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Tropical Plants

Hanging papaya fruit tree identification help

10 years ago

Hello...I was reading some older posts to try to get more information on this strange papaya tree I have. The tree has fruits that are hanging from stems. From what I could piece together, I have a hermaphrodite tree, but in those cases, I was reading fruits still grow next to the trunk.

Wife is from Thailand so she has made garden more tropical. We have around 8 papaya trees. Seven trees have fruit directly attached to trunk near top of tree. But one tree is about 8 feet tall now. For the first 3 years, there was no fruit. People would tell us the tree was male because flowers were at the end of long stems/branches. But in the past two years, the tree has produced fruit. Wife's friends who had grown up in countryside/farms in thailand also had never seen a tree like this.

At the top of the tree, there are flowers right next to the tree trunk. Tree also had long stems with a bell shaped flower which turned into fruits. When the fruits were smaller and lighter in weight, the tree was like an open umbrella. As the fruits got heavier, the stems would start bending so now all fruits are hanging next to the trunk. Another interesting thing is some of the stems would have multiple fruits on them.

If anyone has a similar tree or any idea why these fruit grow from stems, it'd be appreciated.

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Comments (10)

stevek871
Original Author
10 years ago
Here is a closeup...you can see two stems have multiple fruits growing on them.

At the peak, there were 40+ fruits on this tree....wife had pruned some stems that had more than 2 fruits on them.

I"m guessing that the heavier ones are in the 2 to 4 lb range....not sure when they will ripen.
houstontexas123
10 years ago
some hermaphrodite papaya trees have the male and female flowers on the stems instead of on the trunk. i've seen a few around TX.
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they like a lot of nitrogen and organic matter. and, while i would water fairly often when its very hot, it really depends on the type of soil also. if the soil doesnt drain well, and the soil is moist/wet - i wouldnt water. you want the soil to be moist, but not wet. if its mulched well, thaat reduces the need for frequent waterings also. you can add epsom salt also. i give mine 1 teaspoon a month in the water and foliar spray with epsom once a week. fish, worm castings, chicken poo are all good organics to add. mulch heavily, but leave a few inches near the trunk open. if you want to use chemical ferts i would normally say use what i use KGRO 24-8-16 (high N) it has lots of micro-nutrients as well but, since it has fruit, you may want to cut back on the N, and use something balanced
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stevek871
Original Author
10 years ago
thanks for that info..... I just couldn't find anything on net describing hermaphrodite trees having hanging fruit...so hearing that you've seen hanging papayas in TX is very informative
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
9 years ago
What is the lowest temperature you had over those three years?
stevek871
Original Author
9 years ago
Hello stanofh, Sorry for late reply...never got notice from email about follow up question. In past three years, coldest I can recall is maybe upper 30s/low 40s at nights during winter (but those are extreme cold spells that last for just few days...normally winter nights are upper 40's/low 50s).

Strange thing is last year there was only one harvest of the hanging papayas in summer of around 12 fruits...it was surprise just to see fruit after nothing for 3 years. This year we were able to harvest around 20 fruits in spring and I thought that was it...butt now in fall there is another batch of 25+ fruits. Tree top is now probably reaching 12 foot tall, compared to last year when it was probably 7 or 8 foot tall. We don't use fertilizer or any plant food...the only difference in last year versus previous three years is actually less watering. Mother in law owns farm in thailand...she said to only water tree 2 or 3 times a week.
HU-68787310
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Thanks for the information..I have also a papaya tree like that...once I had seen a papaya tree and noticed that hadn't any fruit...my mom says those are male papaya tree..but now in my garden a male papaya tree have so many fruits..I was so confused when i saw that..even my mom doesn't know about that...it's interesting. I'm also curious to know more about the papaya tree. (5 6 years wow) I hope you are ok in this ferocious setuation:( or I'm late... take care♡
PRO
zorro international trading inc.
3 years ago
hi

we have a similar papaya tree here in Ecuador i noticed this year ,it has 8 fruits and lot of new flowers on the top under the umbrella of leaves. Waiting to get ready the fruits and see how are they testing ,l will save some seeds for replanting
HU-848023218
last year
I saw a very big one with many hanging papaya at Labrador Park in Singapore.

it’s amazing. Please see photo attached.
HU-848023218
last year
Nderitu W
11 months ago
I am also here to find out more about this type of papaya trees. i too have never seen this type before. Two of them just sprout a year a go on their own and now they have many fruits hanging. im in Kenya.

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