Paw-Paw ? Who knew ?

[Darold Petty]

I'm a 5th generation Californian, I never heard about this fruit.  I thought 'paw-paw' was Appalachian slang for one's grandfather.  Please share your comments ! 

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220425-the-revival-of-a-forgotten-american-fruit

[Chester B]

19 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

I'm a 5th generation Californian, I never heard about this fruit.  I thought 'paw-paw' was Appalachian slang for one's grandfather.  Please share your comments ! 

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220425-the-revival-of-a-forgotten-american-fruit

I've had them for years, a great tree all around.  They are a very popular fruit tree especially with the "Permie" crowd.  One nursery by me carries 25 varieties.  Our dry summers on the west coast don't suit them very well so I have to give some supplemental watering.  In the east they are a set and forget type of tree.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Chester B

[DAVEinMB]

21 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

I'm a 5th generation Californian, I never heard about this fruit.  I thought 'paw-paw' was Appalachian slang for one's grandfather.  Please share your comments ! 

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220425-the-revival-of-a-forgotten-american-fruit

This boggles my mind

 

[Xerarch]

I went to the paw paw festival in Ohio a handful of years ago, pretty cool fruit.  I would consider planting some here in S Texas but I'm not sure the winter chill is sufficient or where to acquire a suitable variety if there is one.

*Side note, I find it strange that here in the USA we are familiar with all kinds of fruit originating from all parts of the world (apples, bananas, citrus, etc. etc.) but we (in large part) don't know a thing about our native paw paw which is an amazing fruit.  We do the same thing with animals, our children can name all kinds of exotic animals from Africa or Asia but fail to recognize native species.  I've seen a father here spot a Roseate Spoonbill in a local marsh and say to his children "Look! a Flamingo!" Meanwhile the kids at my daughters middle school pointed out to her the field full of crows, only problem is there are no crows here, they were all great-tailed grackles, luckily my daughter knows the difference.  Side note complete, thank you 

[teddytn]

There’s one little roadside nursery here that offers them, every time I remember to stop by they were sold out. They’ve been on my list to get for a few years. Exactly right though, they get overlooked because you can walk in the woods and find them. One of the few fruit trees that needs some shade to grow their best. The fruit themselves have to be eaten immediately after cutting into, have about 1/4 of the open air shelf life as an avocado.

[Butch]

Living in So. Cal.... I have heard of them, but never tasted one.. I would really like to..

Butch

[ShadyDan]

They are native to where I grew up in Southern Ontario (little town called Grimsby right in the "Carolinian Forest" belt). I didn't know any better when I was young, but I remember seeing them in the wild by my house all the time. Now every time I visit I'm either outside fruiting season or some animal (or person) has always beat me to the wild fruiting trees. My parents planted some grafted varieties at their place in 2019 and they grew like weeds, reaching 8 feet tall and fruiting for the first time last year (delicious so I'm told). They love the thick clay soil and hot, humid summers in that part of the world.

I have a few at my place and they grow like snails in comparison. The dry, cooler summers are not ideal, even though they are perfectly cold hardy. That damn heat dome last summer also scorched the leaves, setting them back.  Too much heat without the humidity (especially when young) is bad for them. They are naturally understory trees, so they should spend their first few years in the shade before they begin fruiting, then they can take full sun.

There is a guy down the street from me that has 10 fruiting trees or something like that. He has them planted in a depression in his yard that floods during heavy rain, seems they really like it wet. They do reliably produce fruit for him, so fruiting is possible even in cooler areas like in the PNW. I just need to make sure I water mine this summer to get them going faster!

[Silas_Sancona]

When still back in San Jose, shortly before moving to FL. Someone i worked with att was growing and fruiting Paw Paw in his yard ( in the general South Bay ..can't remember exactly what side of town he lived, ..Maybe Sunnyvale ) Anyway, passed along seed to me, but completely forgot to plant them after the move ( Seed supposedly has a very short shelf- life ). From what i was told, his plants produced good fruit.  Not sure i'd be a fan of it, but do like the flowers / tropical look of the leaves.

[amh]

Fairly easy to grow tree, but they need lots of humus to shine. I have 8 in the ground right now with 10 more in pots, but I'll have to add some cultivated plants in the near future. I am also growing Asimina parviflora and Asimina obovata.

