Content
Papaya is a tropical plant, but indoor cultivation is acceptable. Planting is usually straightforward; it is more difficult to provide proper care. The varieties, methods of reproduction of papaya are described in the article. Perhaps she will inspire you to experiment, and after a while you will proudly show the photo of the exotic to everyone you know.
Varieties and varieties of papaya
Ripe papaya is consumed as a regular fruit, and unripe - as a vegetable for side dishes and salads, but in fact it is a large berry. The photo shows that the tree resembles a palm tree.
There are several varieties:
- Rose red. Its pulp tastes great.
- Small green. Fruits are small, orange inside, sweet.
- Red embossed. It got its name from its characteristic surface and delicious red pulp.
Papaya in vivo
Through selection, many varieties of papaya have been obtained. The most common are:
- Dutch. The oblong light orange fruit has a dark orange, sweet, strawberry-flavored flesh.
Dutch papaya
- Hawaiian is a small oval orange fruit with a very sweet dark orange pulp. It is grown mainly in Thailand.
- Big lady. Differs in large fruit size, green with orange on top and red on the inside. Very tasty.
- Long. Large, elongated, green, even when ripe, the fruit resembles a vegetable marrow. On the inside, it is orange and juicy, but not very sweet.
Long papaya
- Hortus Gold. Differs in excellent taste.
- Washington. The fruits are yellow, in the form of a ball or oval. The pulp is orange, sweet, juicy.
- Ranchi. The tree produces medium-sized fruits - sweet and juicy, without a pronounced aroma.
Advice. When choosing orange papaya, opt for soft fruits with pink-red sides - they are sweeter than others. Determine the ripeness of a green fruit by touch. Softness is an indicator of ripeness.
Planting papaya, leaving
In our latitudes, there is only one option for growing this tropical tree - indoors. The young plant is repeatedly transplanted during the first year, as soon as the roots encircle the entire soil ball. If you ignore this condition, then growth will stop, and the tree will not bloom at all.
Papaya sprouts
It is important to observe the temperature regime - from 24 to 26 degrees in summer and from 18 to 20 in winter. Sharp fluctuations of these indicators are contraindicated, a draft is undesirable. Papaya loves light, so it is better to plant seeds in spring, at the very beginning, then the period of development will coincide with the increase in daylight hours. Autumn or winter sowing needs constant illumination.
In any case, even adult trees will have to compensate for the lack of light in autumn and winter using fluorescent lamps. For the summer, adult specimens can be relocated to the garden, gradually adapting them to sunlight.
Attention: the minimum interval between the foliage and the lamp is more than 300 mm, otherwise burns cannot be avoided.
For the good development of a melon tree, in addition to sufficient illumination, it is necessary to maintain optimal air humidity - water and spray it regularly. For this, water must be defended. At the same time, excessive watering is detrimental to the plant as well as drought.
How to propagate papaya
The plant is propagated by cuttings and seeds. For amateurs, the 2nd method is the most suitable. There are a lot of seeds in one fruit - up to 700 pieces, they have excellent germination.
Papaya seeds
- The seeds are removed, washed with running warm water.
- Placed in wet moss or wet sand for germination and cover with foil. You can soak the seed in a growth promoter.
- Prepare a soil mixture by mixing the same amount of soil from the garden, peat, sand and turf. A universal mixture or one intended for ficus is suitable, where sand should also be added (1: 2).
- Fill containers with a diameter of about 100 mm with soil.
- Deepen the seeds by 20 mm. They arrange something like a greenhouse.
- Air the "greenhouse" every day for about an hour and a half.
- The seedlings that appear after 10 days are planted and the grown seedlings are planted in separate pots. For a year, the procedure is repeated 2-3 times, each time increasing the volume of the dishes.
Tip: if the seeds have sprouted well, then plant them 1 pc. in a bowl so as not to transplant often.
Grown from seed, 1 or 2 year old plant, can be propagated by cuttings. To do this, select a stem with a thickness of no more than 15 mm, divide it into 80-100 mm segments, then place the blanks in a warm and dry place for 2-3 days. Coarse sand is washed, moistened, filled with containers and dried cuttings are placed there.
