Lesson 6.11.0 PAWPAW - Carica papaya

 

FOOD FOREST COURSE 

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 6.11.0 

PAWPAW - Carica papaya

 

Pawpaw and papaya are both one and the same.  In Australia we call them pawpaw, but everywhere else people tend to use the name papaya.  The pawpaw tree is regarded as a medicine tree and anyone with a back yard from the sub-tropics to the tropics should try growing a few trees. Every part of the tree has medicinal properties and when the fruits have fully ripened, they have the taste of sunshine in them.  Pawpaw can be eaten when they are still green so they can also be used as a vegetable, both cooked and raw.

Cultivation

From planting the seed to fruit production takes only eighteen months, so a nutrient rich soil is necessary for fast growth. 

Pawpaw is usually grown from seed and the seed needs to be fresh to be viable.  I find that the best time to germinate the seed is when the ground has warmed up.  This is from mid to late spring onwards.  Select a pawpaw that is a healthy and tasty specimen, ideally with nicely coloured black seed.  It is a good idea to place several seeds in every pot and then plant the young trees at about eight inches high into the ground all in the one hole.  Allow them to grow together and eventually you can select the strongest female to grow on after culling the rest.  This way you will avoid being stuck with all those useless males!  Only one male tree is necessary to pollinate the female trees.

If you are stuck with a whole lot of male pawpaw trees, there is something that may be done to create more female trees.  I have heard of, but not yet tried this method but it’s certainly worth a go.  A branch cut from a female tree can be grown into the male tree.  This is done by cutting off the trunk of the male tree and inserting a branch of a female tree into it.  I would then think it might be worthwhile to bind the join with some cloth or tape to prevent rot and to encourage the resins to flow into the new female tree branch.  The tree should then become a female pawpaw tree and produce lots of lovely fruit!

Pawpaw trees need a fertile and well-drained soil as they cannot stand wet feet and they are most productive in a sunny position.  Fortunately we never have to pay any attention to our trees as they are growing on rich volcanic soil.  The trees just grow themselves.  If the soil in which the pawpaw tree is planted is not as fertile as it should be, the addition of compost will be beneficial.  It is necessary for the soil to be nutrient rich as these trees are amazingly productive and need lots of fertilizing.  I have observed however that you can’t molly coddle pawpaw trees to grow to their full potential if they’re not planted in the right type of soil.  They are only productive if they’re happy.  If they don’t do well this would most likely be due to a heavy soil structure.  Pawpaw trees are very easily stressed when conditions are less than ideal for them and their main requirement is good drainage.

 

Having said this however, pawpaw trees can grow like weeds and even self-sow themselves.

Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison.

 



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