Germinating Papaya from store bought Mexican Papaya

[Tracy]

I have grown "Hawaiian Papaya" purchased from big box stores in 3 gallon pots in the past but after a couple of crops the new fruit just doesn't seem to ripen well for me during our winters in Southern California.  I thought I might try one of the more traditional Mexican Papaya varieties and rather than start with a seedling from a store, start with seeds from fruit that we bought to eat.  I'm curious if anyone can shed any light on whether it is best to let them sit for a period of time or just dive right in on germinating them.

My first step was to rinse the soak and then rinse the seeds.  I then used some hydrogen peroxide solution to soak off any additional flesh on the seeds and was thinking of trying the baggy method I have used for palm seeds.  Any feedback on that plan or suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

[Brian]

Ive had fresh papaya seeds germinate around my compost pile so it cant be too difficult. They produced fruit that looked good but didn't taste or have the same texture as the original fruit.

I know alot of people down in Mexico that grow comercial papaya and they all buy known hybrid quality seeds and germinate them in germination trays out in the open. There's a place en El Centro that sell all the papaya variety of seeds online at a reasonable price. Ive grown these before and the fruit is always true to the variety I purchased. 

By the way, even in Mexico the comercial guys only get a couple of crops out of their papaya's before they abanded them and move on. 

 

[Hillizard]

On 3/23/2024 at 11:24 AM, Tracy said:

I have grown "Hawaiian Papaya" purchased from big box stores in 3 gallon pots in the past but after a couple of crops the new fruit just doesn't seem to ripen well for me during our winters in Southern California.  I thought I might try one of the more traditional Mexican Papaya varieties and rather than start with a seedling from a store, start with seeds from fruit that we bought to eat.  I'm curious if anyone can shed any light on whether it is best to let them sit for a period of time or just dive right in on germinating them.

My first step was to rinse the soak and then rinse the seeds.  I then used some hydrogen peroxide solution to soak off any additional flesh on the seeds and was thinking of trying the baggy method I have used for palm seeds.  Any feedback on that plan or suggestions?  Thanks in advance.

The mountain papaya is the only one I've grown here in the Sacto suburbs, but it never fruited [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_papaya ]. The warmer south bay is more conducive to growing the Hawaiian varieties: