Wednesday 24 February 2016

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)

78 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Hello William, look out for it at the fruit stalls and give it a try. You may like it.

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  2. One of my favourite fruit. Hub used to plant a lot & we have abudant. These days, it seem very hard to plant them. My guess is too much rain and the papaya trees will just drop death as the roots gets rotten. Sometimes very funny, up to a certain height, the top part of the tree will just bend sideways.

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    1. Yes, the 1st one I planted was like that, the top part bent and then the whole plant died. I guess it is too much water.

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    2. Looks like I am not the only one having problems planting new papaya trees. In my 15 years of planting them, I find the last two years to be the most problematic and challenging. I can only postulate that this is due to climate change. I have the symptoms that you all have described above. The abnormal heat that we have during the last two years is either killing off the female papaya plant (they just dry up) or for some reason causing most new plants to be mostly male.

      Beware that planting papaya trees in pots may cause the pots to rupture when space is running tight for the roots.

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    3. Thank you, Chuah for cautioning about the pot getting ruptured. Looks like I have to find space in my garden to grow another papaya tree.

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  3. YuM....and lucky you to be growing them, your plant looks very healthy!!

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  4. I love papayas. My mum grows papaya trees. Actually she did not grow them. The birds help to cultivate the seeds. Lol.

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    1. Rose, I realized that the ones cultivated by birds grow more healthier from my own experience.

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  5. Wow, your Papaya tree is wonderful. I love Papaya but only tried it once. It's a lovely fruit.
    Hugs,
    JB

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    1. Thank you, Julia. We eat papaya quite regularly.

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  6. How wonderful, all your patience and hard work paid off. I have never seen the leaves or flowers of a papaya tree, but I did try papaya for the first time on our vacation in Hawaii. It was the sweetest and so delicious and those leaves and flowers you shared are beautiful, and the pictures of the papaya make me want to try it again. I have been looking for it here but have not been successful yet. I have enjoyed this post very much and learned a lot. Thank you so much Nancy :)

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    1. Thank you, Denise. I hope your search for papaya fruits will be successful.

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  7. wow!!! lots of papayas.. sadly I cannot grow papaya here in USA..

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    1. I think the weather is not suitable for growing papaya trees.

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  8. I wish I had the space for papaya trees, Nancy. Yours are fruiting really nicely. *thumbs up* :)

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. Now I am hoping the one planted in the pot will be successful too!

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  9. Nancy, it is such a joy to see your success with your 4th try with growing a papaya tree! It is bearing so many fruits and you can have a constant supply of delicious papayas. Quite tricky isn't it to know which is male or female when we begin to plant.

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    1. Thank you, Phong Hong. We can only know when the tree starts to flower.

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  10. They say, never give up and you didn't so what a wonderful result.

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    1. Thank you, Margaret. I am glad I didn't give up.

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  11. I enjoyed seeing these beautiful trees and fruits! It must have been so exciting to see the first fruits. The leaves and flowers are pretty, too!

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    1. Thank you, Beatrice. Oh yes, I was very excited to see the 1st flower and then the fruits. I was so encouraged!

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  12. How cool is this??? Growing your own fruits? I am hungry for a good fruit salad now - WITH papaya!!

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    1. Thank you, Linda. I have not tried making fruit salad with papaya.

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  13. Fabulous review. Loved your detailed post.

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  14. It's a wonderful blessing that you can grow papaya tree Nancy:) The tree itself looks so beautiful and the fruit is edible! Win - Win! There's lot's of pickles, stir fry green papaya, smoothies, or just have the fruit slices as dessert. I'm happy for you!

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  15. I love papaya also, its yummy and good for healty. I have papaya tree also, the leave and flower also yummy for papaya fried leave and flower vegetable.

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    1. Thank you, Uli. I didn't know that papaya leaves and flowers can be eaten as vegetable. So interesting!

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  16. Congrats! I love to eat papayas. Hope your tree continues to give you lots of fruit.

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    1. Thank you, Mun. I hope it will grow healthy and fruitful too!

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  17. Excelente trabalho e belas fotografias.
    Gostei.
    Um abraço e continuação de uma boa semana.

