i just finished devouring the bigger half of one of christine's head-sized papayas... best darn papaya i've ever had. cantaloupe/peach/coconut. mmmmmmmmmm...

the seeds look and taste just like capers. which makes me wonder what you can do with them. i might try to brine them.

ill-mannered
Lucky you! Fresh papaya, what a treat! Specially for breakfast with a sprinkle of lemon or lime juice.

The seeds are edible and add crunch and a peppery zing when sprinkle in salads sweet or savory.
They are also good for digestion.

I seen in other countries used to tenderize meat (I personally have not tried this)

If you decide to brine them let us know about how they come out. You maybe onto something good!

Willy

Glad you liked the papaya Micheal. Yeah, that one was really big. Bigger than it looks in the above picture.

Too bad Willy that you didn't live closer. Michael is lucky enough to live right near where I work so it's not very much out of my way for me to get to his house.

Papaya contains papain, an enzyme, that helps to break down proteins. It is usually the main ingredient in powdered meat tenderizers, such as, Adolphs.

Christine

Here are some recipes for papaya seeds

Papaya Seed Dressing

1 1/2 tbsp. papaya seed
1 c. salad oil
1/2 c. tarragon vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. minced onion

For a pepper substitute, try ground papaya seeds

Another papaya seed dressing

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup raspberry vinegar
1 Tablespoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 small sweet onion, minced
1/4 cup papaya seeds
Preparation:
Place sugar, honey, dry mustard, raspberry vinegar, and salt into a blender. Process until combined.

With blender running, add oil very slowly in a steady stream. Stop blender. Add sweet onions and pulse 3 times.

Pour dressing into a bowl and stir in papaya seeds

Refrigerate any leftovers and shake well before using.

Papaya seed dressing is not only good for green or fruit salads, but also as a marinade for poultry and pork.

Yield: about 3 cups

scents from heaven---Thanks for the recipes. I copied them down so I will have them when I save some seeds. I am interested in trying them as a marinade too. They sound like they would be great with chicken or pork.

Christine

just love that papaya recipe

Green papaya salad is my favourite I have some growing at my place, but just now, tonight I am in Canada. With lots of snow

Monday I a leaving for the big drive down to Fort Myers, for the winter.

Didn't know about putting a bag on the fruit.

I have papaya in my garden, maybe I will be down in time for some fruit.

I like the little ones that come from Dominican Republic, at least at the flea markets and grocery stores.

I suppose there are many varieties have not read about them at all.

I've tried for years to grow papaya but seem to lose them every winter. I was told that they will never make fruit while in the 2foot diameter pots & must be transplanted outside.

The one I have now are almost a year old, about 4 feet tall and even if I bring them inside they still drop leaves. I hesitate to water them while indoors, so I put them out on the deck and the leaves fall off. Obviously, being big pots, it's hard to keep moving them in & out.

What am I doing wrong? I don't know what variety they are - just the polynesian papayas sold at the grocery store. Is there a minmum temperature they can tolerate?

I have quite a few trees. I end up giving a lot of it away. The fruit fly used to bother me but it seems they have retreated for a while.
We actually curried a papaya and it was great - tasted like the butternut squash.

Randy---First of all you do not mention your location. This makes a difference in what advice people can offer you.

I am the one that started this thread. Read my above comments again and I will get back with you after I know where you are.

Christine

Thanks Christine;
I am in Houston Texas where the winters are fortunately short & mild but the summers are ferociously hot.
I'm sure the humidity is good for tropical plants but hellish for me.
We don't have much freeze but it can be unpredictable. Sometimes a freeze is only one night & sometimes it lasts for a week or two. We can have 30 degree nights with 70 degree afternoons.
We got a snow fall on Dec 10 - very rare event.
I have a tile floor inside my patio doors but bringing the trees inside crowds the room and breaks my back.
When I put the papayas in these large pots I noticed they have very small roots. How many trees can I put in one 24 inch pot without crowding them too much?

Randy---It sounds like you are determined to grow papayas. So, I will do my best to tell you how.

For next year: Your papaya seeds need to be started in the summer and potted up until your freezes are over. The size of young plants would not be so large that you couldn't lift them. For the plant you have now I would use a "hand truck" to save your back. I am a petite built woman and this is what I use for heavy plants.

