How to produce carica papaya seedlings?

A big greeting to my friends steemians and lovers of agriculture, 20 days ago I planted 45 papaya plants, known in Venezuela as milky, and I wanted to share with you my experiences in this crop.

The cultivation of papaya requires a lot of attention; This includes seedling production, land preparation, transplant, irrigation plan, fertilization, sex identification, preventive control against pests and diseases, hilling, pruning, and harvesting. I will divide the subject in two parts, because it is a crop that requires many cultural tasks; for now I will explain from the selection of seeds to the stage of transplantation.

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Generalities of the cultivation of papaya carica

The papaya, is a fast growing plant, its stem is straight and simple and with some ramifications, its height goes from 2 meters to a little more than 3 meters, this height as well as the diameter of the stem, is very variable because It depends on the kind of plant that will be grown.

Leaves of the carica papaya

The leaves are of palmate type provided with long petioles and are located in the crown of the plant in a circular form, these leaves are large, with lobed forms of 7 lobes.

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Flowers of the papaya carica

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There are three kinds of flowers:
a) Female flowers
b) Hermaphrodite flowers
c) Male flowers

The female flowers: These flowers are usually large and located very close to the trunk.

Hermaphrodite flowers:
These flowers in turn comprise three types:

Pentadria flower: The ovary is globose and has five lobes or grooves; It has five stamens that rest in the furrows of the ovary. The fruits that are formed are rounded. Elongated flower: in this type of flower the petals are joined to more than a third of its length, forming a coropone with five corbels free of the pistil, except at the base. In the throat of the tube of the corolla are the stamens in number of ten. Elongated fruits are obtained from this type of flower. Source

The male flowers: These flowers are characterized by having long and thin stems with several small flowers.

In general, in the cultivation of Carica papaya, most male plants are eliminated. leaving only one male for every ten or fifteen female plants, this is done to make pollination more effective.

The cultivation of papaya carica

The cultivation of the papaya carica begins with the selection of the seeds, we can extract the seeds of a fruit that presents healthy characteristics, without sores or malformations; but we can also buy seeds in agricultural stores, there are a variety of classes, among them we can mention: cartagena, red lady and maradol.

The cultivation of the papaya carica is typical of the transplant, therefore, we must begin with the germination of the seeds for the production of the seedlings that will later be transplanted in the field.

Production of carica papaya seedlings

Materials:

• Seeds that adapt to the climate where the plants will be established.
• Trays of germination of 32 to 40 alveoli, with a depth of 13 centimeters.
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• You can also use plastic bags of 15 cm.
• Substrate for germination. (Compost).

Process for the production of our carica papaya seedlings:

• Place the seeds in a bowl of water and let soak for 24 hours.
• Wash the germination trays well, especially if they have already been used.
• Fill the cells of the trays with the substrate.
• Open holes in the soil of each cell of the tray and place the seeds to a depth of 2 centimeters.
• Cover the seeds with the same soil.
• Wet the substrate.
• Place the prepared trays, in a place with low light; In case there are few trays, these trays can be placed inside black bags, once they are inside, blow the bag and tie it in a way that does not escape the air.
• Water the substrate every three days, preferably using a sprayer, just keep the substrate moist, and avoid excess water.
• Check the seeds in each irrigation, if you observe the buds, remove the trays from the bags and place them in a half-light place.
• Papaya seeds germinate between 10 and 12 days.
• You can also germinate your seeds in polyethylene plastic bags, and also place them in a low-light place until they germinate.
• The seedlings should be taken care of every week by applying rooting hormones and foliar fertilizers with high phosphorus content.

It is important to produce healthy and vigorous seedlings, the success of any crop depends on the quality of the plants that are obtained in the plants; there is the secret.

Transplanting the seedlings

I recommend that you do the transplant when the seedlings have reached a height between 15 and 20 centimeters. In case you have used the plastic bags, you can expect the plants to reach a height of 25 centimeters. When we use the germination trays, the seedlings can not stay there long, because they will compete for light and they will stretch, resulting in seedlings with very thin stems.

For the transplant, it is necessary to prepare the land with the use of agricultural tractor and making the furrows for irrigation, this is for large plantations, in case you are going to plant a few plants, you can prepare by hand. Once the land is prepared, we open the holes in rows every 2.50 meters to place the plants, but first, we add a layer of compost, wood ash, rooting and fungicide inside the hole; then we place the plants, and apply a good irrigation; the risks must continue in an intermediary way. Fumigate every five days with a mixture of rooting and foliar fertilizer with high phosphorus content for 15 days, then continue fertilization with complete fertilizers (N-P-K).

My papaya carica plants: (20 days after transplant)

I hope this information has been very useful for those who wish to start the cultivation of papaya carica; for the next publication I will talk about the cultural tasks that this crop requires (aporque, identification of the sex of the plants, fertilization plan, irrigation plan and the preventive plan against pests and diseases that attack this crop), greetings.

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://oscarcede.vornix.blog/?p=66

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