ByCraig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Steve Clemente tends to his
Depression days giant papayas.
NO papaya tree has ever made the list of "The Exceptional Trees of Hawaii," and it's unlikely that one ever will. Papaya trees are sort of goofy looking with skinny trunks, no branches and fruit that clings to the tree like a marmoset to its mother. But in lean days, papaya trees kept families in fresh fruit and did a lot more for their health than some la-di-da royal poinciana that did nothing but drop flowers that the kids had to rake.
Steve Clemente's connection with papaya trees goes back to when he was child in the Depression years of the late 1930s. Most island families had papaya trees in their back yards for the free fruit they yielded. But Clemente, who lived in Kapahulu, remembers these trees also as a source of entertainment.
"You took a leaf stalk, and you washed it out very carefully -- they're hollow, and you have to get rid of the sticky sap. Then you used a little bit of liquid soap and you blew bubbles. The biggest bubble won," he said, and with that, he brought out one of those stalks and blew a football-sized bubble. It's one of those skills you don't forget.
Clemente makes these bubble blowers for his grandchildren now, from his own papaya trees. Clemente grows his trees from seeds he and his wife collect from particularly good fruit. It's a horse race, he says. Even though the seeds came from a great papaya, the seedlings may develop into trees that bear junk fruit.
"But every once in a while you get a real surprise, and that makes it all worth it. From the early '30s, those of us still breathing remember the big papayas that grew on tall trees. This was before the Kauai rainbow or the Solo papaya appeared. (Big papayas) grew pretty good in the Kapahulu area where it's very dry," Clemente said. "Then they just about became extinct. The fruit had more seeds than meat, and it wasn't as palatable as the Solo, so people just quit growing them."
Since he has been semi-retired, Clemente started raising fruit at the family home in Aina Haina. A couple of the seedlings reverted back to that old-fashioned footlong fruit, but with fewer seeds and more meat. The tree is only about 6 feet tall, and it seems to be resistant to the virus that is destroying papaya crops.
His method for starting seedlings is quite basic. "I leave it up to my wife, Mary, who has the green thumb," Clemente said. "When we find a good papaya, she scrapes out the seeds and puts them in a glass jar with holes in the cover, and lets them dry out. But before I plant them, I work on the soil.
"The Aina Haina soil is poor, so I use a general garden fertilizer, a 10-30-10. Some people say you need to work in manure, and that was fine when you could buy it for 79 cents a sack. Now it's $4. I'd rather use the fertilizer. I dig up the earth where I'm going to plant, and I stir in a cup of fertilizer, stir some more, stir in another cup and then let it sit for two days. Then I plant the seeds, and sprinkle a little more fertilizer around, you know, like you feed chickens."
In about two weeks, the green sprouts should begin to pop up. "Don't overwater," he said. "It rots the roots. Just keep the soil damp by watering every other day. After a month, the seedlings will be 2 or 3 feet tall. Then give them another shot of fertilizer. I don't go by any ritual -- I see the bag of fertilizer and I say to myself, 'OK, time for a little more.' "
Papayas grow best in well-drained soil, and this includes lava fields on the Big Island, and in full sunlight. The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture suggests thinning the seedlings after about eight weeks, saving only the strongest. A tree should begin bearing about a year after being set out. Commercial orchards are normally replanted every three or four years because the yield declines and disease problems increase as the trees age. But home growers, less interested in a large yield, usually keep their trees for twice that time. They do wear out, though.
Because of their hollow trunks, the trees are also fragile and the tops blow off in high winds. If this happens, Clemente suggests making a clean cut across the break and covering it with an empty tin can. "You want to keep the water out," he said, "or the tree will rot. But it will still bear, and a new shoot will come out of the side of the trunk."
Have the small children leave the room, and we will explain the complex sex life of the papaya. There are trees that produce only fruit-bearing flowers, those that produce only pollen-bearing flowers, a third that produces both in one flower, and a fourth that has all three kinds. Some pollen-bearing trees change to fruit bearing after having their tops cut off. You don't want to dwell on any of this for too long, but if you aren't getting a good yield, you may have only pollen-bearing flowers on your tree.
No matter what the yield is, if your tree shows signs of the papaya virus, it must be destroyed. "You can tell because the shoots at the top of the tree start getting smaller and smaller, and leaves turn a pale yellow-green and fall off. The fruit gets about as big as a golf ball and then it drops off," Clemente said. "If you leave the tree in the ground, it will infect the other papaya trees nearby."
Growers looking for short cuts can buy seedlings in garden shops and at plant sales. Look for the Solo varieties such as Waimanalo, Sunset, Kapoho Solo and Sunrise, which all give good fruit and are an easy crop. And you will have a free and endless supply of bubble blowers.
Gardening Calendar
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