If you are able to plant the papaya plants in the ground by mid-March, you will be eating papaya starting in November. Keep in mind that they are heavy feeders and like a lot of compost. The compost also helps the plants to not dry out. Papayas thrive in the tropics so your summer heat will not be a problem.

Papayas get a sizable root system so if you put them in a pot that is too small it will stunt the plant. The dropping leaves can be caused by letting the plant get too dry, too cold, or not enough sun from keeping it inside too long. Keep the plant that you have now in a large pot by itself.

As for variety, the plant you have now came from a grocery store fruit which may not grow true to seed. I tried that once and the fruit tasted terrible. It is best to get a named variety such as the Red Lady papaya that I described in an earlier post. Another advantage to the Red Lady is that it is a dwarf and all of the plants are self fertile. That means no male is required so you could grow just one plant if you wanted.

A friend gave me 2 papaya plants recently that are extra dwarf and grow easily in pots. If I get it to fruit and produce seeds next summer, I will post that I have seeds available to give away.

Hope that info helps. Good luck.

Christine

Thanks Christine;
Since reading this thread I've been watching the temps more closely. They're inside the patio door now.

Hi Christine,

I with the Tampa Bay RFCI. I would really like to trade for some Red Lady Papaya seeds. Please let me know where I can obtain some seeds. I have a lot of seeds to trade.

Thank you very much!

Charles Novak
Tampa Bay RFCI

I spent many years in Thailand when i was growing up, and our breakfast every day consisted of cut up papaya with lime juice squeezed over it. But my favorite papaya recipe (not Thai) has to be the following:

Pappaya & Black Bean Salsa

8oz ripe papaya, peeled seeded and cut into ½" pieces (2 C)
1C firm, cooked Black beans
1/4C finely chopped red onions
2 jalapenos chilies seeded and minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
¼ C cilantro leaves
3 tbsp fresh lime juice or to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp packed light brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and gently toss.

Christine.

Have those extra dwarf plants produced fruit? I am curious as to how they do for you.

Thanks,
Veronica

sscantlay---Interesting papaya recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Veronica--- I did have 2 extra dwarf papaya plants that a friend gave me but when planting them the roots broke off of one of them. The one and only remaining papaya plant is doing great. It did start setting fruits low to the ground and earlier than the Red Ladys. I'll take a pic of it in the near future so show you the progress.

Christine

Glad to know it survived. I am interested in the taste, too.

I pulled my only surviving Solo Sun completely off its roots by snatching it with a rose cutting. This was the lone success from 10 expensive seeds. It was like a bare knob. :-( I stuck it right back in the same pot and it re-rooted. It is now about 5 foot and I am awaiting blooms.

I am just now growing a red lady from seed, so about how long before I get fruit? How tall has yours gotten? :o)

Mom, I still have your papaya seeds at my house from our trip to ECHO. I'll bring them over next time I come over.

Kathy---Your Red Lady should be ready for fruit next spring, maybe a little sooner since you are in a warmer climate than I am. The plants need to be started the summer the year before getting fruit. Because mine freeze nearly every year, I will start next year's papayas in mid-September. My Red Ladys are about 5 1/2 feet tall now, counting the height of the leaves.

I took some pics of the extra dwarf variety yesterday. The Red Ladys only have 3 fruits on them but this prolific plant has 10 fruits already. The fruit at the very bottom has grown all the way to the bottom of the bag already. It is more liner than round. I sure hope that these fruits are tasty too. If they are, I will surely be saving their seeds.

I use knee high stockings, folded in half, as a protection until the stems of the fruits harden a little more to prevent the bag from snapping the fruit off in a heavy wind.

Here are 2 views of the plant, located in the southwest corner of my veggie garden. The ground cherry plants and banana peppers are crowding it.

Christine

That's a great looking plant. I was wondering if the knee highs would work instead of the paper bags. Seems like they would be easier to work with.

Any input on that idea, anyone?

Did your Red Lady's survive thru this winter?...Mine (3 trees) did not?...I have not seen any "good/young/healthy looking" trees in nursury's or at Home-depot/Lowes yet? When should I plant new ones?