In our latitudes, papaya can only be grown in a house or a winter garden.
The first flowers on an exotic plant appear after 11 months, and then the fruits, but provided that the care was perfect. Abundant fruiting occurs after about 4 years. The melon tree is developing rapidly, but it belongs to short-lived plants - after about 5 years it must be replaced with a new one.
Fertilizers and feeding
Fertilizers and feeding papaya perceives perfectly. The increased need for them occurs from February to October after a year after germination. Top dressing is applied at intervals of 10 days.
Spring is a period of active growing season, so the plant needs nitrogen contained in ammonium nitrate. In the summer they support it by adding superphosphate and nitroammophoska 2 times in 30 days. It is advisable to feed adult papaya with vermiculite.
You need to feed the plant several times a month.
What diseases and pests threaten the melon tree
The main enemy of papaya is the spider mite. To destroy it, decoctions and infusions of onions, garlic, yarrow, pyrethrum and other herbs with an insecticidal effect are prepared.
With high humidity and lack of heat, a whitish bloom may appear on the leaves - powdery mildew. Colloidal sulfur and copper sulfate are used against it. A weak solution is prepared from them and the plant is processed.
If you are a fan of experiments, then it will not be difficult for you to grow and even achieve fruiting papaya.
How to grow papaya: video
Growing papaya at home: photo
Papaya is a tropical fruit with rich aromas, sweet delicate taste and surprisingly surprising health benefits. Today you can meet this exotic fruit on the shelves of domestic stores quite often. However, many do not even assume that the melon tree is one of the exotic species that are successfully grown at home. I will tell you how to plant and care for papaya at home in this article.
Tropical fruit - papaya
Papaya (Latin Carica papaya) is a palm-shaped tropical tree that belongs to the genus of dioecious plants of the Dwarf family. There are two names for the fruit - melon tree and breadfruit.The plant got these names for a reason - fresh papaya fruits are similar in appearance and taste to melon, and cooked ones smell like freshly baked bread.
For the first time, papaya began to be cultivated even by the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, in the territory of southern Mexico and North America. Now it is grown in almost all tropical countries. In Russia, the melon tree is found on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. In other regions of the country, there is only one option for growing this exotic - indoors.
Getting papaya seeds
The easiest way to get papaya fruit at home is to grow a plant from seeds. The melon tree is an early maturing and fast growing plant. Under good conditions, fruiting in papaya sifted from seeds begins in the first year of planting and lasts 3-5 years. The height of plants in indoor conditions can reach from 1.5 to 3 meters, and the life expectancy is up to 6 years.
Fruiting papaya indoors
To obtain papaya seeds, purchase fully ripe fruit from the store. Cut it in half and remove the seeds. For sowing, 8-10 seeds will be enough, since their germination is high. Then rinse the grains several times with running water and place them in wet sand or moss. Cover the containers with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for 2 days.
Cooking the substrate
Papaya thrives in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6-6.5, well fertilized with humus. To prepare the substrate, mix in equal proportions fertile soil, peat, sand, leaf and sod humus. Also, soil intended for ficuses is suitable for planting, but sand should be added to it in a ratio of 1: 2. Be sure to disinfect the prepared soil mixture in a water bath.
We make a landing
Fill peat pots with disinfected soil, make holes 3-5 cm deep and sow seeds in them. After that, pour plenty of warm water over the containers, cover with foil and place on a window facing south or southeast. Air the greenhouse every day - lifting the film for 1.5-2 hours. Spray the soil regularly with a spray bottle, make sure it dries out.
Papaya seedlings
We take care of seedlings
As a rule, papaya shoots appear in 7-10 days. As soon as the first true leaf is formed on the seedlings, discard the weak specimens. Do this very carefully so as not to hurt nearby seedlings. Do not forget about watering, it should be moderate and frequent. Use only warm water that has settled for 1-2 days for irrigation. In hot weather, spray the leaves daily with a spray bottle.
