Papaya questions

[spaugh]

Maybe figure out something to grow as a windbreak? Not for everyone but I'm using an edible timber bamboo on one side and seagrape hedge with coconut trees on another side. Windbreaks can be natural and even multi-purpose. My choices are also for hurricane resistance, I guess in Cali fire might be a consideration.

Yeah fire is a problem and also its on a steep hillside so its not really easy to surround everything with trees.  I am planting some trees but its never going to really do that much.  We are on top of a mountain and get nailed by the wind.

Trees are also expensive and need to be irrigated here.  Im planting passionfruit on the dear fence and propogating eucalyptus and jacarandas from seed but thats a slow process.  I got some other cool seeds from florida called yellow jacaranda or yellow poinciana (Peltophorum).  Just sprouted a bunch of those to use for wind breaks.

Heres a photo from the next mountain over pointing back to my house.  The garden has grown a little but you can see the fruit trees below the house. Need to get a newer photo from over there.

[CA Hockey]

I’ve attached photos of my dwarf Brazilian papaya. Grew bonkers with fertigation and 30-10-10 fertilizer.

The picture of fruit shows main fruit and cat face fruit which don’t rate as good. The cat face fruit are slightly deformed - round with puckered tip. I was told to relive those. Also remove any side branches.

My tree did get beat up in the wind. Several leaves snapped and it no longer looks bushy. I guess it looks like a real papaya tree and less of a papaya Bush now.

[greenman62]

i have grown them in banana circles.
a pit in the middle dug out and filled with rotting wood, leaves, grass, coffee grounds....
it will hold water even in hot sun, just put as much woody mulch on top as possible.
the soil organisms and worms go wild, it stays moist and fertile.
ive been using logs to provide barriers for raised beds too, that also works well.

as far as the male-female thing...
my understanding is that almost all papaya sold are grown from seed which is
cultivated, over generations, to produce mainly hermaphrodites.
usually %66 or more herm, with %33 female and almost no males.

[spaugh]

I finally got a ripe papaya.  The plants did nothing all winter/spring.  Was a long cold season.  The fruit is pretty good, no seeds thats nice.  Not sure what that means?  The whole sex of papaya plants is a bit confusing.  One tree was not making fruit so I killed it.  Im down to 2 trees. 

[EvilFruit]

I finally got a ripe papaya.  The plants did nothing all winter/spring.  Was a long cold season.  The fruit is pretty good, no seeds thats nice.  Not sure what that means?  The whole sex of papaya plants is a bit confusing.  One tree was not making fruit so I killed it.  Im down to 2 trees. 

No male pollen = no seeds

Anyway, I find Papaya fruit with seeds are much better than without seeds.There are little bit sweeter and Juicer when they have seeds, imo.

Congratulation