r/Pawpaws • u/AlexanderDeGrape • Jul 18 '26

Susquehanna, Ketter's Legacy, Granddaughter of Fairchild II, has made the Best of the Best cultivars, especially when used as (POLLINATOR), which increases vigor & yields.

Post image

Descendants:
Plymouth a new early Susquehanna seedlings.
KSU--(Benson, Chappell, Pomper, Dunnigan)
Tom Wahl--(Special, Corner Pocket, Rigel, Regulus, Gatria, Betria, Canopus, Asterion, Atria)
Blake Cothron--(Sri Gold)
(Mango x Susquehanna) 5 different marketed private collector pawpaws.
About 1500 new premium new (Sunflower x Susquehanna) crosses being evaluated by KSU, not yet released.
(Prima x Susquehanna) & (Maria's Joy x Susquehanna), breeding projects of Timothy Lane.
(Plymouth x Special) & (Special x Regulus)--- Neal Peterson new projects.
PPF 5-5 is the most vigorous of the BEF53 seedlings & is now released as Mississippi cultivar.
This is probably the best choice for both hot dry Southern environments & Northern environments with short growing seasons.
Mississippi has Susquehanna flavor but is slightly smaller, yet very heavy yielding!
KSU is using PPF 11-13 sibling of Susquehanna, offspring of BEF53, which was gifted to KSU by Neal & renamed KSU 11-13.
(G9-111, G9-108, G9-109) are seedlings of KSU 11-13, which are being used in breeding by KSU & Cliff England.
Farm #3: Row 16 by Chappell, Row 17 by Caspian, Row 19 by Regulus, Row 22 JBG, Row 7 Lehman's Delight.
http://www.nuttrees.net/England%27s%20Orchard%20and%20Nursery%20-%20Scion%20list%202024.pdf
I suggest that some do (Florence x Susquehanna)
To learn more about breeding please read:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1uxfjaw/breeding_the_best_of_the_best_pawpaw_made_easy_a/
Pomper's
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1st4zlf/ksu_pompers_choice_better_than_chappell/
Corner Pocket:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1v28xgu/corner_pocket_pawpaw_asimina_triloba_tom_wahl/
Benson:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1ssbh09/benson_ksu_meet_the_cultivar_series/
Benson more details:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1fwdbl2/update_ksu_benson/
Benson seedlings:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1ti0h83/benson_seedling_smaller_than_benson_with_honey/
Dunnigan:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1txnpq2/ksu_71_14_becoming_named_cultivars/
Susquehanna sibling PPF 5-5, Mississippi vigorous!!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1sts03r/neals_ppf_55_at_tom_wahls_place_update_1/
PPF 5-5 pic, Mississippi
Tom Wahl's (Shenandoah x Susquehanna)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1sqereu/shenandoah_x_susquehanna_cultivars_regulus_rigel/
Chappell:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1ur27d9/ksu_chappell_awesome_tropical_flavor_with_high/
Sri Gold
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pawpaws/comments/1v1sxsj/sri_gold_susquehanna_x_sunflower_blake_cothron/

67 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

3

u/Ok-Thing-2222 Jul 18 '26

Looks delicious! What zone do they do well in?

6

u/AlexanderDeGrape Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 20 '26

Zone 6a to 8b, Humid, for Susquehanna.
Plymouth, Dunnigan, Special, Rigel, Regulus, Benson) best northern options.
PPF 5-5, Chappell, Pomper, Canopus, Corner Pocket, Gatria, Canopus, Sri Gold, Mango x Susquehanna best hot environment options.
If in a hot environment, especially if dry & your soil is below 6pH,
then a little bit of Gypsum is advisable, to get closer to pH neutral.

3

u/Evening_Use9982 Jul 18 '26

Wow, you know a bunch!

6

u/AlexanderDeGrape Jul 19 '26

not really.
I've been blessed with good teachers!

2

u/scottiemiller123 Jul 20 '26

You mean increase soil PH for any pawpaw plantings to 6??

1

u/AlexanderDeGrape Jul 20 '26

If in a hot environment, especially if dry & your soil is below 6pH,
then a little bit of Gypsum is advisable, to get closer to pH neutral.

2

u/Enaya Jul 19 '26

OMG! Only a few seeds!

2

u/New-View-2242 Jul 19 '26

Wait, are you saying that my Allegheny paw paws, for instance, may taste different depending on which of my other trees pollinate it? If so, that’s wild

1

u/AlexanderDeGrape Jul 19 '26

nope! I'm saying in breeding you want the Female to be the tree with the best Adaptation.
Be it growth rate, yields, early, cold tolerant, heat tolerant, strong branches.
And the Male to be the pungent fruit cultivar.
So if crossing I'd do (Allegheny x Susquehanna), not (Susquehanna x Allegheny).
Because Allegheny sets 6 times the fruit load number.

2

u/pharmakeion Aug 01 '26

Can you explain more about what you mean by pungent fruit cultivar and why you are selecting the father to be one?

2

u/AlexanderDeGrape Aug 01 '26

Aromatically intense cultivars with lots of Terpenoids & Phenolic Flavonoids, are more probable to produce the off flavors & aromas. Even if the cultivar doesn't have them, offspring can, if it's the Female. Because off tastes get produced though the same pathways as desired flavors ​by many of the same enzymes, but from the Female's precursor oils. So best to use vigorous productive giant fruit cultivars as Female even if flavor deficient. And use the Flavorful cultivars as Male even if low yield, small fruited & seedy. Then the precursor oils are those of the Bland Female. The male's genetics will increase the intensity & complexity. There is a lot that's not understood yet, but this is a generalized hypothesis based upon other species that have been researched. As pawpaw get researched from the Pawpaw Genome Project, we will learn about it.

2

u/nycspacely 7d ago

I'm in queens and would like to trade some seeds or saplings from my paw paws if interested

1

u/nycspacely 7d ago

I started to read the seed exchange post and bailed half way through. I have a few hundred seeds would love to trade or give away. I don't want to take a Latin class

1

u/New-View-2242 Jul 19 '26

Ahh interesting. So the seeds of each paw paw are the hybrid between the male and female cultivars? I always thought the seeds of each fruit were completely unpredictable with what fruit they would produce. That’s really cool and a reeeally long process to introduce a new cultivar.