seedlings and will come up a few feet away from the main plant. They do not come from the base of the parent tree. So basically you get what we call a "patch" - a bunch of small trees in a small (or large) area.

Here's a picture of a forest with several pawpaws growing in the understory:


They will also sucker in a home or orchard setting, but if they are in full sun I believe it dramatically slows the suckering.

« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 11:20:04 AM by Triloba Tracker »

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2017, 11:23:40 AM »
Maybe the wild fruits here won't be as sparse as I had feared. There are several fruits out there but still not as many as last year.

I ended up with 7 total grafts in the wild, and it looks like 5 of them have made it (this far, at least).
Here are a few:







nattyfroootz

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #8 on: July 24, 2017, 12:47:03 PM »
What's the reason for grafting? Do you not have trees on your own property? From a conservation stand point I can't help but feel like this is a threat to the genetic diversity of the PawPaws in that area. Most might not see this as an issue but it's important to preserve the genetics of wild populations as they are.
Grow cooler fruits

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D-Grower

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #9 on: July 25, 2017, 10:37:10 AM »
The wild pawpaws here in west central FL have already flowered and fruited. Not sure what kind they are but are short 2-3' tall bushes.
Trying to grow it all!

D-Grower

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2017, 10:43:51 AM »
I would be very much into growing these on my new homestead in zone 8a near Panama City, FL. I know there are wild types around but I hear the taproots are far to large to dig even a small one out. Will collect seeds of them and relocate a few to my land over time but would love a large type that makes big quality fruits. Would pay, trade, cover shipping on some seeds or preferably rooted air layers or smaller plants. Been waiting years to try one of these! Finally found one with fruit in the wild recently but they weren't ripe and when I returned to check they had disappeared...
Trying to grow it all!

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #11 on: July 26, 2017, 12:46:41 PM »
What's the reason for grafting? Do you not have trees on your own property? From a conservation stand point I can't help but feel like this is a threat to the genetic diversity of the PawPaws in that area. Most might not see this as an issue but it's important to preserve the genetics of wild populations as they are.

I see what you're saying.
You're correct - i don't yet have trees of my own. (see Asiminaholics Anonymous thread.)
But I also want to introduce different genotypes to these wild patches in order to aid in pollination. This will also allow the general public (those in the know) to enjoy some high-quality fruit one day, I hope.

I do agree that it would be a shame to replace ALL the wild stock. This patch I am working in is quite large...100 trees or more, I'd say.

I am certainly not the first or only person to do such guerilla grafting - there are some who've gotten grants to work on improving wild pawpaw patches.

nattyfroootz

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #12 on: July 26, 2017, 02:25:34 PM »
Awesome, definitely seems like an interesting project.
Will definitely be interesting to see what comes out of that patch one day. Have you gotten lots of fruits from this area in the past? 
I definitely hope to get eastward and check out some PawPaws.

Grow cooler fruits

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Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #13 on: July 26, 2017, 02:42:36 PM »
Awesome, definitely seems like an interesting project.
Will definitely be interesting to see what comes out of that patch one day. Have you gotten lots of fruits from this area in the past? 
I definitely hope to get eastward and check out some PawPaws.

Definitely hope you can get to a pawpaw patch someday to experience it. to me, it's a magical thing.

Yes, this area last year had quite a few fruits, including a few really large fruits for wild trees. Sadly, not many of the fruits were all that good. A lot of resinous flavor and often watery texture.
In order to keep the animals from getting them, I have probably picked many too soon. If so, that would definitely affect the flavor.

This year the crop seems to be less, but at least there's something.

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #14 on: August 02, 2017, 09:08:51 AM »
Was on a hike to a known pawpaw spot over the weekend and had to share these photos.

One of the pawpaws is growing completely horizontally across a creek, stretching for the sun it seems:







Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2017, 05:12:44 PM »
Thinking the pawpaws will be a bit later this year compared to last year, where one particular tree I visited was dropping fruits the first week of August.

Overall it's been quite a mild summer here in Middle Tennessee. Lately we have had lows near 60 a few nights, and this weekend we're actually dipping to 57!!

