Growing papaya

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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RE: Growing papaya

Post by needmore »

Canna, I'm pretty sure that the Sunrise is the Strawberry papaya and if correct, I'd agree about the flavor!
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by JakeK »

I was supposed to post these a week ago, but my headaches got in the way.

Here is my papaya that germinated this spring. The fence behind it is 54 inches.

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Close up of a leaf.

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RE: Growing papaya

Post by Bamboo Conne'isseur »

Gotta check out this specialty foods store over here. They sometimes carry good quality organic papaya, but I have yet to see the strawberry type. The bad thing about most supermarkets is that usually the fruit is unripe, and as I am sure Brad will agree, nothing beats papaya that has been allowed to ripen on the tree. Most of the time though all I can find is green papaya; which is good for other uses, but not for snacking.
JakeK, those are coming along nicely. You should have enough to get you some fruit if you can protect them when it get cold. Nice. :thumbup:



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RE: Growing papaya

Post by JakeK »

Canna'isseur,

I am perfectly content with having my papaya as an annual. This is my first year experimenting with papayas as annuals and it looks like I will get 6.5 feet of growth since early May. In the future I could germinate seeds during the late winter so I would have small plants roughly 12 inches tall ready to be planted outside in May. This could add another foot or so to its overall height when November rolls around.

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RE: Growing papaya

Post by Bamboo Conne'isseur »

JakeK, papaya does make a nice tropical specimen. I would grow it, even if it could not give me any fruit, as this is one of my favorite tropicals.
Yours looks pretty healthy, as the amount of space on the trunk between each leaf, is usually a good indicator of good solid growth. Its when you have a high concentration of leaves close together, with the old ones yellowing too soon, that this plant is in need of something.



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RE: Growing papaya

Post by Jeff: Igor's Apprentice »

Please let us know how the Eucalyptus collection comes thru the winter for you.

http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/Reflow ... flow-1.jpg
Last edited by Jeff: Igor's Apprentice on Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by ocimum_nate »

My papaya is weeping and throwing a fit because I left it outside the other night. I think it was the wind and the sub 40 degree temperatures... Just guessing.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by boonut »

My Sweet Sue papaya went through the 100 year freeze and snow in 2004. It got down to 26 here for a few hours.

The very top died back that went above my roof line. It just put out branches all over and kept going. I have another one further behind my house that did not take a hit at all with 26 degrees. It is now over 20 feet tall. I can no longer get to the fruit.

Since we have so many papaya down here growing in back yards, it is rare to get the same papaya from the seed. There is a lot of crossing going on.

This time of year, we can't eat all the papaya and a lot of it falls to the ground. The birds and squirrels really like it. Most of the seed this time of year is already sprouting inside the fruit.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by Bamboo Conne'isseur »

Boonut, I have seen what you are talking about. If a plant gets big enough, and the freeze only kills the leafy material and not the stem itself, it will put out new branches in the spring, and keep growing.
Speaking of weather temps, although papaya loves alot of water in the summer, it does not like much during the cooler months. Giving this plant too much water will result in root rot quite fast during the cold season.


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RE: Growing papaya

Post by boonut »

The "Sweet Sue" was named after the person that brought it to the Rio Grande Valley from Thailand. It has very dark orange flesh and is very sweet.

It is probably only known in the Rio Grande Valley. My dad grows them in Kentucky. His is over nine feet tall now. He brings them into the garage during the winters up there. His plants already have papaya a little larger than softballs. Unfortunately, he is already putting them back into the garage for the winter.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by JakeK »

Well my papaya did just fine during the 3 nights below 32 degrees, even surviving a night at 28F with no leaf wilt at all. The spot is totally unprotected on the North side of the house too.
Unfortunately I found it this morning laying on its side with its tap root snapped about 5 inches under the soil line. Not sure what happened there.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by ocimum_nate »

Cold and moist is what I have read kills the papaya. when we dipped down to below forty we had a lot of rain and mine was in a pot on my deck. I brought it in the house and the newer leaves looked fine but eventually the tap root gave out and the plant died. Oh well I just put a new division of Hibanobambusa in that pot.
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RE: Growing papaya

Post by boonut »

Just wanted to show off.... hmm I mean share pics of the papaya tree in my back yard.

I think it is about 4 years old. They do grow fast. The freeze of 2004 hit just the tip. Since then, no freezes. The freeze induced multiple branches.


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RE: Growing papaya

Post by boonut »

Couple of additional pics from 2004.

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Re: RE: Growing papaya

Post by JakeK »

ocimum_nate wrote:Cold and moist is what I have read kills the papaya. when we dipped down to below forty we had a lot of rain and mine was in a pot on my deck. I brought it in the house and the newer leaves looked fine but eventually the tap root gave out and the plant died. Oh well I just put a new division of Hibanobambusa in that pot.
I thought that too at first, but nothing was mushy even the newest portion of the trunk at the top, the tap root was like a fresh carrot snapped in half. The base of the trunk was solid considering it was almost 7 feet tall. It was very top heavy and was growing with a strong lean, I think it just collapsed under its own weight. It wouldn't have lasted much longer anyways considering it was just going to be an annual.

Jake
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