Papayas for Austin

No plant says summer like papaya. I plant papayas everywhere – in full sun at back of beds or front and center. These lush, tropical exotics look beautiful till frost, and I can almost watch them grow. This fruit is really a fast growing, large herb that will grow to about twelve feet by the end of summer. A short-lived perennial in tropical parts of the world, I treat papayas as annuals in Austin, and I routinely say goodbye at the first frost. Papayas are also excellent container plants…in really large pots. But they are difficult to overwinter as they like to be dry and need very good air circulation around them. I don’t try to overwinter large papayas anymore. I just keep plenty of small ones in pots ready to go the minute the last frost has passed.

The main reason I can say goodbye more easily is that I grow my papayas from seed. It is easy, very cheap, and almost foolproof. Here’s what I do. Cut a store bought papaya in half and take out the seeds. Often I look around in the papaya bin at the grocery store and find a bruised one. Usually, the produce manager will give me the overripe fruit or discount it. On occasion I ask the workers who peel , slice and package papayas for a bag of seeds. I spread the seeds which have a gelatin-like covering out on paper plates and allow them to dry for 3-4 days. It is important to plant the seeds as soon as they are dry. I plant the seeds in regular potting soil in 4 inch pots, water them in and put in full sun. I water them frequently to keep the soil moist. If I am doing this in cooler months, I water less and allow longer for the seeds to germinate. Right now, seeds will sprout in about 10 days. I bump them from the 4 inch pot in about 2-3 weeks to 6 – 8 inch and to a gallon pot about 2 weeks later. After the papayas get about 6” tall and it is warm, I plant them directly in the yard.

Papayas start to flower about 4-5 months from planting and begin fruiting shortly after. It is unusual to get fully developed papayas in one growing season, but it has happened. I enjoy the drama of the large, unusual plant and its flowers, but fruit on the tree is exciting. Last summer I had about 150 tiny to small papayas and only 6 of any size. In some parts of the world, unripe papayas are boiled and eaten like potatoes.

You can recognize a male tree by its thin stalks and many blooms. Female trees have a single large bloom and very short stalks. It is important to have both so I plant at least 3 or 4 trees to make sure I have at least one male tree. Some trees are bisexuals. It is not possible to determine sex of tree until they flower, so I go for quantity. Male trees do not fruit.

As it gets hotter and hotter, papayas thrive, and, if given sufficient water, will reward you with a magnificent focal point in your garden . It is much more fun if you started it all with a quarter and an overly ripe papaya from H.E.B.!

-Laura Joseph