Papaya grows very quickly, so it needs to be replanted frequently. In the first year of planting, 2-3 transplants will be required, and in subsequent years at least one. Buy transplant containers wide and shallow. When working with the roots, be very careful - the papaya hates being disturbed and, as a result, may even die.
Papaya requires frequent transplants - at least 2-3 per year
14 days after the first pick, start applying complex mineral fertilizers under the plants at the rate of 30-40 grams. for 1 sq. m. soil. Repeat feeding every 2 weeks. During flowering and fruiting, instead of mineral fertilizers, use phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, in the same amount.
The melon tree is a thermophilic plant, for good growth and development it needs a temperature in the range of 23-27 degrees Celsius, and without sudden changes. In winter, papaya should be supplemented with fluorescent lamps, and in summer, transferred to a balcony or terrace.
Growing and fruiting papaya at home will not be difficult even for an inexperienced gardener. The main thing is to adhere to my advice and recommendations, and soon you will get a rich harvest of very healthy and tasty fruits that will be equally savored, both fresh and cooked.
Author, Elena Aleksandrova, gardener
An overseas curiosity, an exotic fruit papaya appeared in our diet relatively recently, but has firmly won sympathy, as it contains a large amount of trace elements and vitamins. The lipid-degrading substance in the papaya pulp burns fats, accelerates the breakdown of protein and carbohydrates.
Papaya - description
Outwardly, the papaya tree looks like a coconut palm, it reaches 6-8 meters in height, a rosette of leaves forms in the upper part, flowers appear in their axils, subsequently fruits are formed from them. The beneficial properties of the papaya fruit are numerous, the orange pulp indicates a high content of beta-carotene in it. In terms of chemical composition, papaya includes almost half of the periodic table, fruits contain a lot of vitamins, flavonoids, magnesium, potassium, iron, pantothenic acid, protein, and fiber.
The papaya fruit is used in folk medicine for better digestion, to eliminate pain from burns and insect bites. The use of this tropical fruit is recommended for people suffering from bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer disease. Extracts made from the fruit help the liver to function properly and stabilize blood sugar. With the help of tough pulp, they cleanse the stomach, neutralize stomach acid, which is very useful for gastritis, hernia and heartburn. This fruit is a source of vigor and strength.
How to grow papaya at home?
Lovers of exotic grow papaya at home, using for this both a room and a balcony, a greenhouse, a winter garden. To do this, you should take seeds extracted from a ripe fruit or purchase cuttings, and with some agrotechnical measures you can grow a tree, which, having developed, will bloom in the second year and give the first harvest, fruits at home can have a mass of up to 2 kg. The conditions created for the papaya should be close to tropical conditions.
To imagine what a papaya fruit looks like, think of a melon. These fruits are so similar in appearance, chemical composition, internal orange-yellow, juicy pulp and thick rind that the second name of papaya is "melon tree". Individual specimens of papaya fruits can reach 9 kg, on average they weigh 7-8 kg, grow up to 30-45 cm in length, in the middle of the fruit there are black seeds. To get the harvest, you should have two plants - male and female, pollinating each other.
Planting papaya seeds
Having decided to start growing papaya at home from seeds, get a ripe fruit, from which you can extract five to six hundred small seeds. After taking out the seeds, they need to be rinsed under a stream of warm, running water, freeing them from the pulp. Then choose from a large number of 8-10 pieces, place in wet sand or moss, cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight, you can use growth biostimulants.
The seeds should be deepened into the soil by 2-3 cm, covered with a film or transparent glass on top to form a mini-greenhouse with a warm microclimate, which should be ventilated daily for at least 1-1.5 hours during the day. The papaya fruit has 100% seed germination, the sprouts that appear after 15-30 days are planted one by one in separate containers, choosing the strongest seedlings for this.
Grow papaya from seed at home - planting
It is best to plant papaya seeds in early March, at which time the daylight hours increase, and the plant will receive the necessary amount of daylight. Additional lighting will be required in autumn or winter. Planting is carried out in a mixture prepared in advance by yourself or in a prepared special soil, the sowing container should be at least 7-9 cm in diameter.
