Papayas Are Hard to Grow

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Several months ago, I started growing papaya plants, which I heard are easy to grow. 

I found them actually to be very hard to grow. 

They are very easy to sprout. I think about 80-90% of my papaya seeds sprouted; many of them even grew secondary leaves. However, after they reached two inches tall, they stopped growing. Many of them stayed alive for several weeks, but they didn't grow. 

The only explanation that I can come up with is that they stopped growing because I transplanted them into larger pots after they had grown their secondary leaves. Papayas are known to not do well with transplanting, so this seems to be a feasible idea. If I ever grow papayas again, I will probably start them out in large pots. 

Lesson: Don't sprout papayas in starter pots. They really don't like that. 

An Apple Tree to Grow Indoors

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Columnar apple trees are perfect for those who want to grow apple trees but don't have the outdoor space for it. They don't grow branches, and, as you can see from the picture, the fruit grows closely to the trunk of the tree. 

You cannot grow these apple trees from seed because most modern fruit trees are the product of grafting: the upper part (scion) of one apple tree is grafted into the lower stem (rootstock) of a different tree. The final product, called a bare root tree or rootstock, can be purchased from nurseries, or you can order one online. Each rootstock is given a code that consists of a letter (indicating origin) and a number (assigned sequentially). Apple trees that have codes of P-22, M-27, M-9, and M-26 will grow to be eight feet or shorter. 

Plant the bare root in a 10-15-gallon pot. Water it thoroughly. Because the bare root is dormant at this point, don't water it again for awhile-- just keep the soil slightly moist until it breaks dormancy. 

After your tree begins to grow, you can begin to water it regularly. If your tree gets too tall, cut it back to half its size. The trunk will start new growth and soon produce fruit. 

Because apple trees require cross-pollination, you will need to grow at least two varieties. 

Apple trees become dormant in the winter and need to rest in temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The root system of the tree is hardy to 15 degrees; if the outdoor temperature drops below that, you'll need to move it inside for awhile. 

Some good varieties to grow include Scarlet Sentinel, Golden Sentinel, and North Pole. The Sentinel varieties are disease-resistant, and the North Pole variety is similar to a Macintosh. 

Happy growing!

Succulents: The Perfect Low-Maintenance Plant

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Few plants are less demanding than succulents, which are plants that have developed thick leaves and stems to store water. In the field of botany, cacti are included in this category. 

They survive neglect, often to amazing degrees, so it is a perfect plant for someone who travels often. In fact, your plants are more likely to die from overwatering than under-watering. During the summer, let the soil dry between watering. In the winter, succulents become dormant-- you only need to water them about every other month.

Many succulents are slow-growing, too, so you don't have to worry about transplanting them often. 

Succulents prefer warm temperatures and lots of sunlight. 

Here is a list of some of my favorite succulents:

• Aloe Vera- This plant can grow to be quite large, and it is an extremely popular houseplant. Juice extracted from the leaves can be used to treat burns or soothe other skin irritations. Some sources say that it can also be used as a conditioner, though I haven't tried it myself. 

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• Living Stones- As the name suggests, these plants resemble rocks. Native to Africa, they are extremely slow-growing and need minimal water. Apparently, if you water them too much the leaves could explode, so you may want to wear safety goggles when watering. And, unlike many succulents, they are dormant during the summer.

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• Stonecrop (Hylotelephium spectabile)- For those of you who like flowers, stonecrop (also known as sedum) is a good choice. They are perennials and grow best outdoors in USDA hardiness zones 3-9, reaching a height of about two feet. The flowers are long-lasting and turn a beautiful shade of pink. 

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In a future post, I hope to talk about succulents as they are used in interior design. 

Update

I took last week off in an attempt to figure out the direction that I want to go with this blog. So far, I haven't had any breakthroughs, so suggestions are welcome.

In the meantime, here's an update on my plants:

My Micro-Tom tomatoes are doing very well. They're only about four inches tall, and they've already started flowering (I planted them the first weekend of June.). Each plant has about 10 flowers, so I might get 80 tomatoes total from my eight plants. I'll keep you posted.

I have a lot of little papaya sprouts- more than I want, so I'm in the process of giving them away. They're not growing as fast as I thought they would, but hopefully they'll start growing more since I transplanted them into larger pots. Their cotyledons (starter leaves) have started to shrivel, and I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen or not. The rest of the leaves seem healthy.

