When should I pick my papaya/pawpaw?

 

Hi all,

I have a nice papaya tree that I planted 12 months ago ... the two biggest
fruit are beginning to get some orange/yellow colour to them.

I am worried that the possums will pounce on them any night now ... should I
pick them or otherwise protect them on the tree to ripen?

Cheers,
MC

 

g'day mc,

i think pawpaws are one of those fruit that benefit in not being
picked until right on ripe. maybe you could skirt the tree with some
flat tin to keep the possums away?

len

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Thanks Len ... I'll let them ripen on the tree then, but the tin won't work
unfortunately, as the tree is right next to a fence that the possums
frequent most evenings.

Can I cover the fruit with paper bags? Wire? Or something else to stop the
possums getting to the fruit? I suspect they will chew straight through a
paper bag, but you never know ... a half a meter of loose wire fencing
around my vegie garden is all that is required to keep them out of there -
it seems strange, when the possums could easily jump over - but for some
reason they don't? So, maybe a simple paper bag or something would work?

Cheers,
MC

 

g'day mc,

how about making a paste from the hottest chillies ands spreading that
along the fence where they may walk, won't do permanent damage but
when it gets in their eyes they won't come back.

or how about quassia chips fruit produce agencies should have that.

or maybe create a feeding station for them away from the pawpaws, feed
them apples maybe some bread with honey anything mostly while they are
happy feeding there they could stay away from your harvest.

for lots of wild animals the smell of human urine deters so maybe try
splashing some saved urine around? i think somewhere on my site their
is a link to somewhere that suggest natural deterents.

len

snipped
--
happy gardening
'it works for me it could work for you,'

"in the end ya' gotta do what ya' gotta do" but consider others and the
environment
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gardenlen1/

my e/mail addies have spam filters you should know what to delete before you
send.

 

Good morning.  My wife loves papaya.  We cant grow them here, so we go to
the store.  They are usually green when we find them, and slowly turn
yellow.  Then she eats them and they are very good.  I would imagine, like
everything else, they would taste better if left on the tree until ripe, but
I imagine you could get away with picking them now.

Avocados are the same way.  We used to live in Puerto Rico and had two
avocado trees.  When it got windy in the spring, a lot of them would fall
off and I had to get rid of them.  My neighbor stopped me and said they
would ripen if kept inside, even though it was still several weeks before
they reached their maximum size.

Could you attach something sharp on the fence, or build some type of barrier
on, or near it to keep them off?

Dwayne


"MC" <mcathomalidotcom> wrote in message