We have fruit! 9/20/09
The female papaya tree bearing fruit (about 3 inches now). The male across the yard is proud to help!
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Remember my little papaya tree that we rescued from the side of the road months back? Well, it's growing up so big and tall these days with all the rain we have been having and then days of sun. When I went home to California, my mom got out the almanac because I was curious why it hadn't grown any papayas yet. I have trees all over my neighborhood that seem to be smaller than my tree but producing fruit so I wanted to know what gives on these trees.
I read that you have to separate the male plants from the female plants (heck, I didn't even know there were a male and female!). The male papaya plant bears no fruit (so now I know that my plant from the road we planted it probably male). Determining the male papaya from the female can only be done when the plants begin to flower after several weeks (or months in my case). Female flowers are larger and grow closer to the branch than male flowers. If you are trying to growing multiple plants you are suppose to save a few males for pollination. I never knew there was such a science to these trees.
The tree that has the fruit grew a few years ago probably from a construction worker who was here and threw the seed over the deck and just now has it's first fruit so it must have been waiting for the male tree to show up to pollinate. So cool. The fruit is only about 3 inches now but I am just thrilled that it is growing something.
I need to plant some mango trees because I like them better than papaya anyway. Better read up on how to grow those too because I start.
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