I am really considering giving up on pawpaws. I have one seedling tree that is 6-7 years old and just over 5 ft tall it is doing ok but it has taken it so long to grow. The problem is that for what ever reason I cannot keep a grafted tree alive. I've tried NC-1, Potomac and Wabash. They always fail after a few years and now I am another 4 years out for a potential pollinator. I bought a Wabash back in 2014 that was growing like a weed. We had a late frost that burned off all of the leaves but like a champ it came back and grew like crazy just to die that winter. It's roots sprouted and grew nicely the next summer as well as up till today, it was about 3.5 feet tall when a micro burst blew it over right at ground level. I was so mad I chopped up it's remains with a shovel and the ran them over with the lawn mower. I had hoped it would flower in the next year or two. In 2015 I bought a Potomac and it has been in a steady decline ever since, it is almost dead now. It had lots of flowers on it in 2016, 1 flower this year and now no flower buds on it for next year. I do have 2 other seedlings from Peterson fruit that are doing good but they are only in their second season and years away from making flowers. I just don't know if I can dedicate the space and time anymore to fruit trees that are so unproductive. As a comparison my Elberta peach is a good 12ft tall and wide and it is the same age as my oldest pawpaw. I am really considering just going out and chopping them all down. On a side note I have started watering them a more than I did in the past and their growth rate has increased substantially especially on the old seedling. Sorry I just had to vent and I will probably will keep them but this has definitely been an exercise in patience.

I am new to planting and growing pawpaws. I will be planting my first ones this Spring. I ordered 4 KSU Atwoods (SKU 2710) and 4 KSU Benson (SKU 2711) trees today for April delivery in Petoskey, Michigan. Like Matt, I would like to know more about these KSU varieties. Size?, Taste, rate of growth, productivity. I ordered them from One Green World in Portland - these were the only Peterson varieties they had available. I may call One Green World tomorrow to ask them these questions but I thought someone on this site might be willing to share their experience or to share what they have heard. I am opening up a standing 2 acre cedar tree lot and have room for more pawpaws ao, when available, I may add several other Peterson varieties this Fall. Any advice or comments would be appreciated. - Bob Wiley

I am going to try to make it. I'm sorry I didn't know about the previous ones.

No it is not pathetic....that was when you had the LED light on them. J/K!!! They look healthy, sometimes lettuce can be finnaky. I'm guessing the rockwool cubes stay pretty much wet...and thats possibly part of your problem. I am not a fan of rockwool if you cant tell lol. Roots do not get near enough oxygen in a saturated rockwool cube, can remain wet for days, and to me there is too much salt retention in rockwool for lettuce. Yes lighting has alot to do with plant growth. Recommended Lumens pr sq ft is 3k, anything up to 10k can be beneficial. I actually changed my big CFL on my lettuce to 23w/1600lumen bulbs and hardly noticed a difference. Nutrient strength and water temp also have a ton to do with growth rate. If you up your ppm just a touch too much and youll lockout some micros and stunt plants for days/weeks. Thats where rockwool builds salts and retains nutrients and tends to fudge up a bit. Seems to me that by retaining these salts it ups the TDS of the cube over time and burns plants/roots. 70 degree water seems to work the best for me, any lower and it seems plants grow slower, same with warmer and heat increases algae growth. What is the nutrient balance in your ferts? If you round the final numbers down it should work out to 3-2-4. Calcium should be close to same % as nitrogen and magnesium half of those. Im having amazing success with GH maxigro and it is 10-5-14 with 6 calcium, 2 magnesium, 3 sulfer. I do not have to add cal mag as my tap water runs 170ppm which a great part of it is cal/mag. Also testing cns17 which is close to identical nute # as maxigro