Monday, November 24, 2014

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

4 comments:

  1. Hope they survive the long journey! How to differentiate between male and female plant of papaya?

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    Replies
    1. Male and female is guessing game at this stage... some says, female will have more five lobe leaves, and male prominently three lobes...

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  2. I thought the only way you could tell if a papaya was a male or female was to wait for it to flower. I would love to hear if you have another way.

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    Replies
    1. when it flowers, then the sex will be confirmed... but too long a wait. :)

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