papaya

Phil@Tyalgum says...
The babaco is probaby your best bet, seems to do well in coastal areas if you can find a spot sheltered from the wind and enrich the soil a little. Mountain pawpaws do ok in Melbourne but are really only decorative.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

trikus says...
True red papaya are very tropical and would not grow well even in sub-tropics .
And impossible in Vic .. must be some other sort of fruit .

trikus says...
hahah yeh right dodgy brothers retailers for sure ...worth a try at how much ??
seed seller even mentions that red flesh ones do better in the tropics.

John I. says...
Trikus/Jason you've destroyed my dreams of growing Red Paw Paw :(

Guess I'll have to stick with Babaco... maybe the taste will grow on me.

trikus says...
I was dissapointed that I could not grow red ones when I lived north of Brisbane .
Some fruits you just have to buy .
Support the tropical fruit growers from up here John . You are going very well with your bananas mate . Tried any fruits yet ?

denise says...
You can buy fancy hybrid papaya seed from alohaseed.com online. Their Red Queen variety grows extremely fast and tolerates some cool and shade.Sow in September, plant in February and put some temporary overhead shelter in winter.It is not a dwarf but the Improved Red Maradol is--- so suitable for in greenhouse or under eaves.but the Red Queen is much faster and bigger canopy. I can comment further after winter.The Gold Maradol can be fastish and may tolerate winter better..With soil that is highly enriched with organic material some better results will be forthcoming.

trikus says...
Autumn planting gets plant establishing and growing slowly so fruit will form low down on plant . This is especially important in the tropics . Early spring planting can mean fruits forming 3m up !

snottiegobble says...
denise, how would you describe your climate in Auckland, on a par with Sydney maybe? Do you get frosts?

denise says...
Hi Snottiegobble, Auckland is similar to sydney but not extra hot or dry air. We are moderated by sea on both sides. Frost is closer to non existent due to infill housing and the sheltering trees and bush where I live. We now have no frost in the garden.and last winter my mamey sapote outdoors required no covering and sustained its flush of growth all winter. Also carambola next to house is covered in flowers right now. There are now papaya sprouting in the garden all by themselves so I can now grow them and make rich compost for them.

denise says...
I would think that in a hot and dry place the plants would respond to consant trickle irrigation and would be great for pistachio and date palms.

snottiegobble says...
Olga, going by the the latitude lines on the map, we are approx, opposite Orange, NSW so if red papayas flourish there we may have a fighting chance!

snottiegobble says...
Jason, thats something I didnt think of, daylight hours! The local nursery & bunnings sell a Kensington mango over here that is supposed to grow & produce fruit in cool areas, but I havent seen any grown trees or fruit yet.

J says...
One of our friends is dating a Bee keeper who lives and works in mildura. I've had a chat with him about some of the crops they grow there and he has confirmed farmers do grow mangoes and yes, they do fruit on a regular basis and yes, the fruit does taste good & is sold commercially. He stated when they get nasty frosts and this can damage both the mango & avocado trees they have growing there. Other crops that grow really well in Mildura: Jujube. Stuff that's been tried and failed: Black Sapote.

denise1 says...
The tree is most probably a male. You can tell that if the flowers are narrow and hanging down in bunches. So it will not fruit unless perhaps it has a gender change. Dont chop it out as it may be pollenating some or all of the fruiting trees. Female flowers are single or in tight bunches close to the trunk and they are plump with a small fruit inside the flower. They need to be pollenated. There are trees that are bisexual so can pollenate themselves or other fruit bearer flowers. It is good to plant more papaya plants than you need so you can cull unwanted plants such as excess males.

MIke T1 says...
Shaping up as a bisex.A wider photo would make it easier.

Waterfall says...
A slightly wider angle of the flowers.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

davewastech says...
Doesn't look wide enough for a female flower, but papaya flowers seem to vary a bit (maybe depends on variety?)

I'd like to point out that (in Sydney or Perth) while papaya trees do well from about October to May, they suffer badly during the colder months. The problem then is that the fruit may never ripen because the growing season is too short. ie the tree's soft leaves get battered badly over winter and takes a few months to recover then flower and fruit. But by the time the fruit approach full size it's winter and the fruit won't ripen; they just get sadder looking with lots of black spots. By spring these fruit are just about hopeless. Solution to the problem is eat your papayas green - eg Thai Green Papaya Salad - quite nice.

I've grown Southern Red papayas in Chatswood (Sydney) and a similar variety in Perth near north facing brick walls. The Perth ones did better because the micro-climate in my backyard was very suitable - ie well sheltered from Perth's strong winds on all sides. We got to eat those ones ripe. But my Sydney papayas I mainly eat green, except a small percentage that look like they may ripen.

So I think even Sydney is difficult. Melbourne? - that's a challenge!

Waterfall says...
Great info, thanks. I might put one of mine in my greenhouse to give it a head start for spring.

denise1 says...
You can grow them against a sunny wall with eaves and in a container of a mix that drains well. Also deflect extra rainfall away from getting into the mix or ground. The most salubrious approach is to graft the tropical pawpaw onto a babaco or mountain pawpaw stock. Because the hollowness of the scion can get infected and rot, the scion can be a 15cm seedling or a similar sized sidesprout from a tree as they are not hollow. The parts all need washing for some 5 minutes to clean away all sap that would otherwise cause rot. Then bind it well with plumbers threadseal tape. thats what I use and different brands vary in quality. I then put in some small bamboo stakes around it and place a plastic sleeve around it to hold in the moisture. The best hood height seems to be about 40cms. The results have been around 80%. After all that you wont get any root rotting. Now you just have to avoid the top going rotten. Being under eaves there should be less wetness on the leaves. Also avoid cluttering of plants in the vicinity to allow for air ventilation.

davewastech says...
Thanks Denise and Mark. We did get about 200mm rain last August, and shortly afterwards one Southern Red died of root rot. My papayas are against a north-facing brick wall, but still can get wet and windy.
Interesting re grafting onto babaco.

Danny333 says...
Hi Shabaz,

The trick to growing good papayas is heaps of manure & compost, they are very hungry plants. Don’t over water them in winter as this will lead to root problems. Also keep an eye out for nematodes as they love papaya.

I’m currently growing Red Lady and an unknown orange variety. The orange one is superior in flavour and productivity to the Red Lady. It has no musky aftertaste and it’s flavour has a hint of passion fruit in it, very nice! I propagate this one through cuttings to keep its unique traits.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1	Picture: 2