Hi everyone! I've followed this thread with growing interest, and finally took the next step by posting hete :) . I am a professional gardener, and my interests lie heavily on pomology and dendrology (yup, a tree hugger!). I have a vision to introduce cultivars of mulberries, american persimmons, paw paws, nuts, and cornelian cherries to my country of Finland. Now to many it would seem that being as far north as alaska might impose some challenges, but thanks to gulf stream, our southern end is beginning to be the equivalent of USDA 5b/6 ..but of course that's regarding only the low temperatures. At Köppen-Geiger climate we at the south are at Dfb , for those who use that. I'd like to talk about all potential plants, but let's focuse on paw paws...now we have of course insane amounts of light at the peak of the summer, will that help or hinder paw paws, I'm not sure. Last two summers have been wet and cold, and I suspect that no paw paws would have ripened. But then again, I remember summers with +30 Celsius (86 F) , and some winters that went as low as -30C (-22F) . Most of the time however we stay near the -20 C (-4F) at winter, so the low temperatures really are not an issue. However the growing degree days might be...and so I am especially interested in trying the absolutely most earliest cultivars! I really don't care about the size right now, I just want to PROVE to me and to others here that you can actually grow paw paw in the open and outside :D The excel sheet that someone posted is most excellent tool and I thank for that. Now to questions: -Do you have any special recommedations to try? -Should I also focus on growing seedlings ( I have four one year old seeldings, and 50 seeds in the fridge, all from Oikos) to find special case that grows well here? -Do you think that root stock will make a real difference? -When do you think is the best time to graft paw paw, and how thick the trunk should be before I try that? I thank everyone for any help bringing paw paws (and others) to my country :) -Janne

blossom, you asked about growth in Autumn. Don't know about Canada, this is as far north as I've ever lived. But Autumn here is really a glorious time-- warm sunny days at least til November. The nights cool down and lengthen, but days are gorgeous. Once winter starts there's plenty of gloom to get around, but not yet. October is about the same time distance from the equinox as April, so it ought to be warm and sunny enough for good growth. I noticed just today in my south window, the sun is there now til well after 2pm. During the high summer, it was gone from that window before 1pm. So with the sun going lower, it actually hits a window for longer than in high summer. Down in my light room it's very warm-- days 85-89, heat from the lights, and a basic temp of app 73 this time of year (it's a basement). So summing up, I'd say, yes you can get lots of good growing in autumn, as long as the light is strong. About your Walmart plant-- since you grow other things, you know about the "glow" a healthy plant has -- you can just *see* the health. I call it "looks goooood", and I'm always thrilled to see it in something I'me growing. Those plants always have terrific roots. Just go for those and pass the unhealthy ones by. A broken leaf wouldn't matter on an otherwise "looks good" plant. It will be replaced pdq. Savor your success, and enjoy the growing. I love it!

Velleta is correct: you need a much smaller pot especially when you remove the sucker. Violets need a pot 1/3 the size of the plant as Velleta said. There several reasons for this-violets are extremely sensitive to over-watering. Too big a pot and that plant sits in too wet soil for too long. Over-potting and over-watering are the number one cause of death for violets. Over-potted violets will spend most of their growing effort in filling that pot with roots at the expense of flowering. Also, flowering tends to be a 'last ditch' effort to reproduce. A plant that is in a smaller pot will be fooled into thinking its growing area and nutrients are restricted and this will often send it into bloom/reproduction mode. You also need a lighter soil-again so the violet does not sit in soggy soil. Your center looks fine. Remove the older leaves only when you are sure your violet is growing well. Damaged leaves are better than no leaves on a recovering plant. Re-potting will not hinder leaf growth. Often, the new soil will encourage growth. Linda

The bud in the leaf axil first image upthread) is your future tree, so it shouldn't be kept under water where it's likely to rot. If it dies, you might not ever get another break from the leaf axil ..... at best, you'd have to wait for an extremely long time for a new apical meristem to form on the cutting. Al