maybe u all could help...
hubby has tried for 6 years to grow papayas here; 20 minutes away they have a a warmer winter and more humid climate; we are higher up, drier and get to almost freezing and once in a while freezing temps at night for our short winter (december to march) wiht maybe one sort of snow a year... everyyear he starts new papapa seeds and then in winter they die back. we've tried greenhouse style but its more a storage area then greenhouse so never does the trick... also, there is the male/female problem , someone else her managed to raise three trees. two died of cold. one survived but doesnt fruit as it has no partners..
the thing is, is that here, there are only a few varieties that are raised professionally or sold in tree nurseries; these kinds dont do well in this area (we are in jerusalem so look for zoning/alt/long on google- we are 730 meters above sea level) and the kind that the thais smuggle over also die off. because we are a small agricultural country, all nurseries carry the same varieties of anything from cukes to tomatoes to basil; they are all leftovers from professional farm young plants... so cold weather papayas are not available as no one looks for them.
he uses papaya as a staple ; the sale price in a store is prohibitive, and its a seasonal fruit.
anyone have any ideas or seeds that would fit our climate??: rain in winter, dry arid from march thru to december... we irrigate. rocky soil (i think alkaline if im not mistaken), geographers can search for judean hills soil (very good for vineyards, since biblical times actually. we have terraces here that are thousands of years old)...
our house faces north with a western sided garden with little or no sun and on the north side there is sun (and a huge fig tree). can a potted papaya fruit? we can make a wheeled container tub and move the tree if it survives...
