- Creating the right conditions for growing papayas
- Growing and caring for a papaya
- Overwinter the papaya properly
- tips and tricks
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The papaya is not only a tasty fruit, it is also one of the exotic fruits that are relatively easy to grow yourself. The seeds from the commercially available fruits can be used for this.
Creating the right conditions for growing papayas
In order to obtain the desired papaya variety when growing from seed, you should pay attention to the origin of the respective fruit. In this country, the smaller papayas are often available from Hawaiian cultivars, but sometimes also the papaya varieties of Mexican origin, which weigh up to 5 kilograms. Scoop out the dark seeds from the halved papaya onto a piece of kitchen paper. The clear coating around the seeds is difficult to remove with mere washing, but it can be rubbed off by lightly rubbing the seeds between kitchen paper. A nutrient-poor soil substrate such as peat or coconut fiber should be chosen as the cultivation substrate for the plantlets so that the young roots can develop well.
Growing and caring for a papaya
As a rule, the window sill or a relatively consistently warm place in a conservatory or greenhouse should be chosen for sowing the papaya seeds. In order to spare the young plants the pricking out procedure, which is usually poorly tolerated by papayas, you can also put just one seed at a time in a small seed pot and cover it thinly with some soil. During the germination phase of about two weeks, the substrate should be kept evenly moist but not too wet. What is special about papayas is their rapid growth with an unbranched trunk, although botanically it is not a tree or shrub. With some varieties, the first fruits can be harvested after about a year.
Overwinter the papaya properly
Papayas grown in tubs must be brought indoors before the temperatures drop below 10 degrees Celsius in autumn. Otherwise, papaya flowers and fruit may fall off due to the cold. Since papayas need sufficient light even in the colder months, a slightly cooler place in the conservatory or under a skylight is an ideal location.
tips and tricks
Depending on the seeds used for breeding, you can get monoecious or dioecious papaya plants. In the former, self-pollination is possible, in the latter, one male specimen is required for pollination for every 10 to 15 female plants. This can be distinguished from the female specimens by the slightly earlier formed and long-stemmed flowers.