EARLY Pawpaw CULTIVARS for NORTHERN climates (Asimina triloba) - varieties for shorter summers 

Hey Woody. have you tried the (KSU Hi 7-1) or Cliff England's ( Mammoth X) or any of the new KSU Susquehanna seedlings just starting to bare fruit?

I believe that (Halvin) which was discovered in zone #4 would be a good pollinator for KY Champion too. A (KY Champion x Halvin) cross would be awesome!

I just give my pa a bunch of Dead Sea Men. It gives Maria’s Joy a much more rich flavor. More floral than tropical

@@tomevers6670What is Dead Sea Men? Did you mean Dead Sea Salt? Curious what you give to your pawpaws to make better rich flavor.

its funny, i was reading this comment above, googled it, and was wondering what the heck is Dead Sea Men... was about to ask here in a comment... and realized i already asked this 4months ago haha. Still waiting an answer @tomevers6670

Prima is curious; it's prone to overbearing, for one, and it's got a weird "fishbone" growth shape with lots of flowers on smaller branches. Much like Regulus, it's more flower-heavy in spring. I'll post some pics into the Fanatics forum later today so you can see.

Sunflower is just wonderful. In my top 3 for flavor. I believe Corwin Davis is responsible for it being captured from the "wild." It can have a giant fruit as the tree gets into it's second decade PA Golden is mid-season for me, early October, I decided not to keep mine (or include it in the video), I actually grafted it over to Benny's Favorite in May. The thing with PA Golden is that it's a series, 1-4, There are actually 4 different selections, and I'm told #3 is the best of the bunch though I have yet to taste them side-by-side. PA golden #1 was standard wild pawpaw flavor without any unpleasant aftertaste. I found it very ordinary, but still I keep a branch or two on my tree anyhow.

@@abyssquick interesting, thank you for the insight, looking forward to learning more

@@abyssquick do you know which of the 4 stark bros sells? I have asked their customer service reps on two occasions and got no real answer. Once they said they would get back with me and never did. The second time I asked they just sent me the generic description and ignored what I was actually asking. My PA golden is a more vigorous grower than all of my other trees (Susquehanna, sunflower, NC-1, taytwo, wells, Maria's joy, mango, KSU Atwood, KSU Benson and various seedlings) but is a shy bearer and in my opinion unremarkable compared to the rest.

I've had Taytwo, it's got great flavor. I didn't put one in as it's also fairly standard, there are more modern varieties with similar and/or better flavor. It's unremarkable in that I don't distinctly remember it, other than it was lucsious, with no aftertaste.

I'm also in MA. and good luck finding a place that sells here for a reasonable price haha. Your best bet is probably Triple brook farm in western MA, Cricket Hill in CT or ordering online. I've bought from Logees in CT before and they are okay just disappointed with the small size of the plant and the price. It was like $45 for a pencil thick plant SMH (in 2023) so I was not too impressed.

Might be pushing it but I just visited a farm in Western Mass at over 1500 ft elevation and they have been growing amazing paw paws for 30 years in zone 5 with no protection! I would say go for it but probably select a variety that is intended for the colder north.

The issue is that pawpaws require a certain amount of summer heat to ripen their fruit fully. In the north, at a higher latitude, the window from flowering to fruit ripeness is shorter, even though we may be in the same climate zone as a place like NC or KY. The later season fruits do ripen for me here in MA although these go well through Oct. into Nov. The main issue is the amount of and length of summer heat aka "heat units." The fruit start to slow ripening once cooler nights come in, and the later season cultivars may not reach full size or ripeness as the would in a place like KY. For instance the cultivar "Sunflower" is giant, exquisitely flavored when I tried them at KSU, but here in MA the fruit remains smaller and lackluster in flavor. Although it does ripen eventually, it not the best it could be.

KSU Benson and KSU Atwood are early, PA golden also very early. KSU Chapelle is mid season, so it depends on how long and cool your summers are.

You can always graft different varieties onto your existing trees

Yes, I protect smaller, younger trees by spray-painting the trunks white. Animals don't seem to be an issue aside from the casual deer nibble. I'll be doing a cultivar-by-cultivar series with flavor/fruit/productivity aspects and so on, later this season as they ripen If I have to pick one, though I'd pick Alleghenny and VE-21 as the clear winners for flavor. Prima is mild, but has an off-kilter flavor (for pawpaw) that some people don't care for. Maria's Joy is my least favorite, s it's heavy on the bubblegum tones (I prefer vanilla/caramel flavors) but some people love it. Subective

@@abyssquick Be careful especially during the winter if you have rabbits in one season Ive had them rip shreds of bark off several trees. Ive since put wire mesh around trunks.

I don't personally, being in the far northeast we tend to avoid those springtime polar dips via the jetstream

I met some farmers in western MA that said their crop was destroyed last May from a freak frost. However for me on the eastern side of MA, my crops had no problem so I guess it can be an issue depending on where you are. @@abyssquick

none taste like durian, however maria's joy supposedly tastes like bubble gum, which is also quite close to jackfruit.

Thank you very much

Yes, exactly -- NC-1 is among my last 3 to ripen here -- it's mid-late season. Tom Wahl of Red Fern Farm in IA reports the same. I don't know why everyone presumes it's early; probably b/c it originated in Ontario, a northern part of its range

Nc1 does ripen early for most of us. Rootstock can affect scion wood. I've always wondered if Redfern strain isn't true nc1 as he is the only grower who seems to have it ripen late.

In the US, I get them from nuttrees.net, perfectcircle.farm, stark bros, and one green world

@@abyssquick thx for the information! i guess they dont deliver to europe :-/

@@schofsgrind I do know that pawpaws are gaining traction in both Europe and Japan. Peterson has done the work to get his varieties through the legal hoops so his varieties, as well as some of the older cultivars like sunflower should be established in the European nursery trade. Cliff England, the owner of one of the American nurseries listed in a previous reply to you might be able to send you scion wood. It would require permits but he may be willing to if you contact him.