Hi Dwayne,

Thanks for you reply and suggestions. I have actually picked (and eaten -
Yum!) the first two fruit from the tree. I left the first one to ripen fully
on the tree and the second one the possums got to the night before I was
going to pick it - little biggers!

Luckily they only had a chew on the very bottom end of the papaya, so I was
able to cut that section off and eat the rest.

Both fruit were delicious - I just had some in some fruit salad for dessert
actually!

I thought I would leave them as long as I could on the tree before I picked
them ... I left the second a day too long though. I still have 5 more
(green) fruit on the tree that I will probably pick a little earlier this
time round.

I have planted the seeds from the first two fruit and am trying to grow a
row of trees down my side fence! Figers crossed! They are absolutely
beautiful fruit!

Cheers,
MC







"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
Good morning. My wife loves papaya. We cant grow them here, so we go to
the store. They are usually green when we find them, and slowly turn
yellow. Then she eats them and they are very good. I would imagine, like
everything else, they would taste better if left on the tree until ripe,
but I imagine you could get away with picking them now.

Avocados are the same way. We used to live in Puerto Rico and had two
avocado trees. When it got windy in the spring, a lot of them would fall
off and I had to get rid of them. My neighbor stopped me and said they
would ripen if kept inside, even though it was still several weeks before
they reached their maximum size.

Could you attach something sharp on the fence, or build some type of
barrier on, or near it to keep them off?

Dwayne


"MC" mcathomalidotcom wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I have a nice papaya tree that I planted 12 months ago ... the two
biggest fruit are beginning to get some orange/yellow colour to them.

I am worried that the possums will pounce on them any night now ...
should I pick them or otherwise protect them on the tree to ripen?

Cheers,
MC