Planting papayas (growing, cats, concrete, front yard)

[KimFreebish]

I planted some seeds last night from a fruit that I had bought.

I know papayas like the heat as well as reflective heat but would it be too hot for newly planted seedlings to be in full sun, 100+ degrees, surrounded by concrete and brick?

I had them in the back yard (sun/shade), but my cat peed in one and then knocked it over. That's why I'm considering moving them to the front yard next to the garage, outside of a front window so I can keep a close eye on them.

I'm making one last attempt this year at growing papayas. This is about my 5th try. For some reason I haven't had any success this year. Last year I had them growing everywhere, but we had a couple of winter freezes that killed them. So I thought. Unfortunately I cut them down thinking they were all dead. The one on the side of the house, I left alone. It came back and has started fruiting. I regret having cut those others down. I should have waited to see.

Anyway, I thought I'd take advantage of this triple digit heat and get a head start for next spring.

Any success on growing papays? I live in Houston, TX, by the way.

[Moth]

I have found them easy to germinate, difficult to sustain. The sun fried many of mine as well, although I had germinated them in the basement. Perhaps if you germinate them in full sun, they will better tolerate it.

Were I living in Houston, I would start then inside around January or so and move them outside when the frost threat was gone. First I would keep them in dappled shade. Then transition them to a south facing wall. I saw a case where someone did this in South Carolina and they fruited.

Another thinkg about Papyas is they have extra sensitive roots. So try to keep transplantings to a minimum. Also, the Hawaiian ones do not grow as tall as the others so are easier.

Luckilly, every papaya has tons of seeds. So germinate different sets under different conditions and see what works.

[KimFreebish]

Thanks for the tips.

I think I'll try them on in various locations of the yard. Some in the front, some in the back (as long as my cats don't mess with them).

I'm pretty sure these are Mexican papayas. That's mainly what the stores and markets around here carry.

[Moth]

Originally Posted by LargeMargeSentMe

Thanks for the tips.

I think I'll try them on in various locations of the yard. Some in the front, some in the back (as long as my cats don't mess with them).

I'm pretty sure these are Mexican papayas. That's mainly what the stores and markets around here carry.

Yea here too. Balduccis, if you have them down there, tends to have Hawaiian ones.

[PacificFlights]

If you are trying to grow "Hawaiian" papayas, your going to have a very very hard time of it on the mainland with little success. the three varieties were all developed based on the specific island they were growing on and the conditions.

A Kapoho papaya needs well drainned soil but the Waimanalo needs poor draining soil. If the fruit you have does not tell you which it is (other than from the state of Hawaii) which soil you need is unknown. Also even between the Kapoho and Sunrise papayas, they need different soils and growong conditions even though they are asumed to be the same thing.

You can vary the temperature by 10 degrees and suddenly one dies and another variety explodes in unrippen fruit. Unless you have a yard of a'a' lava and red/black cinder soil, Hawaii papayas seldom can continue to produce in other soils. That's why they are designed for the specific island, and area of the Island. You try taking Kapoho papya growing in Pahoa and bring it down the malamoa to Lauapaoehoe and the results will be so different even though they are on the same island and not far apart.

You will have better luck growing papayas from Mexico or Central America than from Hawaii. Although you may have sucess because all the conditions were just right, Hwaii and the mainland are not similar so sucess is short lived.