Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I went and planted a papaya in the AP system quite a while back. It is getting quite big but it is flowering now. I just need to make sure it doesn't raise the roof when I'm no looking.

I have quite a few papaya growing around the place, all from seed saved from fruit we ate. If they have plenty of sun, moisture and nutrients, they grow quite fast. If they are neglected a bit or in the shade, they seem to survive so far but are much slower.

Anyway, the papaya I stuck into the grow bed was getting kinda tall and hitting the structure so I simply pushed it over to an angle. It has turned a curve and started to grow upright again. At one point I pinched off the growing tip but it seems to have recovered and is growing new leaves at the top again. Not sure what I will do to the poor thing next.

Will hopefully report when/if we get some fruit.

A lot of people put a bucket or covering over the top and it makes them produce more fruit at a lower hight.

Ok, so I could grow papaya with a hat on it?

Just like Indiana Jones
If you can force it to branch you get more bang for your buck.

We have a papaya stump in the ground from a tree that froze last winter, it has grown about 4 new trunks growing out of it and that is the tree with the most fruit on it. If we don't get a hard freeze this year, that will be the one to give us fruit I think.

There are a number of varieties of Pawpaw/ Papaya available

most people in Australia get lumped with the red bisexual or less often the dioecious Yellows more common down in Northern NSW.
The reds are great - but they are really suited to where they are grown like Innisfail

Papaya seed is a permitted import by AQIS so ive brought in a few other types
its just the tip of the iceberg too

theres Mexican, Sunrise/ hawaiian Solo, Sunset
and the one i think needs to be trialled most urgently in AP

"Waimanolo"
..heres why...



early bearer with right sized fruit

as is said above when they get too tall you just lop them off and put a tin can over the top to stop water getting into the trunk and rotting it off. they resprout with great vigour and start fruiting again within a month or 2

Can anyone recommend a papaya type for Perth (in a greenhouse) and also how many fish (or how much fish food) it will take to power one - Need to get some info together for a new system I'm planning.....

Have people had success with reds?

Going to try one in a wicking barrel and one in an AP barrel and compare the difference....

From what I understand you need the red variety (bisexual plant) but it would be very difficult to measure how many fish would be required to power it.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15614&hilit=paw

dang my pommie roots - forgot to search for pawpaw!

Further research suggests they need HEAVY feeding so sounds like plenty of fish in a mature system for success. I'm planning on setting up a small 500L tank out the back and may just stick one blue barrel pawpaw and a wicking bed AP bath tub on it and see how I go - and call it my 'experimental system' Maybe I'll use a fish that creates lots of poo..

I have a red pawpaw in one of my blue barrels. It is loving it so far as the hydroton on the north side warms up and bathes the roots in nice 20C+ water every 15 mins (as long as the sun is out).

It will be interesting to see how they all go over the next few years.
Maybe a Pawpaw brag page

PS for those in other countries I should point out that we are only 3 weeks from winter in WA and it is getting cold.

yep - looking like its going to dip below 10 degs C - brrrrrrrrrrrr

Yea its freezing at the moment. Bloody 20 deg here today brrrrrr

Heh Marc, where did you get your red bi papaya from? Having trouble finding some in Perth. Ideally chasing seedlings though seeds would also do. . .

Hi there,

I have grown papaya in my AP setup before, but had to remove them (replanted in ground) after they became too big.

I think your only limiting factor for keeping them in an AP setup is the volume of the grow bed media. Otherwise, they will thrive if given good light (I'm in Florida.)

For me, the problem was that the Papaya root systems grew so thick and long that the grow bed was 95% filled with a thick mat of roots (completely cutting off water circulation.) Once the roots grew so thick that there was no more room, they began growing down the drain pipe and eventually completely clogged the 2" diameter drain pipe. I only noticed this was occurring after the grow bed overflowed one day. I had to use a corkscrew to unplug the root mass from the drain!

Some of the ones I replanted in-ground have done wonderful and are growing 8+ (still green) Papayas now.

A plant that I've always wanted try is Carica pentagona aka Babaco. It's related to the papaya (Carica papaya) but grows much shorter (6ft or so). Might work for someone in a greenhouse.

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/babaco.html