I was out in the woods yesterday, and the fruits just seem stalled. Still small and, of course, hard as rocks.

Nothing scientific, just a hunch. We'll see...

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2017, 11:54:13 AM »
The first fruits of 2017 are in!

Big haul of fruits from some trees in an urban city park in my area.

One tree is big and quite old, of unknown origin.
There are several other trees that were planted a couple years ago that are random seedlings. One of these trees in particular had some really big fruits.
The 2 biggest I got were 255 and 223 grams.
Unfortunately, most of the really big ones were not ready when I was there on 8/12.

So far the quality is pretty good!










« Last Edit: August 14, 2017, 12:11:38 PM by Triloba Tracker »

Luisport

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2017, 02:26:43 PM »
WOW! Congratulations my friend. I never eat any paw paw but i will try to buy some from north EU countries. By the way if there are any friend from EU that can send some paw paws to me i'm interested to buy some fruit.  :P

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #18 on: August 15, 2017, 04:12:37 PM »
WOW! Congratulations my friend. I never eat any paw paw but i will try to buy some from north EU countries. By the way if there are any friend from EU that can send some paw paws to me i'm interested to buy some fruit.  :P

Thanks! I've enjoyed several of the fruits already just on their own. One group of fruit has a really firm texture like avocado or mango, which is a trait of high-quality cultivars. I'm sure this tree is a seedling of a named variety based on where it came from.

And I'm also in the process of making the year's first pawpaw ice cream.

Solko

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2017, 12:01:00 PM »
Congratulations, they look like quality fruit.

I'm hoping to finally get a first taste of Pawpaw this year. I'll be going to a local Pawpaw festival in the east of the Netherlands in mid October. Still two months away, but I'll post pics when I get there.

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #20 on: August 16, 2017, 02:12:37 PM »
Nice find Triloba Tracker! You got your hands on some good sized fruit! I've been collecting fruit from my trees this past week too. I need to forage around in the nearby woods to get my hands on some more fruit. Pawpaws are great eating!

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2017, 05:20:38 PM »
Congratulations, they look like quality fruit.

I'm hoping to finally get a first taste of Pawpaw this year. I'll be going to a local Pawpaw festival in the east of the Netherlands in mid October. Still two months away, but I'll post pics when I get there.
thanks! Sounds exciting for you. Hope you have a great time. I'm planning on attending a festival too next month. Looking forward to it.

Nice find Triloba Tracker! You got your hands on some good sized fruit! I've been collecting fruit from my trees this past week too. I need to forage around in the nearby woods to get my hands on some more fruit. Pawpaws are great eating!
Thank you! yes, very pleased with my find. going back Friday and hope to snag some more.
Which varieties are you eating from your trees so far? Has the Atwood come in?

I have never enjoyed pawpaws as much as these. I think before I was picking too soon and also eating too soon. I really prefer them just on the verge of "over ripe" when the caramel flavors start to develop.
Of course these trees are not exactly "wild"....sort of semi-wild. True woods pawpaws not coming in yet but excited to compare.

Triloba Tracker

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #22 on: August 24, 2017, 12:15:11 PM »
First fruit from local woods on 8/20.
Cut into one last night...........it was awful! LOL
Bitter and gamey....texture on the watery side. Spat it out and threw the rest away.
This was a good sized fruit and decent fleshiness, so it was disappointing.

Maybe others will be better - there are still several fruits on the trees.

Triphal

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #23 on: September 16, 2017, 07:37:46 AM »
Our 3 planted trees already yielded over 200 fruits this year. There are 200 more to ripen and fall. Just picked about 25 fallen fruits in the morning. Please note that I have pruned the tree with fruits in late spring.Fruits are of good quality orange colored and sweet.
Triphal

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Re: 2017 Wild Pawpaw Watch Thread
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2017, 03:47:54 PM »
I have harvested over five hundred (500) pawpaws so far out of my three (3) trees.  Unfortunately I am unable to send it to other than the email addresses through my PC, Galaxy tablet and iphone! I wish some TFF member would be able to publish them on the TFF. If interested send me a pm. Triphal