That's just Hurricane Matthew keeping the banana balance of the universe in check. All but 3-4 of my bananas that were over 8' tall got blown over or broke, some with bunches (not close to ripe) and some that should have been flowering soon.

On the bright side, anything that fell over, fell in a way that didn't really hurt anything near by. All the Jamaican Reds missed the dragon fruit trellises on either side and the fence, the papaya only leaned towards the fence not on it and the fallen branches missed the DF trellises and the 4' coconut cream mango, Manzano bananas that fell over missed the lychees, small potted jack fruit and the coffee plants.

Thanks guys for the feedback,..we here on the SW Florida coast got lucky this time. Only slight wind gusts,..maybe 25 mph at the most,..and gentle rain. Better stop, don't want to anger anyone else ! ( smile )

My dwarf banana plants arent moving much but the taller ones are really swaying and blowing around. I hope the chickens like green bananas so they dont go to waste lol. Maybe I should grow more dwarf types.

Dangermouse, what does the coconut cream mango taste like? It sounds yummy!

My banana is still standing and looks happy to be alive. Hermine did more damage to it than Matthew did.

Sultry, how many of your babies survived? I was just looking at all the flooding in Jax and thought about you.

Jofus, it is nice to hear your optimistic rhymes today that we have power, yesterday we were without it and Mother Nature trimmed my banana bunch and for my good luck it was close to be ready anyway.

I hope everyone is okay and that we just had a good scare this time...

Silvia

I found a Matthew gift today,went behind the fence to clean up and found branches from a plumaria a paper bag of some kind of bulbs and a sleeve of 1 gallon pots.I have no idea where they came from.

My poor Papaya got blown over. It was so full of fruit!

Good luck for Glenn,..not so much for Jane !
Sorry Jane,..Matthew wasn't nice to you at all. Looking at all those " almost-ready-to-harvest " papayas laying on the ground brought back a sad memory for me. In January I had three 15 - 18 ft tall skinny Papaya trees swaying in the breeze just loaded with fruit, right in the middle of my raised bed banana plantation. Was looking forward to picking a few when suddenly a small tornado popped in, - to only that area of my property. Tore the 3 papaya trees right out of the ground,..just like yours. Lost all the papaya's,..but the tougher, shorter and fatter banana plants survived fine ! Didn't replant the papaya's,..in line with my year old scheme of " Lightening my load ". Now am only dabbling in Mango's ( 4 trees ) and about 15 - 18 banana plants from 6" tall to 9 ' tall. Miss my papaya's, but am happy just the same ! lol

My mangos got eaten by some critter. Lost every one. Them my Avacado tree drowned while full of avacados. Now my Papaya is gone.

No more trees. I've had it!

Jane

Jane, my heart goes out to you. Where exactly in Florida are you located ? If below the imaginary horizontal line from Ft Pierce over to the northern edge of Sarasota, I think you would have a very good chance to grow a mango tree with little environmental problems. Even if a bit north of that line, just try one tree,...a Glenn !

I am thinking you'll be glad you did. Hey, I lived in the Upper Keys for 15 yrs and was bashed by more than a few hurricane's, and even a couple of tornado's. But kept a determined, positive attitude,.. the chances of another Matthew smashing you is small.

Go for it,..one tree won't kill you,..and that one will grow fast, believe me ! ( smile )

Sarasota.

My Mango tree is still standing. It was full of fruit but each day the fruit disappeared. I realized something was stealing them. I covered the tree and fruit with bird netting and all sorts of things to scare animals away.

No luck. Lost all 9 Mangos to something! The tree is in the back yard so I know it wasn't human critters. Whatever stole all the fruit took them away because I never found any eaten fruit.

We couldn't wait to try them as they were getting so big.

Oh, well...

Jane

Jane that sounds like raccoons got your mangoes.

Yes Jane, I must concur with Glenn. Those guys usually attack at night. Sorry, but I cannot get into how I deal with those nasty guys,...don't want to anger any more animal-friendly GW'ers ! ( smile )

New gift from Matthew.a large stand of praying hand banana trees at a friend's house got blown down.I've been asking for 1 for awhile. Called last night and told me to come get 1

Jane, I am so sorry! I'm glad now that my papaya never set any fruit.

Glenn, congrats on all your bounties! I had a praying hands banana once, but a freak freeze got it, along with my thousand fingers.

