World's Ugliest Greenhouse Saves The Papayas!
Ok, I know we said we were just growing the papayas as annuals here in Gainesville and we'd let them go when the freezes came . . .
And we started them way late in the year too -- like in June we started with 3g plants, expecting a late harvest if we were lucky.
But then this happened:
Our first ripe papaya from the 'King George' -- yum!
After tasting the first 2 of them, I was hopelessly hooked.
papayas nearly ready to pick
And when this:
early papaya blossoms
turned into this in mid November:
Papaya fruit cluster in November
and then this in early January:
Papayas just before the freeze
Well . . .
When the first freeze hit late January -- like not until the 18th -- I'm thinking:
Why now? We're almost to spring! It's only a few more weeks -- can't we just cover them?
What about the old piece of plastic from the greenhouse we just replaced? It wouldn't cost much and we could just do something temporary . . .
Don't all honey-do lists start that way?
itty bitty baby papaya
So here's what we ended up doing Before the freeze:
World's Ugliest Greenhouse Indeed!
Used greenhouse plastic, stained with green algae all over, torn in places -- that's why we replaced it in the first place --- Uggg-ly!
We threw a light bulb inside, and since it was on the south side of the house, right next to the house, and the temperatures never went below about 27-28, nothing froze -- miraculously.
After:
And as you can see in this picture of the framework, the papayas did just fine!
Well here we are, it's Feb 8th, and just a few more nights and maybe it'll be Spring . . . I'll let you know if they actually finish ripening!
Greenhouse framework
By the way: we'll have 3g papayas of this dwarf hybrid ready to go the week of Feb 14: 3g/$19ea or 3 for $45
At that size, you could easily be eating fruit by June or July!
Bigger 7g pots too: $29 or 3 for $75
Papayas can be self-fertile, but planting 3 gives you the highest chance of getting fruit.
Read more on this special hybrid we call the 'King George' on our website here
7 gal papaya beginning to bloom