Papaya Tree Planting And Care

First cultivated in Mexico, the papaya tree is a fruit-bearing plant first discovered many centuries ago. Its fruit is edible, tastes sweet, and varies in sizes.

A semi-ripe papaya fruit can be eaten, after it is peeled, sliced thinly, and dipped in vinegar or seasoning salt. Fully ripe fruits can be eaten by slicing it into halves, within which are Several Black Seeds that can be planted for cultivation.

Specie of genus Carica, the papaya has one stem growing from 5 to 10 meters, with leaves arranged in a spiral pattern on the tree-top.

It prefers the hot climate between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and is susceptible to damage by strong winds. However, the good thing about the tree is its adaptability to almost all pH type of soils. Planting can start from Seedlings obtained from nurseries.

Seeds to be planted should be the most ripened or darkened. They can be buried in a small pot with good drainage and filled with soil. The pot is positioned where it can get sunlight, and where it is visible so as to remember to keep it moist.

Seedlings can be trans-planted to the soil in 4 to 6 feet distance from each other. From this early stage, the papaya seedlings should be watered generously, without drowning their roots.

As many find it very tricky to water this tree, you may do well giving more water to the plant during warm weather as evaporation takes more quickly, and thus, does not reach the fruit or the leaves.

You can also water at a cooler time of the day like early morning or in the evening. If the weather is cool, watering is less frequent. If you water more in this weather, the roots are likely to rot.

In most residential areas in countries in Asia, the fruit tree is not treated with fertilizer. Papaya trees with fruits sold commercially may or may not fertilizers too. The truth is that, fertilizers are not recommended especially in mature trees.

This is because the fertilizers can affect negatively the production of fruits. If necessary, apply small amount of fertilizers during the early stages of the papaya tree. As mentioned earlier, the trees can grow to as tall as 10 meters.

A height like this would require a ladder to harvest the fruits. In some areas, the farmer will cut the tree to a height of 3 or 4 feet after it is unreachable and after bearing fruits several times. Cutting of the tree may also enhance its fruit-bearing capacity.

However, the cutting of a papaya tree should be done at a time when the weather is warm to discourage disease-carrying insects to devour on the exposed areas.

________________________________________________________________

Top of Papaya Tree

Listed under Gardening Plants