Sexy Papaya

Papaya. Thick, luscious, juicy….

Luscious fruit on a female or hermaphrodite tree.

I could go on, but that’s not the kind of “sexy” I intend to talk about. If you want to grow your own papaya though, at some point, you’ve got to talk about sex.

To grow those large juicy orbs, one has to determine the sex of the plant, and with papaya there’s three possibilities: male, female, and hermaphrodite! Females produce luscious fruit–but only if they are pollinated by a nearby male or hermaphrodite (which has flowers that contain both the male and female parts). Hermaphrodite papaya can pollinate themselves. Males will produce flowers, but no large luscious fruit.

The trick to growing papaya, at least in tropical and subtropical climates, is to prepare a well-composted patch of ground, scatter a number of papaya seeds and cover them with a little soil and more mulch, and then let them grow until the sex can be identified. Hermaphrodite and female seeds tend to be more common in Hawaiian papayas, so chances are if you select several of the sturdiest plants, you’ll end up with what you want. With five or more seeds, your chances of getting a hermaphrodite are 96 percent (according to the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources). Once you’ve identified the sex, cut out the males (sorry boys), and keep the hermaphrodite or a combination of hermaphrodites and females, if you have room for more than one.

Papaya trees grow quickly. In six months, they’ll be 6-8 feet high. In a year, they may tower up to 20 feet, and in 18 months or less they’ll be thick with fruit, ripe for eating.  The trees will produce steadily for 2-3 years, and then begin to wane, both in production and health, so it’s a good idea to plan for succession if you have room. Aside from full sun, occasional fertilizer (just add more compost) and moderate water when young, papaya trees are fairly maintenance free.

I’ve read that the seeds are edible (taste like black pepper), the leaves can be steamed and eaten or brewed into a medicinal tea, and an extract of the fruit (papayain) is an ingredient in meat tenderizer. Now what could be sexier than that!