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nafex - [NAFEX] Pawpaws for PA; temp considerations

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  • From: Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Pawpaws for PA; temp considerations
  • Date: Mon, 2 Jan 2006 10:28:15 -0500

Bassem wrote:
I ordered already for the spring a pawpaw "mango" variety. Does anyone have experience growing this variety? I'm wondering if it will do well in zone 6 pa. Since it was discovered in Tifton, Ga..
The discription sounds promising... however I'm not sure how the flavor is compared to others... and on productivity. I Only have room for 3 pawpaw so I'm gonna plant sunflower, taytoo, and mango. So I'm looking for the best varieties. Thanks  zone6 pa
Bassem, I've tasted Mango compared to some other named varieties, and it did not have an outstanding mango flavor.  I live in East TN with much native pawpaws, and the range of flavors is large, from wonderful to nasty. So there is diversity in flavor, but as Lucky and others have noted, most of the better ones have been selected more on the absence of the bad 'off' flavors than a diversity of pleasing flavors.  Size of fruit and yield also are factors.  Hidden Springs Nursery in TN offers a selection of better pawpaws, which they've tasted and compared.  I suggest you contact them.  Their catalog is at www.catalogs.google.com.  They offer some of the better ones identified by my students here, as well as many others in their catalog.  If you Email or call Hidden Springs, they could discuss the differences.  You may want to think about extending the season, selecting early and late ripening ones, as they do not keep well fresh.  They freeze well; I had pawpaw muffins for breakfast this morning. 
 
You should be fine growing any pawpaw at your location. 
A few of the 18 locations where they are being tested nationwide, such as Corvallis, OR, lack enough summer heat to ripen many pawpaw cultivars.  Since www.petersonpawpaws.com has the only patented pawpaws, it may be more important for you to choose well rooted, well grown rootstocks to ensure survival the first two years.  Then you can graft on multiple, unpatented varieties, as Lucky noted.  Beware that the price you pay may reflect the care that went into growing your rootstock.  Pawpaw is one plant with a bad reputation for not surviving its first year, but nurseries such as Hidden Springs send well rooted plants and instructions to ensure survival.
 
Much more pawpaw info can be found at http://www.pawpaw.kysu.edu/KSUstory.htm and links therein, as well as the Peterson Pawpaw link above.  Lee Reich's book 'Uncommon Fruits' also includes a pawpaw chapter.
 
Richard Moyer
East Tenn, Zone 6, 1800'
 



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