I've been harvesting Papayas daily for a month now. They are delicious, with no fruit flies at all in these crops, much to my delight! I like shorter trees (dwarf) with smaller fruits that can be consumed by one person. Some of my trees have HUGE fruits, and it is just too much. I like Solo, and Red Lady and Red Maradol.

It is difficult to pick the fruits if the trees are too tall. To harvest my big ones, I'm up on a ladder, swatting at the fruits with a broom(G).

Green Papaya Salad is another way to use this remarkable fruit.

It will take at least a year, possibly 2 years to get a fruiting tree from seed. The trees do grow fast, but the fruits take quite a few months to mature.

I bought seeds from the website below, with great success. Using seeds from a grocery store fruit is fun, but you won't know the variety usually, and you won't get "sexed" trees that self pollinate.

Papayas grow well with Bananas. They look good together and both enjoy plentiful water and lots of fertilizer.

I had a wonderful breakfast today, of a fresh, home-grown Solo Papaya,with cottage cheese, covered with juicy Pomegranate! Yummy!
Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Papaya seed source

Hmm, according to EDIS, Papayas can fruit in 7-11 months. Mine never have. But, once established, they do produce two crops a year. Some crops are ruined by the Papaya Fruit wasp, but damage seems to depend on the time of year, location, and sheer luck.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Papaya info

Thanks for the information Lisa! I didn't even make the post but I just ordered the seeds you recommmended! I am growing some NOID plants that I got at a plant swap. They are healthy and growing fast but I would like some control over what kind of fruit I get. I like the tall Papayas because I want them to be seen over the top of the fence but then I also want something good to eat.

If the papaya trees have purple spots on the trunks they are males and bear no fruit. I use to have a papaya tree that was about 10' tall that gave me fruit the size of watermelons. They were sweet and juicy. I had at one time over 10 trees and so much fruit I had to share. I'm down to only 1 tree left, but willing to give away the seeds

That thing about the spots on the trunk...how old does the plant need to be to see those AND, is it true for all varieties? I'm going to run out and check the trunks!

Male papayas bloom with small flowers on a stem like a spray of flowers. Female papayas have a larger bloom close to the trunk where the fruit grows. I throw seeds around and just pull up the trees that I don't want. Very easy to grow and fruit relatively quickly. A freeze will kill them, but seed from the fruit that falls will volunteer quickly. I've been growing papayas for many years. Males will fruit too but the fruit is not as good or as large as the female makes.
theo

laura1 all my male trees have the spots on them. They are about 2 feet tall

I have 4 young papayas and they all have purple markings on the the trunks. They all look the same. I wouldn't call the marks "spots" as in circles. Do I have all males? Oh, to heck with it! I ordered good seeds to be sure.

Thanks for posting the seed link. I ordered improved sunrise solo, red lady and maradol. Does anyone know how tall these will get?
How long can I wait to plant the seeds, or do I need to plant them right away?

I grew some before but not sure what kind they were but were right out of the fruit lol.
Thanks
~Lenette

I have one in my backyard that is about 3 years old and is about 12 feet tall now. There are 6-8 fruit on it continuously and we get fresh papayas all year round. Don't water it too much or let your sprinkler system water it-papayas get trunk rot very easily and you can lose your plant (I did several times before I learned).

Lenette-
I ordered the same ones and I planted them. I hope they germinate!