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One of my papaya trees has contracted this strange condition where the leaves are curling up into weird shapes.

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I have many papaya trees, and this is the only one that is like this. I have watered this (and the other trees) with plenty of water. I have used compost soil and cow dung to fertilize them. It gets a fair amount of sunshine.

What is wrong with this tree? Is there anything I can do?

Fiksdal
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  • Using cow poo is not a good thing for potted plants. Way too high in nitrogen if you ever want Papaya fruits. Was your cow poo DECOMPOSED, aged? This looks like a virus of some sort perhaps transferred via cow poo or... I am wondering if Papaya is sensitive to mosaic virus caused by passing on latent virus from tobacco. Do you smoke? This is just an idea.. – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 20:43
  • @stormy First of all, these are not potted. They are in a fairly deep and large flowerbed. The cow dung was old and dried. But it's been several months since I've used it, and the ailment showed itself only recently. I don't smoke. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 20:47
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    Hey, great information! This is very unusual to see. Let us see what some of these other plant geniuses come up with. I grew up with papaya but never got to actually grow them. Is there anything at all that you've added or changed recently? Have you always grown papaya close together? Sometimes plants produce toxins to get rid of competitors to include their own offspring. Just an idea. Cow dung old and dried is fine for garden soils!! – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:03
  • @stormy Oh, that's interesting, maybe they are too close together. I've only been growing them for two years, so I'm quite inexperienced. I can't think of anything that I've changed lately. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:08
  • @stormy I just measured the distance, there's around 5 feet from this papaya to the closest neighbor. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:12
  • That shouldn't be a problem, couldn't find anything talking about toxins but maybe you'll see something in the article I just found...water is a very big deal as this plant is incredibly susceptible to root rot, girdling from being planted too low in the soil and it talks about a virus. This article wasn't that clear...some new ideas, though. – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:15
  • @stormy Hmmm... Maybe I've been overwatering. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:16
  • Check those roots, this just doesn't look very much of root rot, more of a virus. Of course too much water might make your tree more vulnerable... – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:18
  • @stormy How to check the roots? – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:18
  • Dig down near the main stem to see a profile of the roots. Gee, I hate to say this but this really looks like a problem you don't want and you are going to have to consider getting this little tree out of your plant bed. Not right this instant. I want to learn more about why your leaves are curling. I am only going on plants I know about but this curling has always been due to a virus. – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:21
  • @stormy So tomorrow when there's daylight I can take a picture of the roots and post it here. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:22
  • check out my newest post of another article... – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:25

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Fiksdal...sigh, take a look at this article...my goodness it is right on with the pictures of your leaves. I am sorry...curling leaves of papaya

Bjørn-Roger Kringsjå
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stormy
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  • Wow, this looks too bad. Maybe I'll have to uproot. I just emailed the academic who wrote that paper, linking him to this question. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:34
  • Please let us know what he says!! Especially how to protect your other papayas from this virus. Isn't this great to be able to actually write emails to the expert experts? – stormy Aug 09 '16 at 21:38
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    Yes, I'll certainly share any answer he gives here (if he allows it.) He may even post here himself. – Fiksdal Aug 09 '16 at 21:45
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    "...Especially how to protect your other papayas from this virus...." If it's similar to tomato leaf curl virus, you dig up the plant and burn it. DO IT NOW - not tomorrow. It may have nothing to do with the soil - it can be transmitted by aphids. Check the plants for whitefly, and if you find them don't play around with "organic" control methods - just zap them with the most effective stuff you can buy. Otherwise, you may lose all your plants within a few weeks. – alephzero Aug 10 '16 at 01:32
  • He is right. I wouldn't burn the poor thing. Just bury it somewhere safe. The virus is already there anyhoo. – stormy Aug 10 '16 at 01:39
  • Get rid of it immediately - since the virus vector is silverleaf whitefly, you need to find a way to treat for whitefly on your other plants, if they haven't already been infected. – Bamboo Aug 10 '16 at 13:58
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Found this article...check this out and let me know what you think. I am thinking you need to jerk that plant out if it does have virus, root rot. Interesting stuff...I think my intuitions were right but now I just gotta know more about papaya. papaya culture

Fiksdal
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stormy
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