All of my papayas, except for 1, sprouted Fall/Winter of last year. They are now 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall. They are seedlings of Sunrise & Waimanalo. I'm thinking that they have some cold-resistance gene which allowed them to survive the cold. No flowers/fruits yet. I don't plan to protect them in any way this season

After a few failures I was very successful at germinating and growing them. I have at least three different types. I started last late last summer (2010) and they are now producing fruit. The fruiting ones were called "Carribean red" in the store but I have some with purple and green trunks that are called "red lady" I started this past spring which have little fruit on them though the trees are Anyway... contrary to what I read, I did not strip the pulpy coating on the seeds or dry them out, I just planted them in soil, and kept them semi moist. They sprout in a 3-4 weeks with a 60%+ germination rate. One in 3 has been male which I pull from the ground as soon as I know I'm not going to get fruit and plant another in its place, generally near a banana cluster :-)

I put five seeds in a shallow container made for lawn grass plugs, and move them into larger pots when about 1-2" tall.

Mine I water and feed a quite a bit after they're in the ground. I give them fish emulsion, fireplace ash, and palm fertilizer (sparingly). All of mine have trunks larger than my thigh and are only 10-13' high.

Just a note on edibility... tree ripened papaya are EXCELLENT eating, nothing at all like the ones you get in the market that were picked green and allowed to turn yellow in the store or at home, I liken them to cantalope in taste and generally almost as sweet.

I don't think you can go wrong starting them now. Mine endured our last winter "unseasonably cold south Florida weather without losing a single one. Good luck

Gary

Thanks Rodney and Gary, for the great info! I'll be devouring some Solo papayas tomorrow and will start the seeds right away. What's the coldest temps that your trees have seen, and survived?

They've taken the low 30's, and the bigger they are, the more hardy they're supposed to be.

Funny you should ask this question newgen, as I just sprouted four Strawberry Papaya plants from seed I brought back from Hawaii the end of Sept., and will overwinter them ( baby them actually) inside and outside depending on the temp and circumstance of the weather.

I will say that all three of my mexican papayas planted as 12 inch high plants in the spring of 2010 are producing papayas this year on trees all 6 feet tall or larger, the one that survived the Palm Springs, CA winter of 2010-2011 the best, has about 25 still green ones, ranging from cantalope size to golf balls, and the other two plants fewer and smaller sized ones.

There is a guy in my neighborhood who's fist-sized and larger papayas overwintered on his 2 year old thick-trunked tree and I think he picked and ate them this last spring as things warmed up, but I'm not positive of that. That is exactly the situation I will find myself in this winter as many of these will not ripen by January. I understand they have turn some color before you can pick them to finish ripening inside. Guess I'll find out....

good luck.....gary#2

Last winter NOAA records are better than my memory... they recorded 6 days of low temperatures below 40 degrees at Miami Int airport, Palm beach Int had 18 mornings with low temperatures below 40 degrees, Fort Lauderdale 9 mornings with low temperatures below 40 degrees, and Naples airport (on the west coast) had 13 days of low temperatures below 40 degrees. I've read that a time in 32 degree temps WILL hurt or kill them though.

I hope that helps... BTW, I'm smack dab in the middle of Fort Lauderdale, and Palm beach.

It makes me wonder if anyone around here lost Papaya during the winter the last two years?

Just a note on edibility... tree ripened papaya are EXCELLENT eating, nothing at all like the ones you get in the market that were picked green and allowed to turn yellow in the store or at home, I liken them to cantaloupe in taste and generally almost as sweet.

My take is the same. Your own backyard tree ripened are the best, I snagged two off a tree yesterday. They are cantaloupes on trees. The price they go for in stores is hilarious.

Papayas grow like weeds in Florida. I don't even think in terms of varieties, just what tastes good. From what I read here papaya cultivation more difficult in California, I suspect due to the dry air

Gary - where did you get your NOAA temperature info from ? Can you please provide the link...thanks.

Rob

The pdf is:

www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mfl/news/2010WxSummary.pdf

Here's the directory tree, browse this before someone there finds out you get the listing and puts an index file there.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mfl/

mangodog: where do you plant yours? South-facing, or? Right next to the house or far away, etc? Last week, the crazy wind storm did some damage to some of my other plants, I suspect that papayas should be planted in a "protected" spot, keeping it away from the wind. I think my area (Bakersfield) and yours are similar in the extreme high and low temps.