Papaya

[fisherman1]

I planted this from a 3gal in June. This has been a rocket and fun to watch grow. I have a few more in pots that are about 1/3rd the size. In Sept it started to flower and fruit. In Oct. when the night time temps dropped below 60 the fruit stopped growing. The plant is still growing at a pretty good pace. I really like papaya and I was hoping to get some fruit but that does not look like it's going to be the case? Dose anyone have experience growing this in So Cal? Will it make it through the winter?

Thanks

Bill

[edbrown_III]

I dont know if this is of value but I dig them up and place them in a green house-- I dont live in Calif. but north FL very cool and cold winters ---- They pick up with the summer heat

Best regards,

Ed

[epicure3]

They should be fine in Carlsbad in the winter, Just don't water them. Also, they won't taste very good when they get ripe. Not enough heat to produce the sugars needed to have a nice taste. They like full sun and the warmest part of your yard.

[cagary]

I've grown several varieties and like epicure said the fruits are pretty tasteless even though they look great.

One variety called Florida Jack is supposed to produce sweet fruit even here in CA. I have my doubts though.

I'm growing one now and its flowering like crazy, but no fruit has formed. Hopefully by next summer or fall I should have some fruit and I'll let you know about Florida Jack.

Gary at Laguna Hills Nursery has plants or at least he did.

Gary

[Jon Stolson]

I planted this from a 3gal in June. This has been a rocket and fun to watch grow. I have a few more in pots that are about 1/3rd the size. In Sept it started to flower and fruit. In Oct. when the night time temps dropped below 60 the fruit stopped growing. The plant is still growing at a pretty good pace. I really like papaya and I was hoping to get some fruit but that does not look like it's going to be the case? Dose anyone have experience growing this in So Cal? Will it make it through the winter?

Thanks

Bill

I know that they grow like weeds on the island of Nevis where I have property. I have two of them, each about 18 ft ... a male and a female. The fruit is pretty tasty but heck if I know what the variety is. And i have a new one coming up in my copper leaf bushes ... grows about 6" every month and is now 2 ft.

[Big Tex]

I planted this from a 3gal in June. This has been a rocket and fun to watch grow. I have a few more in pots that are about 1/3rd the size. In Sept it started to flower and fruit. In Oct. when the night time temps dropped below 60 the fruit stopped growing. The plant is still growing at a pretty good pace. I really like papaya and I was hoping to get some fruit but that does not look like it's going to be the case? Dose anyone have experience growing this in So Cal? Will it make it through the winter?

Thanks

Bill

Bill, I lost mine last winter because I did not protect them. The trunks froze about half way and then branched out again in the spring. This year I am doing all I can. However when they are about 20' tall it gets hard. I put up about 8 Tiki torches around them to see if it would help. This morning the temperatures dropped down to 36 degrees but we had a pretty good frost. I turned on the torches before the frost started and my thermometer went in about 10 minutes from 36.5 to 45.9. The whole area around the papayas was noticeably warmer and pretty quickly. So far I have notice no damage.

We'll see ho it does one the temps drop below 32 and even worse if there is a wind. They might get nuked then but I think I can minimize the damage and perhaps protect the trunks.

[tipper55]

I planted this from a 3gal in June. This has been a rocket and fun to watch grow. I have a few more in pots that are about 1/3rd the size. In Sept it started to flower and fruit. In Oct. when the night time temps dropped below 60 the fruit stopped growing. The plant is still growing at a pretty good pace. I really like papaya and I was hoping to get some fruit but that does not look like it's going to be the case? Dose anyone have experience growing this in So Cal? Will it make it through the winter?

Thanks

Bill

Bill, I lost mine last winter because I did not protect them. The trunks froze about half way and then branched out again in the spring. This year I am doing all I can. However when they are about 20' tall it gets hard. I put up about 8 Tiki torches around them to see if it would help. This morning the temperatures dropped down to 36 degrees but we had a pretty good frost. I turned on the torches before the frost started and my thermometer went in about 10 minutes from 36.5 to 45.9. The whole area around the papayas was noticeably warmer and pretty quickly. So far I have notice no damage.

We'll see ho it does one the temps drop below 32 and even worse if there is a wind. They might get nuked then but I think I can minimize the damage and perhaps protect the trunks.

I just whacked all of mine down this week-end. If you cut them down to about 4"-6" from the ground, they will come back - multi trunked. It's not like you can easily harvest the fruit when the trees are 20' tall, although the birds(especially woodpeckers) appreciate it.

Whacking them down this time of year gives them the chance to be back up and growing come spring. I use my papayas solely for shading some sun sensitive plants and give away all of the fruit. But, when it gets to the point they're too tall all they do is damage what's underneath when the fruit falls. I'm having a terrible time right now with iguanas and the iguanas have been going to town on the papaya. This week-end I got fed up and down came every one.

My papayas fruit year round, so I would think in a cooler region it's just a matter of timing to have your papaya to fruit bearing size by early spring. Then you'd have plenty of summer heat to have decent ripened fruit. A lot of islanders around here use the fruit green anyhow. I took 4 wheelbarrows full of papayas to the street and they were gone before I could unload. Heck, the one woman, we just loaded from the wheelbarrow to her car!

[John in Andalucia]

I sprouted over 500 papaya seeds in my greenhouse, but only have about 30 left. The seedlings seem to damp off as soon as they push the first true leaves, and they don't like being transplanted at all. Trickier than I thought, but I think I'll try some more in Febuary and not use seedling cell trays. I'll plant six to a small pot instead, and nip out the weak ones at the base. I agree, they make an instant canopy for the summer garden, and are fun to watch grow, although I read papayas are a haven for bugs and pathogens and need optimal free-draining soil.

[Cycadcenter]

Here are a couple of photos from the farm in Childers taken last month of a papaya we planted in Feb 08 from a 140 pot (1 gal) and was about 50cm tall, it's now nearly 3m tall and has over 100 paw paws on it.

[hulagalnz9]

cyad ctr,

Any luck with solo? (hawaiian variety) Or will it have to stay in the green house? I would like to try some this spring.

[Cristóbal]

try large papaya from mexico, can you buy these in united states ? in tijuana many people plant the seed from the fruit you buy in the market and have no problem to have good plants and fruit of this type. i see the fruit and plants are very good by areas not by the ocean. dont water in winter and start put the fertilizer in middle of februarey. dont like the clay soil try to make more better with organic materials.

[Big Tex]

cyad ctr,

Any luck with solo? (hawaiian variety) Or will it have to stay in the green house? I would like to try some this spring.

I have both the Hawaiian and the Mexican variety growing. Both types of fruit are about ready to pick. I personally think the Hawaiian variety is much sweeter.

[hulagalnz9]

muchas gracias Cristobal...i have seen them around.

Okay Big Tex...then I will try solo as well :-)

thanks for the 411 guys.

[MattyB]

Mine is yellow. I think it's rotting.

[Cristóbal]

hi mattyb can you please put a foto of the papaya ? i can probably tell to you whats the problem. and also how long you have the papaya ? after 3-5 years they dont make many fruits and some times they die by natural ways. papaya dont live for long time. in one factory here in tijuana every year they plant 2 or 3 new papaya and cut the old plants but always have 7-10 plants with fruits, they give the fruits to the good workers.

Edited December 17, 2008 by Cristóbal

[epicure3]

I have a couple of different varieties growing. One is a Hawaiian Solo and one is a hardier Babaco. I am going to plant a Mexican variety in the spring. I can't stand the fruit it bears but I love the plants looks. The Mexican variety is much larger than the Hawaiian.