SF bay area Papaya survives second winter in ground.
Maridol Papaya's I started from seed three winters ago inside. The last two winters in ground outdoors. I thought the first year they would be annuals- die in winter. Not only didn't they die last year- they took a 31f temp for an hour or two this year, and came out looking good. With no protection.
Size is nothing to brag about.Less then 3'. But has another summer and more roots for more growth.
Comments (12)
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years agoRelated Discussions
Beacarnea recurvata flowering in the S.F. bay area
Comments (9)Hoove,these are not pure desert plants.They are said to found growing wild around Veracruz. Photos show them also surrounded by dense wet/dry rainforest and lush tall grasses(usually on a slope). Pretty sure it's the almost indentical Nolina species that are the hot dry desert specialtists.btw,I was told by a local hort that Beaucarnea was NOT as rumored moved into Nolina. Nope, give Ponytail all the summer water and fertilizer of a palm..watch the difference as the grassy leaves go from yellow green to lush green. In winter,no water at all is needed.well,here. Flowering only happens in full sun exposures.Still,as we all know, they can take alot of shade. They do need drainage..but I really doubt ANYBODY ever caused a Beaucarnea to rot out in SouCal....See MoreFall color in the SF Bay Area
Comments (8)Jkom, I did know about the stickyball-less variety. You must have missed that in my earlier post where I said I had one at my previous home but just couldn't remember the name. The 'Rotundiloba' variety must have been what I had since it had the more rounded shape on the tips of the leaves versus the more pointed ends. It still had a fair amount of color but perhaps not as colored as the standard type. I have heard that if you are gardening in the northern more colder zones that the standard variety doesn't develop any or fewer of the sticky balls. Don't know if that is true or not. Perhaps someone growing it in the colder regions would know. Forgot to mention earlier that I also have a small gingko tree and its foliage is brilliant as well. Mine is supposed to be the male variety and I certainly hope so as I don't want the smelly fruit that develops on the female tree! LOL...See MorePhoto of Hayward ca Papaya in the SF bay area
Comments (4)chunky, hunky looking - and I'd bet a $100 it's on the south side of the house - a life saver for sure! Actually looks to be in a south eastern niche. Nice radiant heat from those walls.... Someone was very smart to put it there....or was just plain dumb lucky..... Overall, though, an incredible job! mDoggy...See MoreMy SF bay area Papaya.
Comments (5)most fruit you get at the store are maradol or Caribbean red, and are going to be %66 hermphrodite, with %33 female. Same way with the Solo. it makes it much easier for growers to know they can plant 1 seed per hole its very rare do i find a male from a grocery store fruit. it does happen, but 1 in 10 at most. ive grown at least 100 plants to maturity. there are varieties that produce males, but its just not often you see them in grocers (now anyway) planting 3 per hole takes away a lot of nutrients, makes them grow crooked etc... give them a lot of light and organic matter, and they will grow so fast, you can plant a seed in February, (inside) and put it in ground after frost is over, and you will have fruit in the fall. dont "tease" the roots. plant the whole root-ball undisturbed. plant on well drained area or raised bed....See Moreeloise_ca
8 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years agoeloise_ca
8 years agostanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years agoeloise_ca
8 years agoNo wonder the babaco fruit I got from a member of my CRFG group wasn't that tasty. Still I ate it with lemon juice because I didn't have lime juice. He brought cuttings to our group, and these two took and are about 3 ft. tall. Babaco with 5 papayas, and the other plant is mountain papaya. Have no clue what the fruit of mountain papaya taste like.
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years agogreenman62
8 years ago
papaya need a LOT of sun and heat to grow and fruit. often without it, they will just not grow.there are several varieties... some are dwarf.
i have one that hasnt gotten over 3ft tall and has 2 fruit on it. i am just hoping we dont get a hard freeze this year...
this one is only 3ft tall, hard to see the fruit, but it has 2.
-----------------------------this one is next to my house (south side) gets a lot of sun, and the warmth of the house protected it last winter (it hit 26F)... the top died off, but it came back and produced leaves and fruit... it took a few months, the first ripe fruit i had was in September
i tried seeds for Mountain papaya 3 times... i think they were old every time.
i could use some fresh seed if anyone has some.
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FYI...
Vasconcellea pubescens is one of the parents of the 'Babaco' papaya, a hybridcultivar widely grown for fruit production in South America
Mountain_papaya / Vasconcellea pubescenshttps://www.wikiwand.com/en/Mountain_papaya
stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
8 years agogreenman62
8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
eloise_ca