Hello folks, regarding the paper bags, how do they hold up under the rain?

how many months from sowing did it take to get the first flowers?

thonotorose and tropicdude and tampacitrusguy ---

I read an article in the newspaper that said that the knee highs would work but while I was placing some of the stockings on the young fruit I watched the fruit flies sting the fruit right through the knee highs. So what I do now is to place the knee highs on the fruit when it is small but I be sure to have the stocking folded in half. That has worked well. Later, when the stem is stronger, I will take off the stocking and replace it with lunch paper bags. They hold up well to the weather. It needs to be in place only until the rind of the fruit gets tough. I take the bags off a month or so before ripening time.

Since I get freezes every winter harvesting papaya can be a challenge. I used to start the seeds the first day of fall but since we seem to be in a cold spell I am going to start the seeds in August this year. All of the plants are grown in pots and kept warm during the winter. Then they are planted. I did protect the bases of the papaya plants this year and I am getting a slow recovery. With a mature root system I am hoping the they will produce fruit again this year even though they are starting from the ground. We'll see.

Christine

Does anyone have seeds for a dwarf variety? I would love to try them here in Phoenix.

Try eBay. I bought a new extra dwarf variety that I have growing this year. Got them started too late for fruit this year. I'll have to keep them potted until next spring.

Last year in the Fall I threw some papaya seeds out in the back, and never saw anything grow.... I went out there the other day and they had all sprouted and were 1 foot high!! they wintered-over in the ground, you'd think they would have froze, but there they were ! amazing......on the side of the house, the big plants that had been bearing so good froze down in Jan.,,,, this Spring I cut them way down to green, and put some aluminum-foil over the cut, and they have all sprouted new 'arms' and some have blossoms...... what a plant !! amazing........... sally

I planted several red ladys in the yard and one is beginning to flower. However, none of the other has flowered yet. Do I need more than one to flower at a time to get pollination and hopefully fruit?

Yes, Papaya trees are male, female, or hermaphrodite
You need both flowers for good fruiting. Usually if you have 3 trees close together you are in good shape. Red ladys should produce more hermaphrodite which is best.

I have only one red lady and it has produced amazing fruit. Even my hubby has decided he likes it. :o) I am now trying to grow a few more.

I just bought 4 papaya starter plants from eBay today. This is the sellers write up on each of them.

Semi-Dwarf Filipino Papaya. These plants are about 12-15 inches in height. You will receive 2 plants in each container. We are shipping these in a 4 x4 inch pot. These papaya are considered semi-dwarf papaya that grows about 8-10 ft. Has a medium size pear shape yellow-orange color fruit. Very sweet, good tasting papaya.

(Two) Carica papaya ÂTR Hovey A dwarf size papaya that grows only about 3-5 feet tall if planted in a pot and grows about 6-8 feet if in the ground. This papaya has excellent delicious fruit. It bears a medium size fruit about 4-6 inches long and 4-5 inches in diameter. The fruit is yellow in color when it is ripe. Grows better in warm location in a full sun area. This is a starter plant about 4-6 inches tall and will grow fast as soon as planted in a bigger container.

Lou

I found & bought these seeds for dwarf papaya on eBay. This is my first attempt at growing papaya in Fla. I will be growing all my papaya in 15 gallon pots outdoors during summer and bring them into a heated greenhouse for winter. Any helpful hints at growing papaya would be appreciated.

Lou

The Sunset Papaya is a dwarf papaya variety originating from the University of Hawaii. It is characterized by a short height and sweeter than average papayas that range from 1 to 1 1/2 pounds. The sunset papaya is extremely prolific which makes it appealing to the commercial growers in Hawaii.

The Waimanalo Papaya is a smaller dwarf papaya variety with more compact growth. It is ideal for those growers that want a great tasting papaya yet live in an environment that isn't suitable to growing one outside year round. The Waimanalo papaya starts fruiting when only about 2 1/2 feet tall and doesn't grow nearly as fast as most other papayas. Originating from the University of Hawaii, the fruits average 1 to 2 pounds and are very sweet. The Waimanalo Papaya keeps the best out of all the papaya varieties we sell and makes a great offering at your local farmerÂs market.

Lou, I can't really tell you any tips as this was my first papaya growing in my garden. It gets watered 2x a week and is in full sun. Others here are can tell you more. I am trying some seeds from this one.

