Papaya, short lived dreams.

Dreams of good harvest had been short lived with papaya lately.  Leaves turned yellow over a week or two, and the whole papaya tree became weak and died within two weeks.  I guess it's erwinia papayae   a bacterial pathogen, at work. It's also known as bacterial crown rot.

Pic 1: affected papaya tree probably due to erwinia papayae bacteria

Pic 2: healthy papaya tree nearby

_______bangchik_______

Papaya flower, will it turn to fruit?

The first promising papaya flower emerged yesterday. Out of 12 papaya trees, this particular tree is a bit quick in displaying its vitality. The rest are still learning. When they are learning, flowers just open up for the day and drop off  a few  days later.  Like little birds learning to fly, papaya trees are learning too..

papaya early stage

papaya early stage

Papaya little fruit emerging

Papaya tree

Papaya in a row

bangchik and kakdah

Berkebun di Putrajaya

Can papaya handle clitoria ternaeta?

Truly, I am a bit obsessed with permaculture lately, so allowing clitoria to go up papaya tree is somewhat natural. Climbers in the wild will climb any tree to touch the sky, as their weak stems cant keep them straight.

Clitoria ternaeta climbing up papaya tree

Clitoria ternaeta is a fighter. It seems to enjoy its pest free heritage. It can however choke any weak plants, with its thick foliage as it continues growing and blocking lights out of the host plant. I wish the two can be truly friendly, papaya alllowing clitoria to piggyback and clitoria oferring nutrients to papaya roots through its nitrogen fixing prowess.

Of course I will play the role of referee, not allowing clitoria to overrun. 

bangchik and kakdah

Putrajaya Vegetable Garden

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

Papaya can tell stories.

We can see a gap between the lower  fruits, and the upper fruits. The gap is due to last year's  dry season which was particularly hot and dry.

So papaya can really tell stories with precise evidence.... hmmm.

Papaya: a gap in between hanging fruits.

BANGCHIK AND KAKDAH
Garden: Presint 8,  Putrajaya.

Setting up the first phase of Seri Iskandar Garden.

We spent 2 weeks recently over in Seri Iskandar home, a house built almost fifteen years ago but we never stay even for a night. The feeling is still like coming home.   The inside is empty, surprisingly all lightings, pipe fittings, built in kitchen cabinets and bedroom wardrobes are still in good conditions.  A dream house some years ago, and now we coming to stay for real.

Kakdah was busy with her curtains and getting the basics going. New big refrigerator, washing machine and gas stove were purchased. It's like a young couple getting basic infra into their first home....... We realised things are costly now.

While kakdah was busy inside, I stayed outside assessing what's need to be done. Some seedlings had been prepared and carried all the way from seri kembangan, 300km away.

Garden and Lawn

Before: 2  mango trees, 1 lime tree (limau kasturi), 1 henna tree (inai), 1 big clump of lengkuas or galangal, and 1 clump of  lemon grass.  And there is colony of cherry trees at the front gate which probably grow through birds dispersal. The rest are all patches of grass growing on poor soil.

After: Both of us discussed, and agreed to allow only one mango tree, so one had to go.  I did it in stages, trimming branches and upper parts, before finally coming to the main trunk.  . Mansor brought in 10 bags of decomposed cow dungs, 5 bags of palm oil refinery waste from Pengkalan Bharu for soil improvement.  I put in a number of plants to form skeletal framework to the garden.

patchy grass on poor soil

soil improvements done in sections

soil improvements done in sections

a peek through old mouldy front fence gives eerie feeling

limau kasturi / citrus microcarpa  at the backyard

Ceperai/ champeria manillana    

3 papaya seedlings

papaya close up with coconut husk as soil cover

3 papaya seedlings

4 pineapples seedlings

3 companions : asin-asin, keladi and ginger

It's the eventual retirement house, so we will keep coming back to get used to things around here, the house, the garden and the neighbours.  Newly introduced plants like pineapples, asin-asin,  keladi or yam/taro/caladium, papaya, cemperai, lemongrass, Leucaena leucocephala/petai belalang  and Napier grass. are tough and they dont need a gardener to babysit them on daily basis. We will keep returning to the old house on regular basis, once a month at least, until I finally retire.

It's really a rare 2 weeks long vacation.

bangchik and kakdah

Gardening at Seri Iskandar Home.

