Papaya

Auntie uprooted a papaya seedling for transfer to Los Baños. It came with alugbati, aloe vera, some braided dracaena. Feared for the dracaena because it’s been going on water. Aside from some thyme and mint propped on dad’s old green bottle, I’m not willing to care for more water roots. Algae, mosquitoes. The plant would have to learn soil.

It’s been up for a week, fed mostly by the rain. But it’s been windy too and this seems to have taken its toll on the papaya, its larger leaves shed, the smaller ones intact but downcast. It’s bowed but still up on a patch cleared of mulch, four strides from the young atis.

Enough wire and palm stalk to secure the atis with a tomato cage. With enough left for one more cage, should the papaya survive.