[amh]

1 minute ago, Silas_Sancona said:

When still back in San Jose, shortly before moving to FL. Someone i worked with att was growing and fruiting Paw Paw in his yard ( in the general South Bay ..can't remember exactly what side of town he lived, ..Maybe Sunnyvale ) Anyway, passed along seed to me, but completely forgot to plant them after the move ( Seed supposedly has a very short shelf- life ). From what i was told, his plants produced good fruit.  Not sure i'd be a fan of it, but do like the flowers / tropical look of the leaves.

The seeds have a very short shelf life when dry, which is normal for Annonaceae.

[teddytn]

54 minutes ago, amh said:

Fairly easy to grow tree, but they need lots of humus to shine. I have 8 in the ground right now with 10 more in pots, but I'll have to add some cultivated plants in the near future. I am also growing Asimina parviflora and Asimina obovata.

Damn I’m slacking…..

[amh]

30 minutes ago, teddytn said:

Damn I’m slacking…..

Buy some trees and seed this fall. The fresh seeds will have 90+ percent germination and your climate is perfect. 

Asimina parviflora is hard to find, but I manage to get 2 seeds out of 10 to germinate.

I'm not sure of the cold hardiness of Asimina obovata, but it grows in areas of frequent fire, so at least the roots should survive.

[Alan_Tampa]

I knew.  Tried in Tampa. Not really strong here, nights too warm. 

Other relatives are native here, but like little hard rocks for fruit. 

[Austinpalm]

On 4/26/2022 at 2:51 PM, amh said:

Fairly easy to grow tree, but they need lots of humus to shine. I have 8 in the ground right now with 10 more in pots, but I'll have to add some cultivated plants in the near future. I am also growing Asimina parviflora and Asimina obovata.

Asimina triloba grew fine for me in Austin under a live oak.  But the fruit was never very good in my opinion.  Of course the squirrels usually beat me to the fruit so I rarely got the chance to try.  I never could locate A. parviflora.  It occurs in the deep sands of the lost pines area.  I thought it might do a little better than A. triloba in Austin as its range does not get real close to Austin. Congrats to you for finding so many Asimina and getting them to grow.

[amh]

18 minutes ago, Austinpalm said:

Asimina triloba grew fine for me in Austin under a live oak.  But the fruit was never very good in my opinion.  Of course the squirrels usually beat me to the fruit so I rarely got the chance to try.  I never could locate A. parviflora.  It occurs in the deep sands of the lost pines area.  I thought it might do a little better than A. triloba in Austin as its range does not get real close to Austin. Congrats to you for finding so many Asimina and getting them to grow.

Thanks, my trees are protected by elm and oak canopy and I have deep dirt. My in-ground trees are in the 4^1/2 to 6 foot range, so I'll need to start fertilizing to get fruit in the next few years. The trees are low maintenance and have nice tropical looking leaves. I'm thinking of adding some Sabal mexican or Sabal brazoriensis around the trees for atmosphere and deer protection.

The parviflora seeds are usually available, but it appears that the company I purchased them from doesn't store the seed properly and doubled the price this year. I bought the obovata seed from an etsy store on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised by the high germination rate.

Edited April 28, 2022 by amh

[amh]

On 4/26/2022 at 4:21 PM, amh said:

Buy some trees and seed this fall. The fresh seeds will have 90+ percent germination and your climate is perfect. 

Asimina parviflora is hard to find, but I manage to get 2 seeds out of 10 to germinate.

I'm not sure of the cold hardiness of Asimina obovata, but it grows in areas of frequent fire, so at least the roots should survive.

Correction, viable Asimina parviflora seed is hard to find.

Edited April 28, 2022 by amh

[bubba]

Always thought this was slang for papaya. Interesting that it is from the same family as the Ylang Ylang, cherimoya and custard apple. Unfortunately if Alan cannot grow these in Tampa, I will have to travel north!

[Chester B]

5 hours ago, bubba said:

Always thought this was slang for papaya. Interesting that it is from the same family as the Ylang Ylang, cherimoya and custard apple. Unfortunately if Alan cannot grow these in Tampa, I will have to travel north!

The Australians call papaya "paw paws", so you are correct as well.

[amh]

8 hours ago, bubba said:

Always thought this was slang for papaya. Interesting that it is from the same family as the Ylang Ylang, cherimoya and custard apple. Unfortunately if Alan cannot grow these in Tampa, I will have to travel north!

 

2 hours ago, Chester B said:

The Australians call papaya "paw paws", so you are correct as well.

It's not just Australia unfortunately, and the problem persist even when searching the binomial name.

[Fusca]

We used to call them "Hoosier Bananas".  I guess they're native plants in Indiana also.