Growing papaya, leaves getting greener (update no 5)

Huh, still a week to go before all papaya seedlings will be brought to Seri Iskandar Home 300 km north.  They do look strong, stems are beginning to show light brown colour. I read a gardener's post about planting 3 seedlings in a hole, and wait until they begin to flower. The strongest female will remain and the other two has to be cut.  Hmmm... I feel bad about cutting off plants, but even if we don't cut them off, these plants are good at self sacrificing....., a phenomena I have seen countless times with spinach seedlings, when plants allow the strongest to shoot high, and the others close by stay low, dormant for a while....

Papaya seedlings, a lot greener now

Papaya seedlings

Previous updates:

• Betik, Papaya, five lobes. (update no 4)
• Growing papaya, different health level (update 3) 
• Growing papaya, the scrutiny ( update no 2)
• Growing papaya, a closer look (update no 1)

bangchik and kakdah

vegetable garden

Betik, Papaya, five lobes. (update no 4)

Someone was saying, a female papaya plant will have more five lobe leaves than  three lobe,  Now I am beginning to see five love leaves emerging....

papaya seedlings

papaya seedlings

papaya seedlings

previous updates

• Growing papaya, different health level (update no 3)
• Growing papaya, the scrutiny ( update no 2)
• Growing papaya, a closer look (update no 1)

• 
  

bangchik and kakdah

vegetable garden

Growing papaya, different health level (update no 3)

It's a habit  to germinate more than required. I suppose it's alright since we can progressively pull out the weaker ones. Now there are more than 30 seedlings growing at the front yard.  Plants are definitely getting stronger now, enjoying the sunlight and the fertiliser ! Each on average has 6 big leaves plus a few young shoots.  Judging by the pace they are growing,  there should not be any problem to transplant in the new Seri Iskandar Home, some 300km north.

papaya seedlings

Papaya seedlings

Papaya seedlings

Previous updates on PAPAYA

• Growing papaya, the scrutiny (update no 2)
• Growing papaya, a closer look (update no 1)

bangchik and kakdah

vegetable gardening

Growing papaya, the scrutiny ( update no 2)

It's easy to throw seeds where we want them to finally grow and leave it to nature to deal with it. That has been the way forests evolve and sustain for million of years. Of course man, animals, rivers, seas and winds help seeds to disperse and grow further away than their mother plants.

It's papaya now. A papaya bought from Putrajaya Presint 8 Market had been peeled and consumed. The seeds then let to dry for a week and germinated in polybags. Some were placed in germinating tiny pots.  Their cotyledon leaves were very pronounced last week (Growing papaya, a closer look (1)),  even though some had pushed out tiny 4th and 5th leaves.

Growing papaya 

At this stage, third and fourth leaves had grown larger. with some showing the lobes.  We placed seedlings into poly bags and wait for them to grow bigger and taller. And at this stage it would not be easy to distinguish the females from the males. Tiny fifth and sixth leaves are quite visible in most seedlings.

papaya seedlings pic1

papaya seedlings pic2

papaya seedlings pic3

papaya seedlings in polybags and spinach seedlings in round pots pic4

We plan to transplant the papaya seedlings into Seri Iskandar Home in Perak  during long Christmas / New Year holidays, some 300 km north.  Hopefully the tiny seedlings will get stronger  to endure the long journey and settle in a new environment.

bangchik and kakdah

vegetable garden

Growing papaya, a closer look (update no 1)

Papaya is betik in our language. It's a short lived plant,  The first attempt in Putrajaya way back in 2009 and 2010 lasted to the end, died due to termites attack. It had given numerous fruits during its healthy life. Another attempt in 2011, of five papaya in Tanah Merah Kelantan was much shorter simply because we moved to Pasir Gudang, but we did enjoy a few fruits...

Now we are germinating papaya seeds for Seri Iskandar home, the house we would eventually settle down soon. We will wait for the seedlings to toughen a little bit with 8 - 12 leaves. We cannot be planting more than 15 seedlings due to limited space.

Now we are baby sitting the little seedlings.....

Papaya seedlings

Papaya seedlings - three leaves

Papaya seedlings - 3 leaves 

Papaya seedlings, 4 leaves

Harvest of the day : KALE

Harvest of the day: ONION LEAVES

Early Sunday morning, we pulled out kale and onions. They looked fresh, and lunch was very much home garden based.