Jane, I just recalled another reason that brief tornado only downed the 3 papaya trees and not my banannas. The tallest of the bananas at that time, were only standing at a height of 7 - 7 1/2 ft approx., and growing on the other side of a 6 + ft tall shadow box fence. So the fierce winds were mostly diffused going thru the fence and the few tips over 6 + ft were only gently shuffled around. The 3 papaya trees however, were not the lower-growing Red Ladys, but the normal big skinny guys.

My neighbor on the other side of the shadow box fence, ( a different park ) bemoaned the loss of the tall papaya's, said they gave his property " a tropical look I really liked. Will you be replanting more papaya trees like them ? "

" Er, no " is all I said. Having only planted them trees a few months earlier ( fastest growing trees I have EVER SEEN,..realize tho they're not really trees. ( smile ) ),..and not having enjoyed eating even ONE,..then the 2 1/2 days labor digging up the roots, sawing the stumps, branches up, hauling it all out to the street for WM to haul off,..naw, no need to dim his rosy impressions ! ( smile )

PS : As a retiree, no need to work more than 3 hours a day in my " plantation " ! have too many other " cool " , stress-free endeavors to occupy my time ! ( smile )

Jofus I'm sorry to hear about your papaya but maybe you can use the space for something else.maybe mullberry?

Thanks Glenn, - know nothing about mulberry's and anyway, the bananas, creepy guys that they are, have slide over and now take up all the space the papaya's were in. Now it'll be only 4 mango trees and a dozen or so ( after I thin 'em out a bit ) Ice Cream & Goldfinger nana's. Should keep me energized,... as much as I want to be that is ! ( smile )

Papays are the fastest growing trees I've ever seen. Scary actually!

I planted 5 from seed and in six months four were making fruit. The other two were males. What I've learned is you can cut them down 3/4, and they will resprout and fruit again. Commercial growers do this and get two crops out of the tree. They are then removed.

I didn't enjoy the taste at first. I have a Spanish neighbor who does all sorts of things with Papaya and I've enjoyed the salads and cooked papaya she has made.

She took some of the green fruit from the fallen tree and sliced the unripe fruit paper thin, sauteed in butter, cinnamon, cloves. Delicious. Tastes like apple pie.

She tells me Papaya is very good for digestion. So I've learned to enjoy the ripe fruit which I slice and eat.

I don't think I'll grow them again as they blow over too easily.

Jane

You are absolutely right Jane,..as usual ! ( smile ) I grew papayas for over 15 yrs, - both here on Florida's SW coast and in the Upper Keys, ( Islamorada ). Among their many nutritional benefits, the one that impressed me most was their aid in digestion. I cannot ever imagine anyone getting colon cancer who ate papayas on even a semi regular basis.

Also, I still have the photos I took of those last 3 trees that were blown away last January. When I realized how fast they were growing, I got my neighbor Tom to come over whenever I could, - and have him stand beside the three " trees " as they zoomed up from 3 ft tall to approx. 13, 14 ft,...took 10 pics over like, 3 weeks !!! Both of us were wide-eyed ! lol

I never grown papaya.I don't like the way they taste.but if you just leave them in the ground would they keep producing year after year or would they die?

No Glenn, they're not like bananas,..once a papaya " tree " gets old, fruit quality declines and it withers. However, it will produce a few good harvests over it's first 2 yrs or so, - max 3 yrs ! After that it's best to just cut it down and start over with a new youngster. I know how you feel about the taste, - I can't give them away to any of my neighbors,.." Er, no thanks Joe,..but if you got some mango's or banana's, would welcome them ! "

Me personally, I think papaya's taste fine, - milder than most fruits but like 'em just the same,...but that's just me ! ( smile )

They are good in smoothies. Toss it in the blender with some mango or orange juice, delicious. Even better, add some dark rum!

jane

I had a bird-planted papaya at my old house that got about 12 feet tall. It had horrible fruit on it. It was a female plant, but never got fertilized, so it had big orange fruits with no seeds and no taste to speak of. No, it wasn't a male. The tropical fruit guy said it was definitely a female, but without male pollination, it would do what it did. I left it for the birds and squirrels, which seemed to like it. During a storm, it just broke off about a foot above the ground. I didn't take it out, and the next year, it sent up two sprouts that each got about 10 feet tall and were loaded with the same horrible fruit. I was almost happy when freeze killed it, but the birds and squirrels weren't.

Hmmm, thanks Jane,..sounds delicious ! I have a blender and all the ingredients ( lots of frozen mango's ),..only thing missing is the papaya's. Will have to correct that the next time I am in Wally's !