Monday, September 19, 2016

Papaya, with a light mulch.

It will be sad, if this papaya tree emerge as male. I hope that will not happen. The previous attempt ended with all three male papaya, with small white flowers dangling from long stalks. It started when I took pity on papaya seedlings emerging in one of Kakdah's flower pots. Ater carefully transplanting them on the ground,  a few months later,  the three papaya tree were  teasing me " sorry, you got three males, ."  To sooth injured ego, I let them grow for awhile, Anyway its not too bad having male papaya, the flowers are good for salad.

But the current experiment with papaya will hopefully be all females. The seeds were clinically selected. Two varieties are grown right now. The first type had been grown here last year, which had produced lots of fruits and  the second was given by Farah. She was our eldest daughter now in Jitra Kedah



Papaya with a light mulch

source of mulching material

Mulch around the base of young  papaya tree is like kids with socks. Mulch will protect plants during hot weather. I can leave them on their own  when we need to be away for a few days. The safest approach to collect mulching material is to grow them. Grasses offer decent source, like lemongrass and napier grass.




Bangchik and Kakdah
Putrajaya Backyard Garden

8 comments:

  1. I have planted a lot of male papaya trees in the past! It's really a thrill waiting to check if they are male or female! hahahha.... Hope this time you're lucky Bang Cik! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am going to be lucky this time around, 12 papaya trees, with one already showing every sign of being female....

      Delete
  2. selalu gagal tanam papayakerana yang tumbuh mesti male papaya.Ada petua tak agaknya :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pilih benih2 yang hitam... kemudian semai. Pastinya female..... kalau pungut yang tumbuh merata2, kemungkinan jantan...

      Delete
  3. I have never used mulch on growing papaya. I think that's a good idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am into "permaculture" with the present garden..., reducing external inputs on fertiliser. So mulching will reduce watering cost and will decompose over time, adding organic matter into the soil. A bit theoretical though... but lets see how far it work

      Delete
  4. Quick question: do you have any problems with mulch and slugs/snails?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mulch will help to lower temperature of soil and reduce evaporation, and of course snails love the cooler environment. I let them be part of the ecosystem, until they turn out to be a threat. A few snails is alright...

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...