_____________bangchik and kakdah_____________

vegetable garden

Sadness.

We missed gardening for a month or so. Now we are back. I look around, and immediately sense sadness. A glimpse of neglect. Emotional abandonment.

walkway, a little bit sad.

Balsam resting on the walkway

Ulam raja peeping out over the fence.

potted plants fending themselves

But papaya is happy.....

bangchik and kakdah

The excitement of first fruit, first baby for Papaya.

Is the first fruit too tough for them, these papaya?. I guess it should. Like everything else, the first day to school, the first baby, the first day of exams and so on. Every emotional elements gets in, jumbled up and create what I suspect the excitement.

the three first fruits - Papaya

the excitement of it's first fruit. - Papaya.

I think the plants wish to make the experience having the first fruit last longer, as long as they can. So they stop having subsequent fruits for a while, utilising every bit of energy and nutrients to nurture their first fruit. At the same time building enough skill and knowledge to go for the next and next and next. I am sure, they are strengthening stems and roots also, to  stay strong and upright as fruits get bigger and bigger. They dont want to get toppled down by strong winds with the first baby..........

Just imagine, the work papaya plants got to do, to build massive reservoir of carbohydrate content, potassium, calcium, chlorine, iron, silicon, sodium, antioxidant nutrients such as beta-carotene, Vitamin A and C and flavonoids, B Vitamins, folate and panthotenic acid. And the best part is the fruits has to store Papain which is proteolytic enzyme that is said so powerful. Papain helps digesting an amazing 200 times its own weight of protein. These are nutritional contents that are beneficial to us, and Papaya plants work hard to get them ready before harvest!

Earlier posts on Papaya

• Papaya, all female.July 2011
• ASSESSING THE LAWN: six months after Jun 2011 
• Papaya: selecting the strongest plant Jan 2011
• Introducing Papaya Dec 2010

bangchik and kakdah

Papaya, all female.

The other day Zali, and Ya were quite surprised to see all four papaya plants in our little garden, female. I tell them a technique  "scoop seeds from a ripe papaya, there should be more females than males. Both sexes differ in colour and size, take the females and germinate them!"

It was Farah our daughter who told me this. She got it from one of her neighbours in Kepala Batas, Kedah. I am not in a position to really confirm the technique, but somehow it worked on me. So it is nice to see all female papaya. And they are showing off little fruits, telling everyone that they really are females and ready for more little fruits.... I thought at seven months, they are rather quick to produce flowers and fruits. The last attempt over in Putrajaya took much longer, almost a year which finally died after a bout of termite attack.

plant no 1, first fruit

plant no 2,  first fruit  

plant no 3,  first fruit 

Earlier posts/pictures on Papaya:

• ASSESSING THE LAWN: six months after Jun 2011
• Papaya: selecting the strongest plant Jan 2011 
• Introducing Papaya Dec 2010

 bangchik and kakdah

ASSESSING THE LAWN: six months after

It's slightly over six months now, since we first embarked on spot turfing project at Tanah Merah home.  Cowgrass is endemic to Malaysia, therefore it should find it natural to grow and spread. Every time we cut the grass, fertiliser will be applied, the normal granular NPK. The lawn stays green and healthy. I think give it a couple of years, there should be enough organic matter of dead leaves and grass chips for the lawn to survive without additional fertiliser.

Freshly cut lawn, with 4 papaya in the middle

 The four papaya are growing alright, almost in chorus, adjusting themselves to similar height and growth. The other day I saw little white flowers, but they dropped off, probably that's their way of learning.  The seven roselle plants were just cut to make way for okra/lady's fingers/bendi/kacang meo.

Lawn and papaya at lower angle

Farah and Ramli came along with Adlina, Adli and Alia and spent the whole weekend with us. Kakdah was very happy. Adlina is now 4, Adli is 2, and Alia is 4 month old ~ the three grandchildren.

Adli,Adlina,Alia

Adlina,Farah,Adli,Alia,Kakdah

Adlina and Adli went along to Rantau Panjang.

Adlina, on the lawn, in front of grandma orchid house.

Cowgrass will not offer clinical finish, immaculate kind of lawn.  But it is adequate for our home, to add green as background to our little vegetable garden. It should look decent with regular cut twice a month, but the busy schedule may push grass cutting low in the priority list. What's more important, Adlina can give a special pose!.