Experienced gardeners answer the question of novice lovers of exotic cultivation at home: is it possible to grow a papaya tree at home, they answer positively, you should only provide the required comfortable microclimate and carry out the recommended agrotechnical measures.Fruit seedlings, being representatives of the tropics, are warm and moisture-loving, require careful handling, regular and competent care.
Papaya - cultivation
Having familiarized yourself with how to grow papaya at home, it is not difficult to understand that this process is not difficult, it is only important to follow all the recommendations for planting and care. Providing a temperature regime within + 24-28 ° С in summer, and at least + 18-20 ° С in winter, moist air, regular, moderate watering and long daylight hours (using artificial light sources, if necessary), you can achieve success and even get a harvest.
Papaya soil
To grow papaya fruit at home, a slightly acidic substrate should be prepared, the pH value of which is in the range of 6-6.5 units. To obtain the desired composition, take one part of fertile soil, peat, sand, deciduous and sod humus, or purchase a ready-made soil mixture in a store. Choose a substrate for universal or for ficuses, hold it in a water bath to disinfect it and add 30% of the total sand. To allow excess moisture to drain freely during watering, provide the plant with good drainage.
Papaya pot
The papaya tree grows quickly, requires periodic and timely transplantation into pots, which are large in volume each time. Plants must be transplanted with caution, if the roots are accidentally damaged, this can adversely affect subsequent growth and even lead to the death of the tree. A very practical and convenient solution is to plant seeds in peat pots, after the roots appear through their walls, the papaya can be painlessly planted in a large container without disturbing the root system.
For growing papaya at home, it is better to use natural pots with drainage holes. Choose pots that are heavy in weight so that the plant does not tip over, wide but not deep, because the papaya has a shallow root system. An adult one and a half to two meter plant requires a volume of at least 50 liters.
How to care for papaya at home?
If you decide to try your luck and grow papaya at home, provide care that matches its tropical origin:
- transfer. In the first year of the plant's life, it will be necessary to change the containers two or three times; subsequently, the transplant can be done once a year;
- fertilization. After two weeks, after the first dive, apply a complex mineral fertilizer, then once a month;
- temperature regime. The tropical plant is thermophilic, low temperature is unacceptable;
- humidity. The humidity level must be high, failure to do so will lead to drying out of the leaves and death of the seedling;
- lighting. It is best to place the papaya on a window facing the south or southwest side, it needs bright lighting;
- watering. The soil should not be allowed to dry out, but excess moisture is also harmful.
Planting papaya at home is not difficult, the main thing is to provide timely and competent care. By observing a number of conditions listed above, you will grow a well-developed, strong and healthy tree. The stems and leaves of plants need frequent spraying not only in summer but also in winter. A large amount of light, moisture, a warm microclimate, fertilizers applied on time - this is the main list of measures that provide comfortable conditions for this exotic tree.
How to Grow Papaya - Watering
When caring for papaya, pay special attention to watering the fruit, waterlogging will create a number of problems that can lead to the death of the plant. This exotic fruit tree is sensitive to root rot due to excess moisture and poor drainage, especially if it grows at insufficient temperatures.Water the plant with soft water at room temperature, in the heat - moisten the crown well, use settled water for watering and spraying. Water regularly, every 3-4 days, in small doses.
Exotic fruit papaya - top dressing
The rules for growing and caring for papaya require not only the creation of the necessary conditions, but also regular feeding, this plant is rapidly developing, always "hungry". For this, balanced complexes of mineral fertilizers or organic matter are used, and for a blooming plant, the amount of phosphorus and potassium supplements is increased. Apply fertilizing twice a month throughout the year.
In the spring, a period of active growth and development of the plant begins, it needs nitrogen, which is contained in ammonium nitrate. In the summer, support the papaya fruit with superphosphate and nitroammophoska added to the ground, use them once every two weeks. Vermiculite is a top dressing that should be used to care for an adult plant. The papaya tree perfectly accepts various types of fertilizers and dressings.
