Description
Huge, thick, honey-sweet fruits with only 3% seed! Susquehanna shows the potential that pawpaw breeding and selection can attain. Susquehanna has a much thicker, more durable skin than most if not all other cultivars, similar to thick mango skin, which protects the delicate fruit when harvesting, shipping and handling. Fruit skin, shape and size resemble tropical mangoes. Susquehanna has a very thick, luscious, buttery, almost chewy avocado-like texture and an intense, honey-like caramel sweetness that is very rich and exquisite. These fruits also keep exceedingly well, even at room temperature. Picked just barely under ripe they can slowly ripen off the tree and sit at room temperature for a week or more in fine condition, and can keep in refrigeration for a month. Susquehanna is perhaps the best-suited commercial cultivar in overall quality due to it’s extra-thick and durable skin, especially thick avocado-like flesh, long shelf-life and outstandingly sweet flavor. NOTE: This one is slower to establish and more challenging to grow. Not for beginners.
This cultivar is NOT recommended for planting in the Northern range of pawpaw culture or in short-summer areas.
Neal Peterson describes Susquehanna as follows:
“Ah, my personal favorite. (But everyone has personal favorites.) It is large, extremely few seeds, and firm melting texture. Quite sweet with strong pawpaw flavor.”
Key Features of the Susquehanna pawpaw:
- Very fleshy – only 3% seed
- Very sweet, rich flavor
- Firm, buttery texture
- Fruit size very large
- Moderate yields
- Responds well to pruning
Pollination: An Ultra-Select seedling pawpaw or any other grafted or seedling pawpaw tree will pollinate. For good pollination, plant trees 8-15 ft away from each other only. Pawpaws are not male and female, but rather have “male and female” flower parts on each flower. Every tree is capable of bearing fruit if pollinated well with pollen from another genetically different pawpaw tree. Hand pollination results in heaviest fruit set.
Resistant to: Pawpaws are generally remarkably disease and insect resistant. See our pawpaw growing article for full information. https://peacefulheritage.com/pawpaw-frequently-asked-questions/
Ripening: Late Season (Late September-early October in KY)
Site requirements: Full sun location for best fruit production. Pawpaws will grow in shade but produce much less fruit. Pawpaws tolerate a range of soil types provided the planting location is well drained and there is heavy mulch and plenty of fertilizer and water. Protected locations, such as on the South, East or West side of a building is ideal on very windy sites are recommended.
Size at maturity: 15-20′ tall and wide, depending on location, care and pruning to reduce height. We recommend heading them at about 8-10 ft tall and removing suckers, both of which keep the trees very manageable and small.
Hardiness: USDA zones 5-9. (Estimate)
Plant size: Grafted, with an excellent root system. CHOOSE SIZE
Shipped March-June only. Sorry, we cannot ship POTTED pawpaws (June-July) to : CA, TX, AZ, NM, NV, OR, WA. We can ship them to these states bare-root when ordered in January-February (if available).
