Papaya carica 'Maradol' - Maradol Papaya

Nice! I love these, I think they're my favourite fruit. :)
They call them paw paw here and they're nowhere near ready yet...

They're called paw paw in many parts of the world.

It's one of my favorite tropical fruits, also. In most temperate climates, most people think they don't taste very good because the fruit is picked too green. When picked too green they never get a chance to develop the sugars which make them very good and sweet. My papayas taste like candy, they're so super sweet!

In the tropics they grow and ripen all year. Here in San Diego, they can ripen anytime of the year, also. However, the plant goes semi-dormant in winter. Papaya (paw paw) a very tropical plant.

Lucky you, Delonix - I am very envious! I have to get one (or two!) from the market every week...but picked ripe not green! :))

I have 4 varieties. I want to get even more. lol! :>)

They are very easy to grow from seed. If you buy a good variety...plant the seeds and in 6 - 12 months you should have fruit. They produce fruit so much faster in the tropics than in subtropical climates. This is because it's such a tropical plant (actually it's a big herb)!

Yumm yumm .How do you know when they are really ripe ?

Palmate, the fruit turns orange or yellow.

Oh! So quick! Funny looking trees - or should I say herbs, tho'! lol! :)

Most people call them trees. However, they're a short-lived woody herb. They generally only produce fruit well for 6 - 9 years. This one posted above had been in the ground for almost 8 years.

Yes, many people who don't live in the tropics or subtropics think the papaya tree looks strange.

Bananas are herbacious perennials too, I think?
And guess what? They're back already!!!

Yes, bananas are herbs, also.

Yes, when cut down they come back twice as fast, surprise! lol! :>)

LOL! 5 feet in just a couple of weeks! :))

Yes, they can shoot up that fast (maybe in a little more than a couple of weeks, though).

Have to check just when they got the chop...can't be much more though, because we only got the keys on December 1st!

Have your bananas grown to 5ft, already? I know my experience is that they can shoot up extremely fast after being cut down. I cut most of my 'White Iholena' bananas down about 3 weeks ago...and they're shooting up quickly.

There are shoots coming right back up from the centres of all the stems which were cut back to just above ground level - and one in particular has reached for the sky (taller than me today...), has one leaf unfurled and another two leaves coming!!!!!

Yes, that's how actively growing stems react, when cut to the ground...they grow twice as fast. Not sure why this happens.

They're gone now, Delonix...the ones right outside the back door - three men with pickaxes! Keeping the other clump, though!

Wow! Well, the corms transplant very easily to other areas.

One good thing about bananas is that they grow super fast. My largest ice cream banana variety grown in the front yard popped up sometime in Feb and is now 22ft/7m tall...I'm waiting for it to flower.

Wow...7m! I'm not sure if I've got bananas or plantains...but they're only about 4m tall...the ones which are left...

Yes, my ice cream bananas are a tall variety. Some varieties can grow gigantic to 50ft/16m or taller.

I have a variety which is called "super dwarf" it only grows to 5ft/1.5m tall and bears delicious bananas.