Exotic papaya fruit - diseases and pests
Having learned what the papaya fruit is, how many useful qualities it contains, exotic plant lovers begin to grow it at home. Some of the dangerous pests for the papaya fruit are aphids and spider mites. You can get rid of them with the help of decoctions of onions, garlic, yarrow, some other insecticidal herbal crops or an aqueous solution of actofit. The appeared white bloom "powdery mildew", which has a fungal origin, can be removed with a weak solution of copper sulfate or colloidal sulfur.
The homeland of such a bread or melon tree as papaya (Carica papaya) is South America. However, this plant is not a relative of melons or other vegetable crops. It is considered a separate crop that bears fruit with a unique melon and strawberry flavor.
Such a plant is not a tree or a palm tree. And this is a herbaceous perennial plant, while its stem is similar to a bamboo (it is hollow inside). Papaya is a fast growing plant (both in nature and in the apartment). Its stem is capable of reaching 3-5 and more meters in just 1 or 2 years. Fruiting begins in the second year. When grown indoors, papaya needs pruning, which will hold back its growth, while the bush has a large number of side shoots.
In order to restrain the growth of the plant, it is recommended to choose a container of not very large volume for planting it. For example, in a five-liter container, its growth will be about 200 centimeters. With this cultivation, the papaya will also bear fruit. However, the harvest will not be as abundant. But if such a plant is planted in open ground in the warm season or transplanted into a large container, then it will begin to actively grow again.
Many believe that this plant, when grown indoors, lives for only 5 to 6 years. But this is not the case. If you take proper care of it and create the necessary favorable conditions, then it will be able to live up to 20 years and even more.
Caring for papaya at home
Temperature regime
The birthplace of papaya is the tropical region of South Africa. However, with the help of humans, it spread to almost all continents. It is important to remember that such a herbaceous plant reacts extremely negatively to temperatures below 0 degrees. If the temperature does not drop below this value throughout the year, then the papaya develops superbly and grows very quickly, while giving an incredibly bountiful harvest. Large fruits reach 40 centimeters in length.
However, growing this plant indoors or in a greenhouse, it is impossible to achieve such abundant fruiting. And the taste of the fruit will be slightly different.So, indoor papaya is able to please its owner with 2 or 3 fruits, the length of which will vary from 20 to 25 centimeters.
Papaya reacts extremely negatively to low air temperatures. So, just at minus 1 degrees, the roots and stem with leaves die. So, in winter, when grown indoors or in a greenhouse, experts recommend maintaining a temperature of at least 14-16 degrees. However, the plant feels best at 25-28 degrees. But it is worth considering that papaya can also die from extreme heat (over 30 degrees).
How to water
In this plant, the roots are close to the soil surface, therefore, in the warm season, it needs abundant watering. With the onset of October or November, watering must be significantly reduced, since in the cool, the work of the root system deteriorates, which can lead to stagnation of liquid in the substrate, which will entail the development of root rot. There are experts who believe that papaya is a succulent plant. The fact is that when the air temperature drops, it can calmly endure the not very long drying out of the earthen coma. However, the bay at this time is destructive for her.
It happens that being in cool conditions, the papaya sheds all its leaves. In this case, watering and feeding should be completely stopped and allowed to rest.
Airing
The plant needs regular ventilation, but in winter this must be done very carefully, as cold air can destroy it. When the leaves come into contact with cold air currents, a burn is formed on them. In this case, they fade very quickly or lose their turgor. In this regard, this plant can be warm or cool, but in no case should cold air currents fall on it.
Top dressing
Since this culture is characterized by very rapid growth, it simply needs to be fed often and this should be done in the spring and summer. At the same time, it is strictly forbidden to apply fertilizers to the soil in the autumn-winter period. So, they start feeding the plant in March and do it 2 times a month. For feeding, you can take any complex fertilizer. In this case, both dry and liquid fertilizers are suitable. It is recommended to feed the papaya leaf-by-leaf (foliar method).
