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A Late-Season Pawpaw Fruit with Perfect Flavor
Note: Tropical Treat needs Tropical Heat in the summer with temperatures reaching 85-95F daily, but NOT triple digits, to develop properly. Otherwise it will be smaller, seedier, and taste just average.
Strengths
Excellent mild tropical flavor
Medium/large fruit size 180 to 200gram
Good productivity with 100 or more fruits per tree
Color break at peak ripeness
Appealing appearance
Edible before it is completely ripe
Weaknesses
Very late season ripening
Not suited for short growing seasons
Not suited for cooler climates
Somewhat wispy growth habit
Somewhat prone to stem-canker
Somewhat seedy at 7% seed ratio
Fruit Description
Tropical Treat is a late-season pawpaw with a flavor that everyone seems to like, even the people that don’t ordinarily like pawpaw-fruit. A color-break indicates the ideally-ripened condition -- where the fruits taste like a mild tropical-vanilla-custard (see picture below). The texture is medium-to-soft. Fruits that have not ripened to a color-break can still taste very good . On the other hand, a grainy pulp texture indicates under-developed fruits that are smaller, unevenly-shaped, seedier, and not so good. Hence cooler-climates must be evaluated to see if the heat-units are suitable -- as explained in the next section.
Before Color Break (on Left), and After color break (on Right)
Pollination and Fruit Bearing
Tropical Treat needs a long-hot growing season, and it pollinates well with other trees, but unfortunately it does not ripen reliably unless it’s in a climate that typically has about 10 or more summer-days in the 90s [more than 32C]. It is recommended at less than 2,000 ft elevation in southern Appalachia and the southeast. The Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic, and Midwest have enough heat. New England, northern Europe, and the Great Lakes must be evaluated closely for heat units, where a growing-season with 3,000 or more Growing Degree Days (base 50F, starting May1) should be sufficient to ripen all the fruit.
Background
The fruit from this variety has a mild, dessert-like flavor. It has been an instant success with many pawpaw newbies including the skeptical ones. The Tropical Treat tree was discovered near the Madison Fair Grounds in Madison County, KY on the property of a restaurant-owner who planted pawpaw seeds that he collected from wild trees in Beattyville, KY. The exact location will not be disclosed because of privacy concerns for the tree-owner.
An Additional Footnote from Walker Pawpaws
As the owner of Walker Pawpaws, I must say I have never tasted a better pawpaw fruit than this one IF it can ripen to a color break. I have heard likewise from two other pawpaw experts that have tried fully-ripened fruit compared side-by-side to other top-varieties. I describe the flavor as a mellow tropical custard with perhaps a hint of vanilla that is suitable for a Boston-creme pie filling "as-is" This is my all time favorite pawpaw fruit when it is properly ripened.
Tropical Treat Pawpaw at 0:32
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