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View Full Version : How long for papaya to set fruit?


Dreaminofthetropics
12-26-2011, 09:21 PM
My papaya I got from Chris this summer has went from 2ft to over 8ft tall and has been flowering for about 2-3 months now. It is bisexual, but I don't see any fruits forming yet? How long does it take for the fruits to start setting and is it possible that none will set even with TONS of blooms?

Richard
12-26-2011, 10:10 PM
My papaya I got from Chris this summer has went from 2ft to over 8ft tall and has been flowering for about 2-3 months now. It is bisexual, but I don't see any fruits forming yet? How long does it take for the fruits to start setting and is it possible that none will set even with TONS of blooms?

When you say bisexual, do you mean Monoecious - having separate male and female flowers on the same plant, or Monoclinous - having perfect flowers that contain both male and female parts ?

For Monoecious plants, you will need a pollinator. In either case the plant must be mature enough and the weather suitable for bud set. My papayas typically start flowering about this time but don't start setting fruit until the spring.

Dreaminofthetropics
12-27-2011, 06:13 AM
When you say bisexual, do you mean Monoecious - having separate male and female flowers on the same plant, or Monoclinous - having perfect flowers that contain both male and female parts ?

For Monoecious plants, you will need a pollinator. In either case the plant must be mature enough and the weather suitable for bud set. My papayas typically start flowering about this time but don't start setting fruit until the spring.

It has male and female flowers. When should I start fertilizing?

Richard
12-27-2011, 03:44 PM
It has male and female flowers. When should I start fertilizing?

Put a pot of trailing rosemary or some other ever-blooming perennial near the papaya so that bees will start coming around on a daily basis. I do this in my fruit orchard and near my dragon fruit plants so that the bees are already in the habit of coming there when the plants bloom.

As for fertilizing, if you feed them anything at all during the "cool" season, choose something like 10-20-30 (with micronutrients). If you can't find exactly that, then find something with N-P-K in increasing values in about the same proportions. During the rest of the year, citrus fertilizer or banana fertilizer works great.

Chance1945
12-27-2011, 07:06 PM
It has male and female flowers. When should I start fertilizing?

Kat, in one of your photos that you have posted I noticed that you have your papaya in the ground. Will it survive our winter? Mine are in pots so that I can bring them in when it get really cold. I probably get a few degrees colder than you, even though I'm closer to the Gulf.

Nicolas Naranja
12-28-2011, 10:37 PM
Mine started setting as soon as I had flowers.