Flowering features
Such a plant is dioecious. However, thanks to breeders, bisexual varieties were born. So, on these plants, both male and female flowers grow at the same time, and they are called self-fertile. In the case when indoor papaya blooms, but does not bear fruit, this may mean that in front of you is either a female or a male specimen. At the moment, self-fertile varieties are very popular, which can be freely purchased in a specialized store. It is rather difficult to achieve fruiting from a dioecious specimen growing indoors or in a greenhouse. This will require 2 plants: female and male. It will also be necessary that their flowering begins at the same time, only then it will be possible to produce pollination.
Papaya bears fruit in summer and autumn. It should be remembered that unripe fruits can be severely poisoned, because they contain milky juice. In the process of fruit ripening, the milky juice loses its toxic properties and becomes watery.
Reproduction methods
You can propagate by seedscollected from ripe fruits. Their size is similar to that of tomato seeds. In order for your seeds to germinate successfully, remember that they need a fairly high temperature of 25 to 28 degrees, which must be maintained constantly. Sowing is carried out in loose soil that allows water and air to pass through well, while they need to be buried only half a centimeter. For sowing, you can also take sphagnum.
It is worth remembering that the cooler it is in the room, the longer the seedlings will appear.If they are placed in a warm place (25-28 degrees), then the first shoots should appear after 8 days. It is also worth remembering that good seed germination can be maintained for a very long time (over several years). To store them, use any glass container and place it in a cool place.
Also, this plant can be propagated by cuttings... With this method, all the properties characteristic of the mother plant are preserved. The length of the cutting should be between 10 and 12 centimeters. And their diameter should be no more than one and a half centimeters. In this case, the cut should be made at an angle of 45 degrees. Using a pruner or a very sharp knife, you need to remove all the lower leaf plates, and only 2 should remain at the very top. Then the cutting is left for 2-3 days (preferably a week) for drying, while a tissue plug should appear at the cut site, which can prevent a variety of pathogenic microbes from penetrating into the stem. Before planting in the soil, the cut should be treated with chopped charcoal. Also, if desired, you can use an agent that stimulates the growth of roots, and only after that, rooting can be carried out.
The planting of the cuttings is carried out at a depth of 2-3 centimeters, then the soil is slightly compacted and watered. For this, clean water is used. The stalk should be placed in a well-lit (diffused light), warm (25-28 degrees) place, and high humidity must be maintained in it. It is recommended to cover the stalk on top with a glass jar, a plastic bag or a glass made from a plastic bottle. It is worth remembering that in unfavorable conditions the roots of the cuttings will not appear. At the same time, you can plant the stalk in vermiculite, perlite, sand or peat, and a mixture consisting of equal shares of sand and peat is also suitable.
A young plant is planted in a not very large pot. It should be remembered that a small plant has a small root system that cannot cover the entire substrate in a bulky dish, as a result of which rotting will begin due to overflow. A papaya planted in a large pot may also begin to grow vegetatively, with very little flowering. During plant transplantation, the diameter of the new container should be only 2 or 3 centimeters larger than the previous one.
Pests and diseases
This plant is highly resistant to diseases and pests. When grown in a room with too dry air, spider mites can settle on the papaya. In this regard, in order to prevent and control such pests, it is required to arrange souls for the plant. You need to wash all the foliage with cool or cold water. In case of severe infection, it is necessary to carry out treatment with biological complex preparations of the appropriate action.
Various fungal diseases can also appear. So, when watering a plant during a cool wintering (less than 15 degrees) with too cold water, root rot begins to develop, which leads to the death of the entire specimen.
Culinary tricks
The fruits obtained from papaya grown by their own hands, after their ripening, can be eaten without fear. Such fruits are versatile and are suitable for eating not only fresh. So, not fully ripe fruits are often used as vegetables. They are used for stewing and baking. It is worth remembering that only ripe fruits can be eaten raw. They are used to prepare aromatic cocktails, make fruit salads, or use them as a pie filling. An interesting fact is that the juice of this fruit softens meat very well, therefore it is used as a marinade. Even the toughest meat is softened with it, for example, in America it is actively used in the preparation of steaks.
