Growing Papaya Trees In My Garden.

Papaya is a very common fruit here and we love to eat papayas. It is sweet and juicy. I have tried growing papaya tree in my garden for a few times and only successful at the 4th time.

A close up look at the papaya leaves.
On my 1st try, when the papaya tree was about 3 feet plus, the whole plant began to rot. It could have been that I had over-watered it or it was due to the wet season.

On my 2nd and 3rd try, the papaya trees I planted turned out to be male plants. They have lots of flowers but no fruits. I too dug out the 2 plants. I decided to go for 1 last try and finally on the 4th try, it turned out to be a success. 

 This is my papaya tree planted just outside the concrete fencing.

Daily as I watered my plants, I will check on the papaya tree.

Finally, one day I saw signs of flower buds.

The papaya tree started flowering at about 3 feet tall.

The flowers were blooming and more buds were forming.

A close up view of a papaya flower.

Praise the Lord, finally a tiny fruit was formed.

I was happy to see the tiny fruit.

These are unripe fruits.

Papaya fruits are rich in antioxidant nutrients, Vitamin C, B, other minerals and fiber, etc.

 It is very fruitful for a tree that is about 5 feet tall.

Papaya trees bear fruits throughout the year.

Some of the fruits showing sign of ripening.

 Due to my over-excitement, I plucked this fruit before it has ripen enough. The traces of green can still be seen here. After peeling off the skin and cutting the fruit, the outer layer of the fruit was a bit hard. Learning from experience - the fruit of this papaya tree cannot be plucked too early.

As you can see, the colour was lighter, It should be of deeper orange.

The flesh is juicy but not very sweet.

 I found a baby papaya tree in my garden while I was weeding one day. I dug it out and planted it in a big pot. I wanted to see if it will grow and fruit when planted in a pot.

So far, it is growing well but looks a bit thin, may need some fertilizer. Anyway, I will have to wait and see how it will turns out.

For the next harvest, I waited for the fruits to be well ripen.

The fruits were very sweet and juicy!

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure;

then peace-loving, considerate, submissive,

full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

(James 3:17-18, NIV)