Cantaloupe Pawpaw Description

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Cantaloupe Pawpaw is of excellent quality, 325 gram, round fruits with few seeds, great flavour with a cantaloup flavour.  More cold hardy than the average Asimina Triloba early ripening and proven in UK climates! Considered not only one of the best cultivars in general but also has good potential for developing other early-ripening, cold-hardy and resilient northern cultivars. Fruit texture and flavour is excellent, smooth, buttery and sweet. Others worth looking at are Marshmallow Pawpaws, Honeydew Pawpaws, and Tropical Treat Pawpaws.

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Marshmallow, honey dew, and cantaloupe freestone-varieties of pawpaw-trees came from a historical-property in Kentucky that has three very old trees.

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Pollination: Other freestone 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.

Pawpaws are generally remarkably disease and insect resistant. 

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Ripening: Early

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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.

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Pawpaws can bloom for up to 4 weeks, but without hand pollination, fruit set can be low because bees do not pollinate the flowers, flies and beetles do. In the UK, chances of fruit set are greatly improved by hand pollination of two seperate varieties.

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Cantaloupe Pawpaw size at maturity: 15-20′ tall and wide, depending on location, care and pruning to reduce height. We recommend heading them at about 10″ and removing suckers, both of which keep the trees very manageable and small.

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Pawpaws (Asimina Triloba) are related to custard apples and cherimoya, in the sugar apple family, and yet they grow in the temperate zone, having moved north as Ice Age glaciers receded. Flavours of mango, melon, banana, raspberry and pineapple come from this creamy fruit. Like many fruits, if you don’t know what you’re doing and you let them get bruised, or you pick them under-ripe they won't taste very good!