Planting Papayas

Yes, I've started to plant a fruit tree from a nursery for the first time, and its Papaya!

Papayas are found to be an anti-ageing fruit, as one article remarked which I uploaded in my blog on Beautiful Skin. Therefore I am making a point to have a few servings weekly of this wonderful fruit. Apart from being juicy and tasty, it is rich in vitamin C, an antioxidant great for the skin.

So, after enjoying a slice of delicious 'solo papaya', a small sized species about the size of an Indian Mango, I saved some of the seeds, and try to follow the instructions I copied from a website on how to plant a papaya from seed. Fellow friend blogger, Jaflam also gave some similiar tips, but this one include a comprehensive step by step instruction for those who are actually interested to plant it too.

Ok, don't laugh at my nusery pot, as I ran out of nursery bags. My papaya seed is planted in this recycled flower pot.

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Growing Papayas

Source: ARC of Tropical and Sub-tropical Crops, South Africa

The fruit of papayas is high in vitamin C. You can also pick the fruit when it is green and cook it like a marrow.

Female and male flowers do not grow on the same tree, so you must have male and female trees in the garden.

Climate
Papayas grow best in hot areas.
They can tolerate mild frost if they are protected from cold winds.
Soil requirements
They can grow in most kinds of soil, but it must be well drained.
The roots can get diseases if the soil stays too wet.
Loamy soils are best.
Planting date. Papayas can be planted at any time of the year, but preferably in late summer.

Spacing
Plant papayas 1,5 metres between plants and
3 to 4 metres between rows.

Growing papayas from seeds
It is easy to grow the ordinary papaya tree from seed.

Wash the seeds from a ripe papaya.
Squeeze the seeds from the jelly bag that covers each seed. The seeds will only grow if you remove the bag.
Dry them in a shady place.
Store in a tightly closed container and keep them until December.
Plant the seeds in December. Put 5 seeds to a hole. Do not put any compost or manure into the holes.
Keep the small plants moist.
You can only tell which trees are female and which are male when the trees start to flower. Therefore, you should always have more than one tree per hole, because then you can select the female trees.

Female flowers
bigger, closer to the branch than the male flowers

Male flowers
very small, there are many flowers which grow on long branches of the stem.

Only female trees give fruit but they need male flowers to pollinate them. Leave 1 male tree for 10 female trees.

Planting
Dig a hole about twice the size of the bag in which the young tree is growing.
Remove the soil from the hole and add some compost and manure. Mix this with some of the soil that has been dug out.
Take the plant out of the container. If it is a plastic container you just cut it open at the side.
Do not disturb the roots.
Place the tree in the centre of the hole. When you fill up the hole hold the tree so that its base is level with the surrounding ground.

Raise the soil around the tree to dam the water (rain or irrigation).
Do not plant the tree deeper than it was in the container.
Do not cover the stem with soil because it will rot.

Water
Papayas need little water.
They will, however, give more and bigger fruit if they are watered every 2 weeks in the dry season. The flowers will drop if they do not get enough water.
If they are planted in clay soils, make sure that the soil does not stay too wet.
To avoid waterlogging in clay soil, make a ridge and plant the papayas on the ridge.

Fertilisation
Compost or manure
Give the tree:
1 bucketful in September,
1 bucketful in November
another bucketful in January.
Sprinkle a few handfuls of manure evenly around the tree each month from September to the end of March.
NB: Do not apply chicken manure on trees younger than 2 years as it can burn the young papaya trees.

Artificial fertiliser
Give the trees 4 tablespoonfuls (115 g) of 2:3:2 in September, November and January.
Sprinkle evenly around the tree, not against the stem.
Keep the trees mulched all the time (use grass, leaves, etc).
Do not grow other plants next to the trunk because it is quite soft. If the trunk is damaged the papaya tree can get diseases.
If the fruit shows humps the tree may be short of boron. Sprinkle 2 tablespoonfuls of borax around the tree.

Pruning and thinning
You can cut the tree (remove top) so that it does not grow too tall. This encourages branching. Cut into winter wood, where leaf scars are close together. Paint the cut with a sealant.

Harvesting
You can pick the fruit when the skin starts to become yellow.
The fruit will ripen after you have picked it.
Handle it carefully because it gets bruised easily.

Diseases
Papaya trees easily get black leafspot. Your nearest extension officer or cooperative will be able to tell you how to treat this disease.

Okie, good luck!