Anyway, I wanted to find out what it would take to grow a papaya for fruit. They take about 13months to grow and require, of course, warm weather. I think that you can top them off to force fruiting, but you also need to know that there are male, female, and hermaphodite trees. Males do not, of course bear, but the other two will. (Hermaphadite is preferred because its self fertile.) If anyone in the warmer zones is interested here is a link to an article from the University of Hawaii extension on growing Papayas.
Why some papaya fail to fruit.
A you tube about growing Papaya
2:03 / 10:49 How to grow Papaya in Pots - Complete Growing Guide
The only thing I have to report today is our continuing Weird Weather. Hitting 71 today, then rain turning to snow, and a low tonight in the 20’s, so a FIFTY degree drop in temps. Wind chills tonight -5!
Then, back to the 60’s by Saturday. My Magnolia is ready to bloom and the Maple trees are leafing out so Beau is done harvesting sap - onlg got about 50 gallons this season.
It’s February 27th!
Yikes. We’re still 20” below average on snow, so we’ll get that all on April 1st, I’m sure. *Rolleyes*
Highest temp in the greenhouse has been 100 degrees so far, but at the 71 degrees we’re going to hit today, I’ll bet it will hit 110 in there. (Nothing is in there - just used for storage this time of year.)
Papayas are marginal where I live in So Cal (as are bananas, they are able to be grown but if we get a good, hard frost, it kills the entire tree).
My neighbors across the street had a beautiful papaya with large fruit on it - don’t know if the fruit ever ripened or not - they had their gardener take it out, unfortunately.