The Tropical Fruit Forum

I used the original silver Rat Zapper for years and it reduced the numbers in my backyard significantly.  This year the coyotes and hawks have stepped in to help.

All my backyard papaya plants are from 2012 so I thought it was time to start some new plantings.  I germinated in a Park Seed tray store bought (Aloha Seed) and also seeds from papayas growing in my backyard.  It took approx. 30 days, but all the seeds did sprout and grew to about 4-5" and I transferred them to larger pots.  Sadly, many have started to wilt and die after I moved them outside to a plastic pop up greenhouse.
I'm at a loss to figure out what's going wrong.
Help.

Finally lopped off about 6' to 8' from each of the 4 tallest Papaya plants and they have all put out new leaves and one is producing fruit.  It seems to take forever for Papaya seeds to germinate when I try to grow them in seed starter mix, but some have finally poked through.

Out of desperation, I bought an ultrasonic pest repeller at Amazon (only $35) and I'm now trying to see if it will help with my two biggest problems, ground squirrels and rats.  I know these things have had spotty reviews in the past, but this one seemed to have some favorable ones that gave me hope that it might work.
Has anyone else had luck with these things?
I'm not talking about the little ones that plug into an inside outlet and chase away mice and spiders.  This one supposedly will deter larger critters like raccoons, squirrels, deer, etc.

Samu,
Thanks for the tip and links to the tube trap.  I just ordered one through Amazon.

This morning I wasn't up early enough to move the Victor rat trap in my Papaya plant and a Mockingbird got snapped in the trap.  I thought he was a goner, but I went out and opened the trap, dumped him in the corner of the yard and he must have only been stunned because the next time I looked, he was gone.  That's the trouble with using those traps - they're just too dangerous and whack any critter that trips them.

Wow, I'm in awe of your bounty, but also realize that it's the result of a lot of hard work.

It's still very dry here in San Diego, but the winds have died down considerably and my location saw no fires and no problems with smoke.  I strongly suspect arson as the cause of many of the fires.

I thought some of my plants were unusually tall, but I guess not.

Rat #2 got zapped in the Rat Zapper next to one of my papaya plants last night.  Looks like I'll need to buy more batteries and deploy another Rat Zapper by the orange tree that is loaded with ripening fruit along with the papaya plants that are also loaded with fruit.

This is the second papaya I've found with a round hole in it just after it had started to ripen on the plant.  Suspects include the pesky squirrel, rats or the ever-present mockingbird.

Have you considered a Reed? It has buttery rich flesh that oxidizes very slowly. You can leave cut fruit in the fridge for a day without it turning brown. It's also a columnar, relatively smaller tree. There's lots of other rare varieties as well.
Check out this website
http://www.epicenteravocados.com

Simon

I've been planting, torturing and killing avocado trees in my back yard for over 15 years.  I'm sure I already had a Reed that died a miserable over watered death in one of my half whiskey barrel patio pots.
For some unknown reason, my luck has changed and I've managed to find places in the yard that have good drainage and counteract my tendency to drown the trees.

I looked back at an older thread and friend harvested some of his Hass around October November. I've seen Hass holding fruit for many months of the year and younger trees can have very early or late blooms. Please keep us updated, I've got a great recipe for Avocado smoothie if you find yourself overwhelmed with fruit.

Simon

Sorry, but no matter how much fruit we have you'd never make it past my wife.   
Thanks for the info.