Growing pawpaw in Southern California

[palingkecil]

This year the papaw went dormant on February. We have a weird dormancy cycle here. My annonas usually go dormant on April/ May, so they actually will hold their fruit to maturity during winter. One time we had a really mild winter and the annonas did not defoliate at all for the whole year.
Wabash is supposed to be a mid season harvest one, maybe I will buy an Allegheny since it us an early season one that grow well here. But KSU Chappel is tempting because it is a super vigorous grower and reported very prolific.

[shaneatwell]

Would like to add an observation here. I have 5 seedlings growing in a wet spot pauma valley, east san diego county. Under a cluster of willow trees. They look happy enough but are very slow growing. The oldest was planted too close to the seasonal puddle. Still it does not seem to mind being submerged and was underwater 2 months the last two years and still started leafing out while underwater.

[ScottR]

I've been growing paw paw's for about 20 yrs. I have Sunflower,Mango,Rebecca's Gold,Susquehanna,Allegheny and selected seedlings from Kentucky State U. I have not noticed any effects of lower chill on my Paw Paw's they grow and fruit with a little help (hand pollenate) maybe one day and get good set. My Peterson varieties one Allegheny will have fruit this year for first time.I've had those varieties only 3-5years. We get maybe 250hrs. of chill a year.Since it takes two different varieties to get fruit (except Sunflower) I have a tree with multi-trunks in same area which makes it easyer to hand pollenate, they sucker up new growth trunks all the time=paw paw patch.

Hi Scott, which variety is your favorite? I am thinking of adding one more variety to get more fruit. I had a Susquehanna before, but died after I failed to water my trees for a month, and my Wabash survived.
There are rare varieties out there, but I am not sure if they will survive the heat in my yard. My Susquehanna was under the shade almost all day, when my Wabash gets 6-8 hours full sun. So Wabash has a really high dry and heat tolerance.
Another thing, if the pawpaw is flowering now, will the fruit get ripe properly over winter? Because my starfruit and banana always flower in August, and I never get any properly ripen fruit from those 2.
Starfruit can be force to flower earlier by pinching it's branches (half break them), can you force pawpaw to flower earlier?

I like witch ever variety is ripe when time to eat, but really I think Neal Peterson varieties all named after rivers back east are excellent. They grow naturally by rivers and stream so, like water.

[K-Rimes]

This year the papaw went dormant on February. We have a weird dormancy cycle here. My annonas usually go dormant on April/ May, so they actually will hold their fruit to maturity during winter. One time we had a really mild winter and the annonas did not defoliate at all for the whole year.
Wabash is supposed to be a mid season harvest one, maybe I will buy an Allegheny since it us an early season one that grow well here. But KSU Chappel is tempting because it is a super vigorous grower and reported very prolific.

That is wild to hear. Maybe you'll do ok then! I have enough chill hours here so my pawpaws always drop their leaves at normal Fall times. Mine are looking like trash right now, I think they're really sensitive to my well water and struggle as the salts build up.

[MarktLee]

I just found 2 fruit on the ground down here in southern San Diego. This was a different season than previous years. We didn't have as many chill hours as the previous years. We didn't have as much flower set and not all varieties flowered at the same time. Also the fruit that set are about half the size as last year, and half the number of fruit set. It looks like I only have fruit from my "Taylor" , "Sunflower" and "Sweet Alice" set fruit. The "Mango", Wabash", "Shenandoah" and "Susquehanna" are still young grafts. Although the first spring I grafted a "Sunflower" it was low on the rootstock and it produced a nice cluster that fall, very strange.

[MarktLee]

First ripe fruit of "Sweet Alice" this season, really small this year, fruit are soft and delicious though. Grown 3 miles inland in San Diego, less than 100 chill hours.

[palingkecil]

I just found 2 fruit on the ground down here in southern San Diego. This was a different season than previous years. We didn't have as many chill hours as the previous years. We didn't have as much flower set and not all varieties flowered at the same time. Also the fruit that set are about half the size as last year, and half the number of fruit set. It looks like I only have fruit from my "Taylor" , "Sunflower" and "Sweet Alice" set fruit. The "Mango", Wabash", "Shenandoah" and "Susquehanna" are still young grafts. Although the first spring I grafted a "Sunflower" it was low on the rootstock and it produced a nice cluster that fall, very strange.

Did you hand pollinate and cross pollinate them, Mark?

[MarktLee]

I just found 2 fruit on the ground down here in southern San Diego. This was a different season than previous years. We didn't have as many chill hours as the previous years. We didn't have as much flower set and not all varieties flowered at the same time. Also the fruit that set are about half the size as last year, and half the number of fruit set. It looks like I only have fruit from my "Taylor" , "Sunflower" and "Sweet Alice" set fruit. The "Mango", Wabash", "Shenandoah" and "Susquehanna" are still young grafts. Although the first spring I grafted a "Sunflower" it was low on the rootstock and it produced a nice cluster that fall, very strange.

Did you hand pollinate and cross pollinate them, Mark?

Hi Yes, I hand pollinated them but didn't keep track of which ones that were natural and hand pollinated.

[palingkecil]

Has anyone grown KSU Chappell and Allegheny in full sun where it is hot? I am placing an order for those varieties. After a long search, there is no article mentioning how hot hardy these 2 varieties are.
I have no doubt that they can flower and fruit here, the Wabash has over 1 dozen flowers now. The only doubt is whether to plant them in the shade or full sun to survive.
My Susquehana was in 60% shade but still was very troublesome to grow, when the Wabash is thriving in full sun.
My yard can get super hot with the record 117 degrees this year, but I water my pawpaw very often.
Should I plant the KSU Chapell and Allegheny in full sun or in the shade?

[K-Rimes]

Mine are in full morning sun from around 8am-1pm, and they seem hot and bothered, especially by my hard water. Maybe they'll turn the corner one year and finally right all year long, but not so far. I am hotter and drier than you, and I wish I had planted them in full shade here. It is rare to find a plant that can succeed with shade, so I'm happy to have something like paw paw that will do ok with it.

[palingkecil]

Mine are in full morning sun from around 8am-1pm, and they seem hot and bothered, especially by my hard water. Maybe they'll turn the corner one year and finally right all year long, but not so far. I am hotter and drier than you, and I wish I had planted them in full shade here. It is rare to find a plant that can succeed with shade, so I'm happy to have something like paw paw that will do ok with it.

Good to know! I will plan them under the shade then.
have you tried using fish emulsifier on your pawpaw?The first year I grow them I was so on fire that I used fish emulsifier twice a month and deep watering them twice a week, believe me they were growing super fast! They were about 8 inch sticks when I got them from one green world, but they grew to 3 ft in just 1 year. The second year, I neglected them and they were growing super slow. I read that pawpaws love fish decays, I will put some under the soil if we don't have so many racoons at night.

[Bush2Beach]

I saw the commercial planting in San Martin recently that supplies Andy’s Orchard. They are in full sun, 110 degree’s lately and fruiting 100’s of pounds lately.
I have tree’s doing well closer to the coast with zero irrigation , so they seem pretty adaptable all the way around. They just take a few years to catch and really get going.