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    1. Thank you, Francisco. Have a wonderful day! Hugs!

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  18. 4th time baru successful ah? I tried twice. Bith times also kena the mealy bug attack and died.

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    1. I almost gave up but am happy I didn't. Now at least I have my homegrown papaya fruits to enjoy.

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  19. it looks soo beautiful dear ,every try has a positive result at the end of the day and here you got it ,

    in my mom's house we used to have one ,its fruit is not only delicious but very healthy and useful too

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    1. Thank you, Baili. I love papayas because it is very delicious and juicy.

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  20. Hello Nancy!:)Wonderful post, nicely photographed and I learnt a lot reading your excellent commentry. I's an exquisite fruit that I have enjoyed many a time, but have never seen it growing in pots or gardens. The leaves are beautiful and your plants look very healthy. "You live and learn" as the saying goes, well done Nancy, and thanks for sharing your knowledge.:)

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    1. Thank you, Breathtaking. It is my joy to plant, watch them grow and enjoy the harvest. And I also love to share my experience. Thank you for your kind comments.

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  21. How fun and I'm glad it finally worked. Hubby did the same kind of thing with avocado. He finally got it to work and now we have avocados. We share it with our neighbors.

    Have a fabulous day Nancy. ☺

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    1. Thank you, Sandee. Good to hear of your fruitful avocado tree. Have a fabulous day too!

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  22. Sometimes, i buy guava, sometimes i buy papaya, eat in the morning before breakfast, helps me in my toilet business...

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  23. It's really great to see someone who's trying to grow fruits or vegetables in their own garden, it's really inspiring! Great post!xx

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  24. Hi Nancy , your Pappya tree remembering me, my native place pappaya tree

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  25. My parents had many trees in their garden in Zimbabwe, I do miss them, the fruit was delicious and I love the peppery seeds as well. I seldom see them here and when I do they are quite expensive :-(( Diane

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    1. I am sure your parents' garden has lots of fruit trees. Imported fruits are not cheap.

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  26. I am really impressed! You are quite a gardener, Nancy.

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    1. Thank you, Angie. So happy for the success on the 4th try.

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  27. Oh Nancy you've opened my eyes! All I've tried before was not well ripen and I didn't like the taste at all and was wondering why people love it so much? Now I know why. Well next time I'll go grocery shopping I'll search for the good ones)

    Tanya
    www.StripesNVibes.com
    BlogLovin

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    1. You must go the deeper colour but not too soft. I hope you will get a tasty one to try and love it.

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  28. Nancy I have never seen it before looks great and interesting

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  29. I love papaya!!! I wish I have a green thumb like you:) I also am following your blog now thru Google Friends Connect:)

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  30. I have never tasted papaya...but the plant/tree is beautiful even if it didn't have the fruit.

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  31. My dad likes papaya me I don't think I have ever tried it, I don't remember trying it, also if you had a follow by email I would get back here more often as I prefer to follow blogs via email

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  32. Congrats on 4th time lucky! The male flowers are used for salad apparently.

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    1. Oh really? I didn't know that papaya flowers can be eaten as salad.

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    2. Can be cooked in other ways too. Not easy to find in the market though.

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    3. Stacy, this is really interesting. I would love to taste papaya flower salad or cooked papaya flowers.

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  33. Papayas are abundant here in my country. They to avoid male plants, you have to cut the largest root before transplanting and it will turn out to be female. I've always done that, and it worked every time.

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    1. Thank you, Lei for this great tip. I sure will do that the next time I plant a baby papaya tree.

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  34. We also planted Papayas in our backyard. Unfortunately, the first batch of Papaya rotted and died. I guess there's some pests eating the roots of those papaya.

    My wife planted new papaya and they're growing well now. I hope that they don't die like the first ones.

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    1. I hope your new papaya trees will grow well and be fruitful.

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  35. What a thrill to have a papaya tree in your yard -- it is a beautiful tree and a yummy fruit. As always your celehbration meal (in the post above) looks wonderful.

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    1. Thank you, Sallie. Hoping to grow more fruit trees in my yard. Have a wonderful day!

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  36. Thanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will share some more information about papaya trees. Please keep sharing.
    Papaya Benefits For Skin And Hairs

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