Hi, I just registered...I'm Eloise on Maui. I'm looking for feedback re growing papaya trees directly in perennial peanut. I'm wondering if there are drawbacks to this, or if I need to feed them differently than when I've mulched papayas in the past. Also, any feedback on growing any kind of fruit trees in perennial peanut in the semi-tropics is appreciated. Thanks!
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut sorry to ask - what's perrenial peanut?? our "papayas" (aussies call them paw paw which is confusing for those who know Asimina trilobata as paw paw) grow without any special treatment - the less you love them the better they seem to produce. Mine are growing on an old patch of dirt that once grew bananas and is pretty well worn out. The trees have a dozen or so small fruit developing What type of papaya are you growing - the red or yellow - - and is it self pollinating or dioceious?
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut I've seen perennial peanut used in banana plantations in NSW as a ground cover, N-source and living mulch. IN that plantation the usual high-fertiliser inputs were still going on, but without the sprayed ground. The comparison plot showed that the moisture used by the PP was compensated for by the ground cover and moisture retention. Peanut seems to grow pretty low, and cover the ground well, so unless you are looking for commercial yields I'd guess the combination should be sufficient by itself. Obviously if you have other major nutrient deficiencies then they will need looking after. I live in a temperate climate, where it is too cold to grow perennial peanut or papaya well (under plastic only). I do have several Vasconcellea species, closely related to papaya and with comparable requirements for temperate equivalent. I have a living mulch around my babaco plants consisting of two climbing legumes Kennedia macrophylla and Dipogn lignosus. The latter is very much like a temperate lablab vine. I have not found anything additional required to keep these babacos producing ok, despite the very dry hillside they are growing on. babacos doing ok with living legume mulch;
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut Thanks for the feedback, and speaking of lab lab, I'd appreciate a seed source. Got one?
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut A friend of mine went to EARTH university in Costa Rica and she told me that one of her professors did a research project on the benefits of growing perennial peanut under papaya tree plantations. From what I remember the combo seemed to work great and the n-fixation reduced costs, weed control was also reduced.
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut What is perennial peanut? Does it have a botanic name? How tropical aclime does it need pls?
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut g'day bennz, what are babico's like to eat? just wondering if they would be a better go for me as my red pawpaw's are getting that fungal attack. if so also asking is it possible to get some seed (if they grow true to form that is?). len
Re: Papayas grown in perennial peanut HI Len, babacos are quite good fruit, unless you expect them to taste like tropical papaya. They are a very different flavour, unrecognisably so. If you have tasted other vasconcellea hybrids, you will know what I mean. Babaco is a hybrid, that rarely sets seed. I have noticed that the first flush of new fruit usually produces a few seeds in the first few fruit. Germination is very low, and seedlings are never true to type. Funny plants, cuttings from the same parent produce fruit at different times of year. SEQLD could be pushing it a bit climatically, this is a high altitude fruit originating in a part of Equador which basically has daytimes around 20C, night times around 5C year around. So your coldest month of the year is a bit warmer than habitat is like year around.... I heard of a large plantation of this fruit near Murwillumbah dying from root rot in summer warm humid conditions. I met a guy near my in-laws farm at Lismore who was grafting babaco on to papaya roots to allow them to handle the hot wet summers. We had a good laugh together, I had been grafting papaya on to babaco roots to allow them to survie my cold wet winters.
i am in sydney which is warm temperate - papayas are marginal here. i am really impressed with babacos though. am getting lots of fruit in a year of planting with no worries at all. am really enjoying the fruit. i let it fall to the ground. then put it in the fridge. then peel it, cut it up and toss it with some sugar. tastes like pinapple with the consistency of a sloppy melon. it is really juicy too and drinking the leftover juice is a real highlight. in comparison, i planted a couple southern red bisexual papaya plants. one turned out to be male. the other has three young fruit that are nowhere near ready yet. lost their leaves over winter vs babaco which continued to grow. i am also experimenting with mountain papaya (where the babaco is a hybrid of this plant and the common papaya). planted at about the same time as the babaco and papayas, one plant is comparatively huge. bigger than the other aformentioned plants. while it has flowered twice there is no fruit yet. its a female. i have two other ones that have not flowered yet which i hope one will be male or bisexual.
Hi there - Yes, if by perennial peanut you mean pinto peanut then it is a good idea - I have pinto peanut growing everywhere for this purpose. Wynnes cassia is another good mulchy, nitrogen fixing ground cover I use as well.