Carica Papaya

[edric]

This male Carica Papaya germinated after the hard freeze we had in Feb., I've given it Maxicrop, liquid seaweed, and Maxicrop liquid fish a few times, plus a little 16-0-8 a few times, but this is massive it's 8 feet tall, and you can see its girth, Ed

[epicure3]

That plant got huge, fast. Can't you turn a papaya male into a female somehow??

[edric]

That plant got huge, fast. Can't you turn a papaya male into a female somehow??

No but I've got lots of them, some hermaphrodites, so having one large male is a plus, I yanked up two other males already, one hermaphrodite is over four years old, it came back from being froze right down to the ground, when the freeze hit, I had 28 papaya the size of footballs, but the will not ripen, unless they are already starting to turn yellow, and that's off of just two trees, Ed

[Jose Maria]

That plant got huge, fast. Can't you turn a papaya male into a female somehow??

No but I've got lots of them, some hermaphrodites, so having one large male is a plus, I yanked up two other males already, one hermaphrodite is over four years old, it came back from being froze right down to the ground, when the freeze hit, I had 28 papaya the size of footballs, but the will not ripen, unless they are already starting to turn yellow, and that's off of just two trees, Ed

Here in Costa Rica they use the green(unripe) papayas as a vegetable, so if they are not yet ripe,and the freeze comes... don´t throw them out, but use them in the kitchen as "picadillo".

[Jeff in St Pete]

You can also make a delicious Thai salad from green papayas.

I've been told that if you cut the top off and let it resprout from the trunk, it can turn female. Not sure if that's true or not, but I've heard this from a couple different people.

[edric]

Thanks all, I appreciate the info., Ed

[spockvr6]

Yes Ed...these are fast fast fast! I had the same observations as you re: growth speed a number of years ago when I grew a bunch from seed.

[edric]

Yes Ed...these are fast fast fast! I had the same observations as you re: growth speed a number of years ago when I grew a bunch from seed.

I just wish the winters were consistently warmer, like where you live, Ed

[fiji jim]

It is correct that they will branch if cut off.

We use this tactic when they get too tall to harvest.

The green pawpa salad is great too.

Also green ones are a great meat tenderizer in a marinate.

Jim

[edric]

It is correct that they will branch if cut off.

We use this tactic when they get too tall to harvest.

The green pawpa salad is great too.

Also green ones are a great meat tenderizer in a marinate.

Jim

Thanks for the info Jim, Ed

[Jose Maria]

You can also make a delicious Thai salad from green papayas.

I've been told that if you cut the top off and let it resprout from the trunk, it can turn female. Not sure if that's true or not, but I've heard this from a couple different people.

I don´t believe it Jeff....sex-change in papayas.....

The story is more like this:

There are male ,female and hermaphrodite papayas. The commercial ones are hermaphrodites, all of them produce fruit, no males on the farm that only produce flowers.

The hermaphrodite fruit is recognizable because when very small ,the fruit gets five impressions around the base from the male part of the flower, these imprints remain on the papaya even when ripe. If you plant seeds from these you will get 100% fruit bearing papaya trees. In Costa Rica they are called "cachos" because of their horn like form.

If you plant seeds from the melon-like, big papayas you get 50% males and 50% females.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Jose Maria