Papaya At Home

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

If you are an admirer of exotic plants and love to surprise your guests with unusual pets, you will certainly be interested in papaya. This unusual melon tree will become a bright accent of the interior, and will undoubtedly decorate any festive table with its fruits. And this exotic multiplies quite simply and the first harvest will not keep itself waiting long

Melon tree features

The melon tree in its natural habitat is widespread in the tropical and subtropical latitudes of America - from Mexico to Argentina. Despite the fact that papaya is called a tree, the trunk of this unusual plant does not become woody. When the tree is still young, there are soft tissues inside the trunk. But over time, they dry up, and only a very strong bark remains the frame for the papaya trunk. Thanks to this feature, papaya grows and develops very quickly, and every year it adds itself about a meter.

The first flowering also occurs early. Under favorable conditions, the buds form even before the plant is one year old. And in the natural environment, this sprinter dissolves its petals at the age of three months. However, the life expectancy of an exotic is short. On average, it is approximately 5-7 years.

Another interesting feature is that the tree does not branch. At its top is a bunch of huge leaves, from which large melon-shaped fruits descend in clusters down the trunk.

Caring for papaya indoors

This tropical handsome man is not very capricious to living conditions in indoor conditions. But to make him comfortable, experts recommend keeping the plant in a well-lit place, if possible near a window with a southern exposure. The optimum temperature for papaya is + 22 … + 24 degrees C. There should be no sudden temperature changes in the room - the plant can instantly react to this with leaf fall. You also need to protect the melon tree from drafts.

The advantage of papaya over other indoor plants is that in winter, when heating radiators make the air drier, this does not depress the plant. However, it is possible to cause serious damage to the tree by improper watering. Papaya reacts poorly to both excessive moisture and excessive dryness of the soil. The soil must be kept moderately moist.

The unusual beauty of the carved leaves of the plant require special attention. In the summer heat, they must be sprayed with water, and in the winter they should be washed two or three times a month.

Top dressing of papaya and transplanting into a fresh nutrient substrate

The rapid development of the melon tree imposes certain requirements on the soil. The substrate in which the papaya grows must be sufficiently nutritious, so every year they are transplanted and fed in the spring and summer.

The transplant starts from the end of April - at the beginning of May. This requires the following soil mixture:

• humus earth - 3 parts;

• sod land - 2 hours;

• deciduous land - 1 hour;

• compost soil - 1 h.

You also need to add sand so that the earthen mixture is loose. When transplanting, you need to act carefully, because its roots are very fragile.

Top dressing is carried out with organic fertilizers. This can be a mullein solution or an infusion of chicken droppings. Before adding organic matter, you need to water the plant. For the first time, feeding is done a month after transplanting into a fresh nutrient substrate. Each next is done with an interval of two weeks.

You can propagate papaya by seed. Sowing is carried out in wet sand or deciduous soil. The best period for this is spring. The seed is immediately placed in small pots. Under favorable conditions, the senses develop very quickly and already in the year of sowing they delight their owners with the first flowering.