I am from Asia and love papaya so last spring I bought a ripe papaya from Walmart I throw a bunch of seeds in my compost pile then 3 papaya seedlings grew to about 2 ft. I am in Arkansas, and I know if I left it outside composted pile, they would not survive so I dug a huge hole about 2.5 ft deep and 10ft wide to transplant those seedlings. I experiment with transplant one in that hole full of my own mixing of soil because we have high compacted rocky soil. The other 2 plants I transplanted each in its own huge mineral tub with my own mixed soil. I think it was about 20-to-25-gallon mineral tub that farmers use for cows. Our last winter gets down to around 15 degrees. In order to keep them alive, we use 10ft by 10ft small greenhouse to cover them up then put a heater inside that small greenhouse. Well, it worked but with a very high cost of electricity from about $125 per month to almost $400. We did that for about 2 months of our coldest month then we pulled the plug because we can't afford that cost. I thought they would die but they survived the rest of the cold months. Currently, the one in the soil grew about 10ft tall with stem about 4inch diameter and produce about 10 fruits. The other two in their own tub didn't grow so well. They are about 6ft tall and stem about 2inches. So right now, I got a guy coming to dig 2 big holes so I can transplant the two in the tub. For winter this year, I am not going to use outside electricity, but I plan to build a structure frame with wood, support with T posts and cattle panel so that I can drapes some huge blankets around them then cover with greenhouse or 6 mil plastic for those very cold winter. I can peel of the plastic when it gets warm during the day. I also plan to put in about 4 of 55 blue water barrel as heat source, along with some woodchips/straw bales on the floor and all around the small greenhouse. This is my first time doing all this so we will see if they will survive winter with all I am doing. My goal is to keep inside small greenhouse temperature above 40 and If I have too, as a last resort, I can bring in propane heater to help. Hope it works. Thanks.

I meant hungry

Thats awesome! I would have never known. Thank you for sharing 👍

@@Grow_Everything you're welcome, as kids we would wait for the end of Summer to have those, plenty of trees and plants today were consumed by people and still are in rural world but sadly, with commercialization we're losing the best plants that were resistant to disease and were healthier.

I too live on South Fl and I planted sabe month and year as you. Store bought. In Feb I saw it started producing fruit. Yesterday I noticed that it turned yellow but it is not leaning and there are no pups… not sure if I too should wait a bit longer. Someone else said when you squeeze it it should have some give,,, or smell it and it should smell sweet… 🤷‍♀️

Etsy all day if you don’t live in Fl

I've just bought mine from Etsy. They arrive next week. Happy growing 💜

Yes! A great source for sure. In fact it's even more nitrogen rich than cow manure. For this reason, you can use it more sparingly. If you plan to use it specifically for vegetable gardening. It's important to apply, and water it in at least a few weeks before planting. Horse manure is considered a "Hot" or "Raw" nitrogen source. It is rich enough that it can burn young plants, and contains a high level of Ammonia which won't be usable by the plants until microbes and carbons in the soil process it. Hope you find this info helpful! Have a great day!

@@Grow_Everything Great, thanks! Yes we let it age for several months and then work it into the ground in the fall. Seems to work pretty well. I told my wife I didn't need any more of it but she bought another horse last week anyway.

when this happens to my plants i use urine at a % of 10% in water …..you must use freshly emitted urine because it is rich in nitrogène ..I did this last week when some leaves started to get yellow and my plant has 100% of its leaves green today . when doing the watering make sure to empty the excès of water that is under the plant because with the air the nitrogen of the urine turns to ammonia with bad smelling….

​@@Grow_Everything If I use any cow manure, I get it from my uncles barn where it's been sitting for a while. Plus he doesn't spray his fields where his cattle grazes.

One of the main things to pay attention to initially is the surface of your soil. The principle I go by is to allow the first 1-2 inches of surface soil to become dry in appearance before you decide to water your plant again. When those first 2 inches are dry, the soil below is likely just on the edge of needing water. Next time you return to your plant to give it water, first dig down 4-5 inchs and grab a large handful of soil. Squeeze the soil tightly between your palms. If when you squeeze, water pours out of your hands. It is still too wet and needs more time to dry before the next watering. If you squeeze, and get some light dripping. The moisture level is right around perfect. Soil that is constantly wet, typically will inhibit nutrient uptake, which is why the symptoms of N deficiency and overwatering are so similar. When your soil is at the ideal moisture level. Give it the squeeze test again. If It clumps together when you squeeze it, and has more of a mud like texture. It likely has a higher level of nitrogen. But if you squeeze the soil and it crumbles easily and appears to have lots of twigs, peat, and wood materials, you likely have higher carbon. I mention this because with higher nitrogen levels, the soil becomes more fine, containing less air gaps that cause evaporation. This means the soil with higher Nitrogen levels typically need to be watered less often. Really hope this helps! Have a great day!

Thanks so much! Really glad you found the information helpful!

I know it's aggravating when plants don't want to do what you want them to do. Start making little changes, I tend not to use Miracle grow, that's just my own personal choice. The nitrogen is for growth and leaves. The phosphorus is for good roots, strong plant stalks and blooms. The potassium is kind of an antibiotic for the plant to keep it healthier. You may want to try a different fertilizer either with the same mix that your Miracle Grow is, or drop a little bit of the nitrogen. If you have a whole lot of one thing on your plant and a deficiency in the others that helps you to dial in where your numbers may be off a touch. I've also heard that was some plants if you give it too much nitrogen it doesn't allow the plant to synergize the nitrogen the phosphorus and the potassium properly. So the plant has a hard time taking the fertilizer in. Hope it helps, hope your plan blooms for you.

I would try adding plant food. I usually rinse my vitamix with water and dump into the plants

That sounds to me like the plants might need some additional phosphorus rich fertilizer. In that case, some bone meal should do the trick. Bone meal is a great go to fertilizer for any ornamental, flowering plants.Ive potted up rhizomes from my own yard and had them flower in less than a year. So the fertilizer should be the solution. The plants may be getting a lot of nitrogen from the miracle grow, which is why you have lots of great foliage but no flowers. So adding some extra phosphorus will help balance the ratio. Another possibility if you live pretty far north is to give the plants some extra sun. Though they like shade in the deep south. They may need some direct sunshine in northern climates so they can flower properly.

Same location: planted mine in either 18 or 19. 2 “bundles” of tiny coconuts on it now 🎉.

Only the wild varieties can sting actually. The one I have is the "Maple Leaf" cultivar which conveniently doesn't sting. It is also the most commonly cultivated variety for that reason.

@@Grow_Everything that's great news! I lived in the Yucatan for a year and we had the wild one I guess, great with scrambled eggs!

I find that the warmth and humidity plays a big part in proper ripening. it's too dry and cool indoors which causes wrinkling.

It's possible. Cuttings from mature plants definitely flower out way sooner than the same size from seed.

@@bytemuncher1 Thanks. I've done more research and found that in Australia they sell "Nellie Kelly" passion fruit vines that are grafted onto mature, cold-hardy and vigorous root stock. Now I realize I can use my well established maypop (passiflora incarnata) vines to graft mature tropical passion fruit vines onto for my best chance at getting fruit before winter.

Unfortunately no. Most Mango varieties are only hardy from zones 9a (Along the coast) through 12b. Being almost entirely tropical. I'm in Zone 10a, and even I have had my trees freeze all the way down to a stump a few times.