KSU Atwood pawpaw - UK grown fruit taste test - Oct 2024

[@PeterEntwistle]

Congratulations, Dom! That pawpaw looked amazing! Your tree looks incredibly healthy, I still can't get over how much it has grown this year! That big cluster of fruit must be so heavy!

[@MoebiusUK]

Thanks, Peter. Yes, this tree is doing incredibly well. Partly due to the rich loamy substrate in my garden and partly to the plant being grafted onto a very good rootstock by the nursery. The fruit is so nice, I'm really looking forward to eating more over the next few days. Some of the pawpaw are massive. LOL.

[@joestropicals6760]

Congratulations on harvesting and tasting your first KSU Atwood Pawpaw. That fruit interior looked fantastic, and the description of flavours and aroma sound amazing 🤩 I can’t wait till my Pawpaw trees begin to produce for me 😀🌱

[@MoebiusUK]

Thanks, Joe. It was a very delicious piece of fruit. On the video I said it was better than the Wabash but on reflection, this wasn't true, it was different. Both are amazing. I'm sure your trees will start producing for you soon. You have some great varieties.

[@myexoticfoodplants6727]

Wonderful looking tree Dominic and I am patiently waiting for my Pawpaw tree to produce some of those delicious fruits.

[@MoebiusUK]

Thanks, Mike ... it really is a delicious fruit and definetly one of the more exotic fruits we can reliably grow in our climate. Saying that, now I want to try growing a mango and getting avocado to fruit here.

[@myexoticfoodplants6727]

@@MoebiusUK Mango and Avocado will be difficult, but might just about doable Dominic.

[@lyonheart84]

Glad you bagged it Dom or it might have hit the ground and split. The big bunch looks like its wedged between the branches so can't drop lol. That fruit looked nice inside and tasted very promising 👍

[@MoebiusUK]

I think I've seen video where folk in America collect wild pawpaw from the ground. They're soft but not as easily damaged as say a very ripe fig ... but yeah, bagging them when possible is the way to go. I really enjoyed this one, completely different to the Wabash, which had a much more orange colour inside.

[@blomeruscalitz2398]

Congratulations, you and Brett are the forerunners of pawpaw’s in the region with fruiting trees. That KSU-Atwood looked really delicious. I’m curious to find out which of my trees will fruit first. My NC-1 have flower buds for next year, but I doubt there will be any other pawpaw’s ready to pollinate it and if it somehow self-pollinates then I’ll have to support it heavily as it is not a very large/strong tree at the moment. Seeing as your KSU-Atwood is classed as mid-season ripening in its native habitat is only ripening now in the UK (end of October), I wonder if our Susquehanna trees will have enough time to ripen one day as it is classed as late ripening. Seeing this I think I might avoid planting any more late ripening varieties. Most of my trees are early to mid-season so fingers crossed.

[@MoebiusUK]

Thanks, Blom. Yes, the Atwood is described as a mid season but we haven't exactly had the best weather this year so this may not be indicative of it's usual ripening date. Of course, my Wabash fruited at the end of august so this Atwood is significantly behind that. Other than the poor weather this season, another factor that may have delayed the fruit is that this is the first fruitset for this Atwood. In future years, now the tree is established, it may fruit earlier ?!? I think that if a person is going to have only a couple of Pawpaw trees then they might want to look for trees that are only early-mid season .... but if somebody is going to have 3 or more then it's OK to take a risk and try a late season variety too. Late season varieties may offer something the early-mid varieties don't. Also, my Atwood fruit is ready now but I think late season varieties may be ready in November, which is perfectly acceptable for our climate zone. btw .. After reading your comment I went outside to see if anymore fruit had dropped. As I approached the tree I could smell the sweet aroma of Pawpaw in the air. I didn't see any dropped fruit so I gently touched the fruit to gauge their softness and one came off in my hand. Even before cutting into the fruit, It's smell is incredible. I want to eat it now but somebody commented here that it's best to leave them for a day or two so If I can resist the temptation I may try that. SO EXCITING.

[@blomeruscalitz2398]

@@MoebiusUK Well, I have two Susquehanna trees, so that might be enough late ripening pawpaws to test out for now. Good luck with temptation, I don't think I'd be strong enough when I get my first ripe fruit one day. Enjoy!

[@MathijsHerremans]

Of all the pawpaw varieties I tasted, this is my favourite. And I really like the structure of the flesh of Atwood. Enjoy them. Let one ripen 1 or 2 days more in the counter and they have a different taste and flavour almost candy like flavour than.

[@MoebiusUK]

Oh, thanks for the tip about leaving them on the counter for a while. I'll try that. I'm so pleased I got to try this fruit today. Plenty more left on the tree too. Also, hopefully I'll have a few very small 'Mango' pawpaw to try this season. They have been growing under the canopy of my Nikitas Gift persimmon so haven't grown as much as I would like.

[@MathijsHerremans]

@@MoebiusUK don’t judge the trees on their first small fruits the first one or two years. When they get the size of your Atwood you know what it will taste in future. The varieties can have different taste. They have a wide spectrum.

[@VirginiaFruitGrower]

Wow that's a nice pawpaw!

[@MoebiusUK]

Thanks, G ... I enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to eating the rest over the next few days.

[@НатальяПлескач-й5ч]

Супер 👍👍👍

[@MoebiusUK]

Thank you , my friend. 👍🏽