Help needed - Cutting grown paw paw not growing well (forum)

Db starts with ...
Hi all,

Wish you all a very happy new year !

I need help with my cutting grown paw paw that I bought from Daleys in 2012 winter.. Its growing in 110L large pot.. I used very good quality of potting mix (mixed 3 different potting mix together) and drainage is excellent.. I'm feeding it regularly with nitrogen based fertilizers (seasol, powerfeed, slow release fertilizers) and applied sulphate of potash too for fruit formation... Now a days I'm watering it every day being hot.. Initially it did grow ok but soon leaves started yellowing and they are falling apart... As you can see in attached photo, most of the leaves are already dropped and only top end has very few leaves which are not green... As per Daleys label its supposed to be fruiting in 4 months but there was no sign of any fruit setting by the end of 4 months... Now 6 months after it has now set only 4 fruits as you can see in photo and rest of the female flowers after these 4 fruits are dropped even before fully developing...

What could be the issue with it and any suggestions to improve its health?
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 2nd January 2013 8:24am

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About the Author Db
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Db says...
Anyone?

Time: 2nd January 2013 10:06pm

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JUJUBE FOR SALE IN MELBOURNE says...
Hi Db,

Have you noticed any bugs on your tree? Mine was like that and I found my tree was infested with this bug

http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/horticulture/5107.html

This thread may help

https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum/paw-paw-disease/

Good luck.

Time: 2nd January 2013 10:19pm

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Db says...
Thanks Jujube for your reply and those links.. No, I haven't seen those bugs that you mentioned but my paw paw tree has very tiny (smaller than 0.5 mm) black bugs underneath the leaves.. I have sprayed pest oil but it did not help.. Bugs are more concentrated on yellow leaves than green and I simply remove yellow leave and throw it in bin..



Time: 3rd January 2013 10:40am

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Db says...
My above (see my original post above) cutting grown paw paw (from Daleys) is now growing ok in its 110L pot but has not set fruits as expected. Daley's description says 'It is possible to have fruit within 4 months rather then taking 18 months from a seedling' Few months back only 4 fruits has set (as you can see in photo above) and then tree stopped flowering. Those fruits are growing very slowly now (only 6-7cm long at this stage). After recent rain, tree has started growing again with new leaves and flowers but all new flowers are male flowers only and no female flowers at all.. Why it is not setting female flowers? I bought this tree around 8 months back.

Initially I thought I'm growing it in pot rather being in ground that's what its not growing fast and not setting fruits, so I bought one more cutting grown tree from Daley's and now growing it in ground (in well drained soil), but it is also not growing fast. But 2 seedlings from Daley's are growing VERY fast as compared to cutting grown variety.

Time: 1st March 2013 9:26am

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VF says...
Hi Db, I read somewhere that high temp's and drought can cause trees to temporarily produce male flowers only - with the heatwaves gone and abundant rain, your tree should revert back to normal shortly.( The current flowers would have been forming before the rains came.)

Re seedling vs cutting, don't forget that seedlings have a decent taproot, so tend to be more vigourous.

Time: 3rd March 2013 11:48am

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About the Author VF
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Db says...
Thanks VF, you could be right abt only male flowers due to heatwave but new growth and new flowers on mine have formed after rain started here in Brisbane since last month.. Tree wasn't growing well before that due to heatwave, but now started growing again due to rain.. And even after one month of continuous rain here, tree is still forming only male flowers.. So not sure what's going on..

Time: 3rd March 2013 12:36pm

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Db says...
I just checked my second cutting grown paw paw tree that I bought and put in ground in early Jan this year (so it has got rain all the time), looks like it is also forming only male flowers :( Hopefully situation will change in few months..

Time: 3rd March 2013 1:00pm

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VF says...
Fingers crossed Db.

Time: 3rd March 2013 1:11pm

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snottiegobble says...
Db, If you knew how easy it is to grow papayas from seeds you wouldnt bother with cuttings! I have them popping up all through my strawberries because I used worm compost on them last spring! They only take 2 seasons to produce fruit ( well in Perth anyway) Just make sure they get thru the first winter protected!

Time: 4th March 2013 1:17am

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About the Author snottiegobble
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John Mc says...
SG, I struck a couple myself just to see how they perform. There's not a lot of difference, here in my climate anyway, between seedlings and cutting grown. I struck a cv called RB6, must look it up to see what it's characteristics are.

Time: 4th March 2013 9:49am

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About the Author JohnMc1
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Db says...
Yeah, I have grown few seedlings before.. But I thought one grown from cutting will fruit much earlier than seedling, that's why I bought cutting grown one.. But mine is not fruiting as expected...

Time: 4th March 2013 11:07am

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About the Author Db
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Db says...
My cutting grown paw paw in pot has now set 5 more fruits but has lost majority of new grow leaves after yellowing. Leaves of one of the seeding paw paw in ground, which was growing extremely good, has now started yellowing and dropping. What could be the issue for leaves becoming yellow? In pot I found fat white grubs and yellow house mushrooms, is this the culprit for health issues of paw paw in pot?

Time: 7th April 2013 8:45am

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Db says...
Most of the leaves on my cutting grown paw paw in big pot (see pic above) has dropped by now in this winter, only very few small young leaves on very top of the tree are hanging. Tree still has lot of green and young fruits on it. Will the tree survive or is it dying now?

My other 3 paw paw trees in ground are fine though (only few leaves yellowing).

Time: 18th July 2013 8:46am

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Brain says...
I'm not a pawpaw expert but I can say that the grubs are a very bad idea. They eat decaying/plant matter. So your pawpaw roots - being fiberous, is likely eatten and hence the tree is in decline.

not sure how you can get rid of the grubs but I do recall ppl discussing them here and maybe worth a search.

Time: 18th July 2013 9:53am

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Db says...
Thanks, I'm not sure if grubs are still there or not, I'll dig in pot tonight to check that out. I thought leaves drop was related to winter season now.

Time: 18th July 2013 10:06am

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Brain says...
I thought pawpaw is an evergreen plant, so winter would only contribute to slower growth.

I've only ever grown seedling pawpaw and this is a long time ago. Stress will cause premature leave yellowing and leave drop. Also, an old tree would do the same, i.e you end up with a pointed stump.

you can always try a bit of seaweed tonic and try fertilising in spring.

Time: 18th July 2013 11:44am

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Anonymous says...
The plant could be magnesium/zinc deficient?

Time: 18th July 2013 9:20pm

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denise1 says...
Wilson Popenoe had this to say, Cutting grown papaya are readily grown but develop more slowly than seedlings.( I suppose it should only be done for breeding and research purposes. Also to keep an extraordinary specimen in existence). With grafting, a given variety will degenerate rapidly , and in the third or fourth generation will make very little growth and the fruits will be small and practically worthless. That was written in 1920 in the MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL RESEARCH I wonder how they get on in modern times with Tissue culture?.

Time: 19th July 2013 8:03am

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About the Author denise1
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denise1 says...
Correction: that is= Manual of Tropical and Subtropical Fruits.

Time: 19th July 2013 8:04am

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