To my surprise, I have three coffee seeds starting to germinate. I wasn't expecting them to sprout, albeit very slowly, this soon. I'm really excited about this. The cotyledons are encased in the coffee bean at this point, and I don't know if they'll come out on their own or if I'll have to pull the coffee bean off.

My pineapple doesn't seem to be getting bigger. It's small compared to the pineapples you find in the grocery store. I'm hoping for a growth spurt.

My grapefruit tree is all of a sudden getting new leaves... not sure how that happened, but it's a pleasant surprise. Maybe the liquid seaweed I gave it a few weeks ago had a delayed effect. Maybe.

Have you tried growing any new plants, lately?

Growing Papayas

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Papayas are native to Central America. Spanish explorers, upon discovering them, took seeds with them around the world. Papayas are now grown in Asia, Australia, and North and South America.

Though a papaya is a fruit, it is technically classified as a berry. And even though the plant resembles a tree, growing 4-10 feet tall, it is actually an herb.

There are two types of Papayas: Mexican and Hawaiian. Hawaiian papayas are grown commercially and commonly sold in grocery stores. Mexican papayas are much larger than Hawaiian papayas, weighing over ten pounds in some cases.

Papayas are very fast-growing compared to most fruit-bearing plants-- given the proper care, papaya plants will start producing fruit approximately nine months after sprouting. And, unlike many fruit trees, the harvest is often best the first year, meaning that most papaya plants should be kept for 3 years or less.

If you choose to grow a papaya plant indoors, you should get a bisexual variety so that it is more likely to produce fruit-- I recommend the Waimanalo Dwarf variety, which produces bisexual and female plants.

Here are growing instructions:

1. Plant one or two seeds in a large pot. Papayas hate being transplanted. 
2. Water the soil regularly, not letting it dry out. Germination usually takes about 3 or 4 weeks.
3. Once germinated, keep the plants in a warm, sunny place. Water regularly. 

Pinecones and Pineapples

Pineapples are native to the Americas, and they became known to Europe when Christopher Columbus discovered them on the island of Guadeloupe in 1493. He named it piña de Indies, or "pine of the Indians," because he thought that the pineapple fruit resembled pinecones. After he took some pineapple plants back to Spain, the Spanish introduced the pineapple to the Philippines, Hawaii, and Thailand, places where they are still grown. 

Pineapple plants are not propogated from seed. However, they are easy to grow:

1. Remove the leafy top of the pineapple where it joins the fruit. Make sure to remove all the fruit from the top so it doesn't mold. 

2. Remove the short leaves at the bottom until you have a 2-inch stem. 

3. Dry this pineapple top for two days. 

4. Plant the pineapple top in a pot filled with sterile potting soil. Only the two-inch stem should be below ground. 

5. Water the soil, keeping it damp. Keep the plant in a shady place.

6. In two weeks, once the pineapple plant starts growing new leaves, move the plant to a sunny windowsill.

7. Water occasionally. 

Pineapple plants grown this way do not always get fruit, but they usually start producing fruit once they reach a certain size. I planted a pineapple top about 5 years ago, and my plant recently flowered.  

Pineapples take a long time to ripen, usually 6 months, sometimes longer. You can tell if a pineapple is ripe when it begins to turn yellow. After the pineapple ripens, the mother plant dies, but the sucker, which grows from the side of the mother plant, will replace it. Slips, which grow from the base of the pineapple fruit, can be replanted to grow new plants. 

Fertilizing 101

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Fertilizing is necessary to keeping a plant healthy, and it is especially important in container gardening because no new nutrients are naturally introduced to the soil. Here is a breakdown of how fertilizers work:

Fertilizers contain a ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Nitrogen is for the leaves, phosphorus is for the flowers, and potassium is for the roots and overall health. These elements are represented on fertilizer packages by three numbers, known as the N-P-K ratio. For example, a label that says 10-15-8 has a content of 10% nitrogen, 15% phosphorus, and 8% potassium. 

There are also organic fertilizing options. Organic fertilizers are usually slower-acting than synthetic fertilizers, but the effects tend to last longer. Bone meal is a good source of phosphorus, while blood meal contains a high proportion of nitrogen. A solution of liquid seaweed and water, applied topically to the leaves, is a good source of essential trace minerals. Hydrolized fish fertilizer has an N-P-K ratio of 2-4-1, making it good for flowering or fruit-bearing plants. 

Or, if you have the time, you could make some compost tea. 

It is extremely important to not over-fertilize your plants-- bad things will happen.