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- From: "Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>
- To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Transplanting paw paws in midsummer
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:29:11 -0600
Jerry, thanks for telling something about the
fate of those seedlings. I remember coming back in the room and there
was nothing left but the empty pots and some dirt and some great big June bug
grubs crawling around the table. I can't imagine what the kitchen staff
thought. I so seldom hear what happens to plants after they leave my
hands. Those pawpaw seedlings were actually sprouted in those 3
gallon pots. We'd pitched the seeds in from a nearby bumper
crop, there were so many they were growing on top of each
other.
The reason I believed
the transplanting in midsummer story was a good idea is because of pawpaw's
membership in an otherwise tropical family. I've often dug up a few
peppers to try to keep them going into the autumn. Peppers are true
tropicals, they shut down below 45 F. They never recover from the
move if I wait till the weather is already chilly. Only if I move them in
August do they do well.
Another possibly useful peice of
info is the scenario behind that huge bumper crop. This pawpaw patch
surrounds a big sinkhole with a dangerous cave at the bottom. The property
owner actually doesn't want people there because it drops straight down about 50
ft inside the entrance. People have been badly hurt there. And no,
we haven't looked. Don't like the dogs even sniffing over near it.
The patch has a few things that most local patches don't have. First of
all they have sunshine. Mostly we find pawpaws in the woods. Despite
the larger trees overhead, the sinkhole is surrounded by cow pasture, and the
sun can shine on the pawpaws at least from the side, if not from the top for
every tree. Second, it obviously is not a single clone. Seems like
one side of the patch matures before the other, and the later clone is a bit
better. Though the fruit are small and seedy, it has the best texture of
any pawpaw I have encountered. More like a banana rather than like
pudding. Third, I am convinced that warm air rises out of the cave when we
have late frosts. Fourth, though this patch seems to produce some fruit
every year, the year we picked that huge crop there were cow bones near the edge
of the sink. We'd taken some home for the dog, but when we noticed the
fibrous mass from the rumen still there we realized that the animal had probably
died in the winter or spring, bringing a great crop of flies for
pollination. Donna
|
-
[NAFEX] Transplanting paw paws in midsummer,
Alan Haigh, 12/17/2008
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
-
Re: [NAFEX] Transplanting paw paws in midsummer,
Jwlehman, 12/17/2008
- Re: [NAFEX] Transplanting paw paws in midsummer, Lucky Pittman, 12/17/2008
- Re: [NAFEX] Transplanting paw paws in midsummer, Donna &/or Kieran, 12/17/2008
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