Grow Papaya in Containers

3 Materials
$3
30 Minutes
Easy
Ever consider growing papaya? Neither did I until I started experimenting with "gardening for free" , basically spending nothing more than the cost of a single fruit. In my original blog, I covered the basics of gardening from kitchen scraps, propagating and harvesting seeds from season to season. Papaya are beautiful tropical plants that can produce fruit when grown in containers. Depending where you live, growing in the ground outdoors will only be an option if you live in zone 10 - 12. So, nearly all of the US and Canada would want to consider growing in a container, and moving indoors before the first freeze. Because I am in Dallas, zone 8, I am going to try both.
Step 1 - Buy a Papaya
To grow papaya, you will need to buy one whole papaya fruit that has not been refrigerated (like the cute/plastic wrappped fruit above, a lot of grocers will store this in the frigerated section).  Refrigeration will stop the seed from being able to sprout. 
Here is picture of a Hawaiian papaya, which are usually started from GMO seeds, so go with the Mexican papaya (first photo).


When you are ready to plant, and only when you are ready to plant, cut open your papaya and set aside about 30 seeds.  The first time I tried this, I waited a couple of days to plant the seeds and they did not sprout, so plant them immediately.
Step 2 - Plant the seeds
~ Take a large pot and mix with organic potting soil and compost, about 50/50.  Place pot in sunny area.  Ideal temp for starting from seed is 70 degrees.
~ Plant each seed individually by poking the seed about 1 inch down in the pot.  Cover with dirt and water daily.  I originally planted the seeds in May, so we were already having 90 degree days and my seeds still sprouted fine.  Papaya is a tropical and loves warm weather.  Once your seeds sprout up, keep a close eye not to give them too much direct sun.  If you are seeing a lot of yellow leaves, it’s probably too much sun.


**If you will be starting your seeds indoors, start in a shallow planting tray (1 to 2 inch of dirt) and add a heating pad underneath the tray.
Step 3 - Transplant and Top


~ Around the six week mark, I tried to separate the plants into other containers and they were quite fragile.  To be safe, wait until the 10 week mark and the root system is a little more established.  
~ Because I am growing these trees in containers, I will want to top each plant so that it does not get too tall.  Papaya trees grown outdoors can grow to 20 feet in height.  To prune or top your plant, simply cut off the top 6 inches or so at the main stem once the plant gets to about 2.5 to 3 feet tall.  This will make your plant stockier and easier to manage since you will be bringing these inside in the winter.


Even after I bring the trees in before the first freeze, I will continue to top, as needed and transplant depending on the container.


Step 4 - Plant and Harvest


Because I planted about 30 seeds to begin with in a large pot and now have many papaya plants, I am going to experiment next spring with a few planted outdoors. The rest will remain in containers on my patio through spring to fall to repeat the process.
Step 4 - Plant and Harvest


Because I planted about 30 seeds to begin with in a large pot and now have many papaya plants, I am going to experiment next spring with a few planted outdoors. The rest will remain in containers on my patio through spring to fall to repeat the process.
Expect your papaya trees to produce fruit in about 1 to 2 years, as long as you have male and female trees to pollinate (or some trees are bisexual).  You can tell the sex of your Papaya tree by the type of flower.  It takes a papaya tree almost a year to flower, so you won’t know if you have a fruit producer until then.  For additional info, click  here.
The papaya is considered a superfood!  They are great in salads, in savory dishes, grilled or use the seeds to make a  papaya seed vinagrette.
Suggested materials:
  • Compost   (amazon)
  • Potting soil   (amazon)
  • Papaya fruit   (grocery store)
Flawless C Designed
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Baba Baba on Sep 22, 2018

    WOW!! I must try this!!

    how are your plants doing!!

Comments
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 2 comments
  • Marc Erick Marc Erick on Sep 23, 2018

    Ooooo... super inspired! Thanks for sharing!

  • Karen George Karen George on Apr 08, 2019

    very pretty plant but living in the north east i don't know if I could get a papaya that wasn't refrigerated, but if I find one i will give this a try. Thanks

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