[Alan_Tampa]

Bill Whitman tried several varieties at his Bal Harbor home in Miami. He had intended to graft Annona species onto Trisimina to get some cold hardiness out of Annona species. No go for him either. 

[amh]

1 hour ago, Alan_Tampa said:

Bill Whitman tried several varieties at his Bal Harbor home in Miami. He had intended to graft Annona species onto Trisimina to get some cold hardiness out of Annona species. No go for him either. 

This was one of the first things I researched for Annonaceae, but for dwarfing Asimina triloba for container growing. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by amh

[redbeard917]

I am a bit south of the typical range, but there are wild Asimina growing on my property. I'm not sure of the species and would appreciate the help IDing them (according to guides I've looked at it could be one of a half dozen or so species). These photos are from today, May 4th, and it is in the middle of flowering.

These wild ones aren't exactly trees (the tallest is maybe 4 feet) but they do have an edible and tasty fruit. However it's far from something that would be sold in a grocery store since like most wild plants there is more seed than edible flesh. Also of note is that there is some chemical compound present in pawpaws which makes a certain percentage of people very nauseous. Presumably someday this will be bred out of the named cultivars if it hasn't been already.

[amh]

6 hours ago, redbeard917 said:

I am a bit south of the typical range, but there are wild Asimina growing on my property. I'm not sure of the species and would appreciate the help IDing them (according to guides I've looked at it could be one of a half dozen or so species). These photos are from today, May 4th, and it is in the middle of flowering.

These wild ones aren't exactly trees (the tallest is maybe 4 feet) but they do have an edible and tasty fruit. However it's far from something that would be sold in a grocery store since like most wild plants there is more seed than edible flesh. Also of note is that there is some chemical compound present in pawpaws which makes a certain percentage of people very nauseous. Presumably someday this will be bred out of the named cultivars if it hasn't been already.

Wonderful finds. I think those might be Asimina angustifolia.

Criminally underappreciated genus.

I really encourage Floridians to cultivate these much deserving plants.

Edited May 5, 2022 by amh

[amh]

On 5/4/2022 at 7:33 PM, redbeard917 said:

I am a bit south of the typical range, but there are wild Asimina growing on my property. I'm not sure of the species and would appreciate the help IDing them (according to guides I've looked at it could be one of a half dozen or so species). These photos are from today, May 4th, and it is in the middle of flowering.

These wild ones aren't exactly trees (the tallest is maybe 4 feet) but they do have an edible and tasty fruit. However it's far from something that would be sold in a grocery store since like most wild plants there is more seed than edible flesh. Also of note is that there is some chemical compound present in pawpaws which makes a certain percentage of people very nauseous. Presumably someday this will be bred out of the named cultivars if it hasn't been already.

What time of year do these produce ripe fruit and how abundant?

[Silas_Sancona]

**   Was a duplicate post Can be removed.

Edited May 12, 2022 by Silas_Sancona
duplicate ..remove

[redbeard917]

I can't remember, over the next few months basically, but I will update with photos when it ripens.

[amh]

19 minutes ago, redbeard917 said:

I can't remember, over the next few months basically, but I will update with photos when it ripens.

I might have to solicit seeds later this year; weather dependent.

[redbeard917]

Here is the fruit developing.

[Josue Diaz]

I have several seedlings from KSU's pawpaw research program. They're terribly slow in Fresno, but perhaps one day one will decide it wants to bloom and fruit. Mine are ~5 years old from seed and perhaps 6 inches tall. Very healthy, just not very big at all.

[amh]

14 minutes ago, Josue Diaz said:

I have several seedlings from KSU's pawpaw research program. They're terribly slow in Fresno, but perhaps one day one will decide it wants to bloom and fruit. Mine are ~5 years old from seed and perhaps 6 inches tall. Very healthy, just not very big at all.

inches or feet? Here's a 2 1/2 year old seedling.

Humus, water, and fertilizer are necessary west of the Mississippi. 

Mine are surviving this year even with the heat and extreme drought.

 

[Josue Diaz]

6 minutes ago, amh said:

inches or feet? Here's a 2 1/2 year old seedling.

Humus, water, and fertilizer are necessary west of the Mississippi. 

Mine are surviving this year even with the heat and extreme drought.

 

lol inches! They don't seem to care for our sandy, nutrient deficient soil maybe? 

[amh]

1 minute ago, Josue Diaz said:

lol inches! They don't seem to care for our sandy, nutrient deficient soil maybe? 

Humus! Humus! Humus! The heat will slow growth, but neutral to acidic humus is the big growth controller.

My trees are all a few feet shorter after Dolba hyloeus attacks last year.