The Waimanalo sounds very good too. :o)

"Yes, Papaya trees are male, female, or hermaphrodite." Okay, it is with a great deal of trepidation that I ask this, how do you tell male from female? (is the female plant the one with the credit card? is the male plant the one holding the remote?)

Seriously, how do I tell?

Generally the female flower comes out first it is fatter and right between the leaves on a short stalk the male flower is smaller and on a thin stalk. Once you see it it is obvious. I have Red Lady , Waimanalo the long thai type and a noid I had the last 3 years but this last winter did it in. Some are in pots in case we have another bad winter

What do you think, male, female or both?

The plants in the previous post appear to be males. I find them to be very ornamental.

In addition to growing Red Lady and the unknown very dwarf papaya I added Waimanalo this year. (The one just discussed.) I also bought the seeds off of eBay. The (two) plants are about 3 1/2 feet tall with no flower buds. Luckily, the extra dwarf and Red Lady are setting fruits now.

Last year I lost about 40 very large papaya fruits to the freezes. I was wondering if someone might have a recipe for green papaya salad. Last year I got to taste Oriental green papaya salad that was made with the finely shredded papaya and peanuts. It was so delicious.

Christine

I have one dwarf red lady. Planted 9/09. Barely survived 1/10-32 degrees in Satellite Beach. Set fruit but-most fruit turns yellow when 2" long, then drops. If it stays green it's OK. Two things, mealy bugs love this thing and horn worms were all over it in 11/10. Mealy bugs, hose and safer soap. Horn worms, pick and leave for the birds. And then came December. First actual freezing I've seen here since 1995 when I came. Plant did OK-young leaves look good. Old leaves ratty. Picked one fair size fruit, 3+ lbs. But too young and probably won't ripen. Questions, why the fruit drop? Normal? And do the seeds yield true dwarfs? Brevard County master gardeners have never seen the dwarfs. Thanx.

HOLA UN CORDIAL SALUDO DESDE BARCELONA VENEZUELA MUY BUENAS TODAS SUS RECETAS EXCELENTE.QUISIERA ME AYUDARAN A COMO PODRIA OBTENER SEMILLAS DE SUS CULTIVOS CERTIFICADAS YA QUE AQUI EL MERCADO ESTA UN POCO DIVERSO Y NECESITO OBTENER BUENOS RESULTADOS EN MIS CULTIVOS. AGRADECIENDOLE TODA SU COLABORACION RECIBAN UN CORDIAL SALUDO

i have started a small plantation of red lady papaya about 600 seeds which i bought commercially. now im already harvesting the fruits and sell it to the market. now im thinking to expand my plantation to produce more fruits due to demand. the question is can plant the seeds of fruits that i produced? will it be productive as the original seeds did? since that red lady papaya variety was hybrid...

@ ART

Red Lady is a F1 Hybrid, so planting seeds from the fruit of the trees you already have could be a problem, if they germinate, you will most likely end up with something different.

Red Lady is tolerant to PRSV which is great for commercial growers, you might not want to risk losing that advantage replanting.

I have just been "loaned" a piece of land and I,am planning to also have a micro plantation, around 30-40 trees

I will be planting around 30 Red Maradols, 5 Sun Gold F1 Hybrids, and 5 Kaeg Dahm ( Thailand variety ) the owner a good friend of mine, is planting all the rest of his land with Red Lady, so I'll probably have a few of those. hes not going organic like me, so i will want to have some as controls, to see how my plants do compared to commercial fertilizers and stuff.

This is more of a hobby than a way of making money for now, experimenting with sustainability, using Gliricidia as fertilizing mulch, and inter-cropping with pigeon pea and winged beans etc. all organic.

I am curious about your plantation, ill be sending you an e-mail, i have questions myself :) since its a bit off topic from this thread.

{{gwi:980643}}

I'm excited that last week I got to eat my first ripe papaya fruit of the season. This plant is third generation from the photos I posted on July 24, 2009 (photos located about halfway through this thread). Each year the saved seeds are producing larger plants and larger fruit. The flavor is still very good.

