Ideas for community gardens < fast fruits

Babaco - a compact tree that looks like a pawpaw and is suitable for small community gardens. Fruit turns yellow when ripe.

BABACO

Botanic name

• Carica pentagona

Growth form

• similar to pawpaw – a single-stemmed plant with large, palmate leaves at crown
• fruit produced from upper stem

Edible part

• fruit - turns yellow when ripe
• eaten raw or processed into sauces, chutneys or relishes

Growing + harvesting

• babaco is a hybrid of the pawpaw
• propagation:
  • babaco is a sterile and is propagated from softwood cuttings
• growing:
  • needs frost free climate
• pests + diseases:
  • similar to pawpaw
  • insect pests: fruit fly if left to ripen on plant; mites on foliage
  • diseases: viruses; root rot

Centre of diversity

• Ecuador
• discovered by botanists in 1922

PAGE UPDATED... Sunday, 1 September 2002