Need HELP woth Papaya problem!!

[aykhan]

I'm really stuck in a dilemma and hopfefully the knowledgeable among us can help. I bought two tiny papaya trees just a few inches tall almost a year ago. I was told that they are the Thai variety (whatever that means) but I cannot be sure since that guy has fooled me before. The trees grew rapidly especially one of them. For the past several weeks, however, I have seen the leaves of the smaller one especially become all curled up. This has happened to many other plants in my lawn, most prominently the roses. I presumed it was a fungus and sprayed accordingly but no help.
I am attaching 3 pictures to show you how terrible it is. One picture shows the bigger tree in the background. My questions are:

1) Do I really need two papaya trees to have them fruit or can one pollinate itself to give fruit? If one will do then I can chop down the smaller one which appears more diseased. Is it just a myth that two papaya trees are required for fruiting or does it depend on the kind?

2) What is wrong with this tree? Why are the leaves all curled up, why has it grown slower than the other and how can I treat this?

3) Why isn't there any fruit yet? I was told it would fruit within a few months and the size now looks reasonable.

Thanks anyone for helping out on this one. Amer

[dragoonsers]

hey! the ones sold as thai papaya are supposed to be either dwarf or with red pulp usually or with few seeds.

the healthy tree is wow. the sick one well i dunno. but leaf curl is usually a virus or can be temporary due to sap sucking insects. check this:
http://apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/abs/1 ... .82.1.126a

but as to the other question, its best to have atleast 3 papaya trees. because papayas are male female and bisexual.
so.if u have 2 males, or 2 females you will not get fruit. i just got 3 plants a month ago btw. my grandpa used to grow papayas and i've seen them since as long as i can remember. hope i helped

[aykhan]

Thanks for the info. I wonder how one can determine which one is male and which one female

[tweedle2009]

Dr Amer,

This is very common in Papaya.This could either be due to a virus or some sort of deficiency.Some people spray with insecticides and some people use diluted urea to shower affected leaves.

If you get one male and other one a female then you'll get fruits otherwise you can take the liberty to chop down both of them

I have serious doubts if these are thai cultivars.You have been cheated yet again. :0)

I've many papayas flooded wid fruit.

[tweedle2009]

Thanks for the info. I wonder how one can determine which one is male and which one female

by it's flowers

[M Farooq]

Thanks for the info. I wonder how one can determine which one is male and which one female

You will have to wait till both of your trees flower. You other tree is quite diseased. Why don't you replace it? The male flowers are small on long stalks like tube roses. The female flower has a large ovary and the flower is directly connected to the main trunk as a singular flower. Although rare, you can have third form-hermaphrodite, which pollinate themselves.

See the pictures here: http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/F_N-5.pdf

[ahussain]

Please visit the following website.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/797082/

[ahussain]

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/nelsons/papaya/papaya.html
Another great website.