I had seeds from them that would not germinate also (entire packets of 10 seeds). Of the ones that did germinate, seeds that were supposed to produce a ratio of 66% hermaphrodite 33% female, I ended up with more male plants than I would have thought.

Unless you absolutely want a variety from them, you can get seeds for solo sunrise, solo sunset and Waimanalo (X-77) from the U of H seed program. The Home Garden Packs (HGP) of papaya seeds have 2g of seeds (probably at least 120+) for $1 (+ $1 for handling per order). No shipping on HGP only orders. Buy all three types for $4, have more seeds than you will need. They got them to me quick also (from Hawaii to Florida).

The U of H seed program offers seeds for a lot of vegetables also.

DM

Here is a link that might be useful: U of H seed program

great thanks !
I had heard about U of Hawaii, but never seen the website.
just found it.
and they have "Waimanalo Low Bearing"
which i guess is dwarf...
cool :)

I've always found fresh seeds the fastest to germinate. Once they dry out they take longer. of course if you're buying the seed you don't really know just how old they are and whether they're still viable. I have very mixed results with bought seed of any type, and mostly negative. Unfortunately they're not like eggs that you can check to see if they're still okay.

I always just buy a publix papaya take the seeds and plant them directly into a bonnies 9 plant cartridge. I always seem to germinate each one. The finished product is always better than the publix papaya.

I too started by getting fresh fruit and just throwing the seeds in a spot in the ground and sprinkling dirt on the seeds.

Soon the area looked like a chia pet and I had to thin them, and pot. Now animals eat dropped fruit and spread seeds around and I'm constantly having to pluck them from the ground :-)

Just an update

I had ordered seeds from the University of Hawaii
They came in, they just LOOK much bigger and fresher than Aloha's
UH seeds = $1 for like 40-50 seeds

2 more of the seeds from Aloha did pop up
but they look very small and unhealthy.