How to Grow Papaya from Seeds

Papaya is a tropical fruit rich in fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, which prevent cholesterol to build up in your arteries.

Papaya is a fast-growing tree. You can also grow papaya from seeds. Growing papaya from seeds is the easiest, cheapest and best way to get started.

Cultivation Practices in Malaysia

If you want to cultivate papaya here in Malaysia, there are many papaya seeds for sale, just make sure they are of good quality.

This guide will help you grow 1-Foot Papaya.

Climate

Papaya is a tropical fruit, so it grows best at 25 to 30 degrees Celsius. It needs warm weather and plenty of sunshine.

The papaya seeds should be planted on sandy-loam soil with good fertility and drainage. Avoid continuous cropping and it is best to use soil of ph 6 – 6.5.

Seedling Care

Consider that 100g of seeds is enough to plant 2,000 plants or 1. Ha of field. Sow seeds in a pot of 12 cm X 10 cm dimension, which contains 1 part of dry compost and 3 parts of loose soil.

Just sow the seeds 1 or 2 cm deep.

Transplanting and Spacing

Once the seeds are 15 to 20 cm high, you should transplant them. This should happen about 1.5 months after sowing.

Each row needs to have a distance of 9 feet apart; plant to plant also needs to be 9 feet apart.

It is recommended to water seeding a few hours before the transplant. The best way to plant the papaya is at an angle of 45 degrees from the ground as this will make harvest operation easier and wind resistance stronger.

Fertilizers

You should need to fertilize the plant every year to replenish the soil for adult plants when they start flowering. You will need 10 tons/Ha of compost to be provided for the papaya or 1kg of compost per square foot.

Liquid fertilizers should be applied every year to stabilize the yield and maintain plant vigor. Apply for adult plants 2.00 kg NPK 15-15-15, and for young plants apply fertilizers in circles.

Make sure to apply it away from the center and around the edge of the canopy and covered it with soil.

Management

• Irrigation: Frequently to maintain steady growth.
• Drainage: During the rainy season to prevent any root disease.
• Support: Use stakes to support plants from falling in a strong wind.
• Weeding & Trimming: You should remove weeds, side shoots, and dried leaves as soon as possible.

Flowering

Papaya plants can be female, male, or bisexual.

Female

Female flowers look more round and plump. They are bigger, and they are closer to the branch than male flowers.

Male

Male flowers have a longer stem and they usually have 5 to 6 petals.

They are very small. Notice that only female flowers give fruits but they need male flowers to pollinate them.

Bisexual

Bisexual flowers are usually found between the stem of the plant of papaya and they are short.

Harvest

About 4 to 6 months after the plant flowering, you should start harvesting. You should harvest when the skin is fully yellow and tender.

During the first two years, they yield the best.

It is easy for the papaya plants to grow but you should look for various papaya plant diseases and control them to keep them alive and get good fruit. If you have any doubts, ask your papaya seeds seller what to do.

The most common papaya plant disease is root rot due to overwatering. If this happens, the entire plant will become yellow and die. This is especially true in the rainy season.

You can treat this problem with a seed treatment using 4g of Thuram, Chlorothalonil, or Captan; you can also drench using copper oxychloride 0.25%. All of these products can be found where you buy your papaya seeds.

Lastly, keep in mind that growing papaya from seeds will require you to take constant care of your plants so you can take control if anything goes wrong.