give me the run down on how you grow a papaya. I germinted many seeds last winter but was not sure what to do with them and I just let them die. I thought it was more of a vine that grew up a fence or something. I like that tree.

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/papaya.html

Here's a link that has some good info.

It sounds to me like they grow alot like a banana. They can reach maturity in 18 months.

Yep OP, I was the same way. I took a papaya and seeded it out and got about 1,000 seed sproats. Problem was I had no idea on what to do with all of them so they ended up dying 😳

after I read this post yesterday I googled "papaya" and found plenty of info about growing them. I am off to the supermarket in the next couple of days to get a papaya and start my papaya farm. They look really cool and tall, way different than I thought. We'll see what happens. Thanks for Cali-wanna-b for reminding me of a great tropical tree to grow.

You do not want store bought fruit for seed. Most every store bought fruit will produce male or female plants that require each other to produce fruit. There are a few varieties you can get that will produce a plant with both male & female flowers that will produce fruit on their own. Papaya is a true tropical, that will not take any frost.

Laaz

Is there any way to identify the male and female plants after a few months or do you have to wait until flowering?

Hey Craig. No I know of no way to tell until they flower. Have a look here for some info http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/F_N-5.pdf

bought a papaya on the way home last night. I will seed it and plant this weekend. I for one don't think I can get it to set papayas in Kansas, I am just going to grow it for visual interest and hope that it is vsually interesting (if you know what I mean) . If I am lucky and can get 5-7 growinng maybe I have a chance (like 1 in a million) of getting something that will work.

THANKS for the links.

They will set fruit in KS, the trick is getting the fruit to ripen. There is a family here in town that grows then every year. They start the plants indoors in the winter & plant them out every spring. The have loads of fruit every year. Here is a link to some photos... http://citrus.forumup.org/viewtopic.php?t=95&highlight=papaya&mforum=citrus