Papayas
 

I’ve recently gotten interested in growing papayas and have sprouted 3 little seedling. I’ve bought several papayas from the grocery store but have not saved any of those seeds to plant due to various reasons; one was tasteless, one smelled like dirty socks and had a bad taste, no seeds in one and I was afraid one was gmo. I have ordered from people on eBay or Etsy that said that their seeds were from their own plants and were sweet. I live about 25 miles southwest of Austin Texas, I ordered seeds from a man in San Antonio which is about 70 miles south of me. His papaya variety was developed in San Antonio as a hybrid and non gmo. Anybody have any words of wisdom growing papayas. I have been doing a lot of research on the internet which how I found out about the San Antonio variety. A cold spell hit yesterday so I moved my small banana plants and papaya seedlings into my tiny greenhouse.

Re: Papayas
 

I just grow the ones the birds leave in the yard. Been lucky so far regarding flavor. I want to try the 'Red Lady' papaya, but haven't got around to ordering seeds yet. I don't know what the odds are of the papaya seed growing a type similar to the one the seed came from.

Years back, I recall a post from a member that I haven't seen for a long while. The plant was supposed to be a sub-tropical type of papaya, slow growing, and with fruit about the size of a basketball. No mention of the flavor, though.

Re: Papayas
 

I too just stated growing my own papayas. I decided that before I invested money into seeds of a particular variety, I first went to store bought papayas and planted seeds of the one I liked. Seeds germinated and now I am waiting for the fruit to ripen. I so have being doing some research while playing with what I have growing.

Re: Papayas
 

I have ordered Red Lady seeds and have them soaking. Also Dwarf Solo soaking. I have read that papayas you grow yourself taste better than store bought and I know that what I grow in my garden taste so much better than store bought especially cantaloupe. Hopefully I will have seeds to share a year from now. I have also ordered two other varieties of papaya seeds but haven’t received them yet.

Re: Papayas
 

Never heard of a dwarf Solo papaya. I have heard of a low-bearing 'Waimanalo X-77' being called a dwarf, but in reality they were not dwarf plants, they just began bearing fruit while only a few feet tall. Mine ended up being about 12' high at the time I chopped it.

Re: Papayas
 

Update on my papaya seeds and plants. I currently have six different varieties of papaya seeds in various stages of propagation Two of these varieties just started emerging out of the soil. Tried different methods. My first three plants started by seeds are now about eight inches tall and looking good. These I’ll repot into larger pots in a few days. So far my best results are from a store bought non gmo Super Starr Royal Star papaya which is a naturally occurring hybrid. About half of these Super Starr seeds were planted into a container of soil shortly after cutting the fruit. Only rinsed off the seeds and then planted. Some of the other varieties are Moy, Solo, Honeydew, red lady. Moy is a hybrid that was developed in San Antonio Texas. It’s been very interesting playing with these seeds.

Re: Papayas
 

Hope you keep us informed of your progress. Wish you the best of luck with your seeds. Thank you.

Re: Papayas
 

Went to 'seedman.com' and ordered seeds for: Cobquecura (small, many branches), Red Maradol (sweet, 4.5 lb), Mexican (branches, 2-4 lb), Tainung (heavy producer, 3.5 lb), and Red Lady (3-5 lb).

I hope at least one has a male plant. I'm curious how any crosses would come out.

Re: Papayas
 

Yug,

Wish you the best of luck with your new seeds. Hope you keep us informed.

Re: Papayas
 

Best of luck with your papaya! Ive been growing mine for 2 years. I grow the small Hawaiian "solo" varieties. They fruited their first year, but not until late august so i had tons of green papaya (which i love too). This year they fruited in early April/late march and i had ripe papaya by the end of august thru now. I had two large trees in full sun planted near my boat dock, and i lost both after they were submerged in salt water by hurricane sally. I have 6 other trees on the south side of my house, and these get less sun and the trunks are smaller, however they fared MUCH better than my other 2 last winter, and never even wilted a leaf. They bloomed and fruited a month before my 2 down by the water.
I originally planted about 14 solo trees of 4 different varieties.. ALL produced only hermaphrodite flowers, so it must be a common trait.
Also of note.. cutting the main trunk at a height of about 4 ft, produced multiple fruiting offshoots on each tree, and made harvest much easier.. i will do that to several of my remaining trees. Just be sure to cover the hollow trunk with a coffee can or something similar, to keep out water until it closes off.
My 8 trees produced probably 120-150 fruits this year.. more than i could eat.
Fun and attractive plant to grow.. enjoy!