Two of my Red Lady plants are just beginning to show signs of ripening. I buy my Red Lady seeds every year so I can't expand on the recent previous post about what saved seeds from Red Ladys look like.

Christine

Hi christine,
Will you be able to share some seeds of the extra dwarf unknown variety? It will be great if you can let me know.

Thanks,

Vidyaa

You may be interested to contact Florida Seeds company for new dwarf papaya commercial trials in Homestead, also to buy non gmo papaya seeds and get more information about how to grow papaya from seeds.

Interesting Jofus.

Might give it a try, however I was about to give up on growing Papaya because of the fruit flies. I have had 8 trees and could not eat any of the fruit due to the flies. I tried the stockings but it didn't work. Paper bags are too difficult to use. I gave it a try but pulled off some fruit trying to keep them on.Now the trees are too tall so the vinegar might be a last hope.

My neighbor is Puerto Rican and grows Papayas from seed that she brings from her home town. Sweetest Papayas I ever tasted. Seeds grow quickly and produce fruit in less than 6 months. I grow one male and all the rest are females.

Her trees do not get the fly and she lives across the street from me. Can't figure that out!

I have found the fruits get stung very small before you can even cover them.

I'm just about finished trying to grow this fruit, but might give vinegar a try.

Jane

Jane, where exactly are you located ? Although don't think that matters much, the flies are everywhere. However, this year their numbers hereabouts were minimal,..so minimal, my glass jars collected only about two dozen each.

Started out in '09 with the tall, skinny papaya plants, then 2 yrs later, switched to the Red Lady's, then dropped them all together till this last year, when, just for the hell of it, went back to 5 of the tall guys.

Wish I had a photo or two of a hanging vinegar jar, however, am sure you can easily visualize the scene. Fruit flies hereabouts come around in July, like clockwork. So I overlap a bit, hang the jars in early/mid June, this yr took 'em down in early Aug.

What happens is, the flies go " bananas " when they whiff the strong, pungent scent of the cider. So they crawl into the smallish holes in the metal cap to " get at that wonderful liquid ", soon realizing they can't get out, then fall into the cider and drown. I've seen bottles in August with a huge soggy black mass of what seems like hundreds in ea jar.

If it rains heavily, most jars will get diluted, so just monitor them and refresh w/more apple cider vinegar, screw cap back on & re-hang. To be 100 % honest, once every two years or so I will find one, or at the most, two mango's destroyed by the fruit flies, but as long as I watch the jars once in awhile, and refill the ones that rarely need it, my fruit fly problems, - once fierce, are now over !

When in use I have two on each of my two largest trees, the 15' tall Glenn. and the 14' tall Kent. the two teenagers ( Tebow & Carrie ) only get one ea !

Still, a lot less work than the paper bags,...a lot less ! ( smile ) I admire your patience and work ethic, but hopefulhly those days are over. Good luck !

I've given up on my papaya. All its flowers fall off before they open. It was just a seedling I got out of a compost pile anyway, and just an experiment to see what it would do. It's about 6 feet tall now, but has no fruit and continues to drop flowers like mad. I think I'll leave it where it is just to see how it fares by the wall this year, but it will definitely be taken out next year and not be replaced. Papayas are iffy up here anyway, and how many green papayas can you actually eat? I can think of much more desirable (to me) things to grow. I'll probably put a chaya out there in its place.

I quit growing papaya's as well. What did it for me was that wicked, near miss tornado that tore thru here in late January. I had five skinny 20 + ft tall papaya " trees " growing at the very back of my lot, along the 6' high wooden fence. That tornado came in from the Gulf, and hit the western end of my lot first, where that wooden fence was ! ! All five trees were blown away, two bent over almost horizontal and three completely ripped out of the ground !!!

That did it,..no more. My neighbor on the other side of the fence was disappointed,.. " I liked the 'tropical look ' of those tall trees. Any chance you'll plant some new one's ? "

" Nope,..none ! Now just ' light'ning my load ', down to four mango trees and a few banana plants. Sorry pal ! "

Hello everyone

can any one advice me IF the papaya Can survive in mediteranian climate winter between 8C. Night and 17 day and summer. Between 30 c and 40 c

what is the best papaya that s taste good and smell good ?

how Do i know red lady in the shop ?

any other advice !

Thatnk you all