Everyone around the world knows how papaya contributes to human health. However, not everyone knows how to grow papaya trees in containers since most people grow them on the ground on their patio or backyard.
In this article, you will completely learn how to grow a papaya tree easily in a pot or container, especially if you don’t have enough space to grow it on the ground.
There are many parts of papaya you need to learn when it comes to planting it, including understanding the plant itself, its nutrition properties, steps to grow it, how to take care of it, how to harvest it, and many more.
So let’s take a quick look at the following full explanation:
About Papaya
Papaya, also called Carica Papaya, is a perennial plant growing in tropical areas and in subtropical regions. This plant is native to American countries like California and Mexico.
However, the plant grows well in other countries like India, Florida, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Caribbean islands, Africa and Hawaii.
Papaya can grow up to 5 to 10 meters with large leaves of about 20 to 40 centimeters in diameter with 7 palmate lobes.
Papaya’s flowers are parted; the male ones have stamens fused to petals, while the female ones have a superior ovary and 5 petals connected at the base.
Papaya fruits are large. They are about 20-35 centimeters tall. They can be eaten or juiced. The fruits can also be used in desserts, ice cream, cakes, sauces, jams, chocolates, and smoothies for flavoring.
How To Grow Papaya Tree In A Pot
It is noticeably easy to grow papaya trees in a container. Generally, people perform it by collecting the seeds first from the ripe fruit. Later, follow the step by steps to plant the papaya tree in a pot or container.
- Choose a seed variety to grow in a container.
- Prepare a potting mix of rich soil.
- Give adequate water and sunlight to the plants.
- Give good N-P-K fertilizers so that the plant can thrive faster.
- Give organic fertilizers to cope with the pest and disease issues.
- Harvest papaya when the fruits turn yellow in the hot temperature zone.
In detail, here are the instructions you may want to know completely.
Seed and Container Selection
Seed selection is the primary step of all. So, choose the seeds from the papaya fruits to grow them in a container. Alternatively, you can also easily purchase hybrid seeds from a garden center.
Papaya seeds are generally based on size, taste, growing regions, and fruiting time. You had better choose a big container about 15-20 inches to grow a dwarf variety of papayas.
Soil Preparation
Soil preparation is also one of the most important things to growing papaya trees in a container. As the plant is a tropical plant, you had better choose a nutrient-rich potting mix soil.
You can prepare the soil simply by adding garden soil to the compost in a 1:2 ratio. Note that papaya will grow well in loamy, sandy, and rocky soil as long as it has 4.5 to 8.0 pH.
Adequate Amount of Water and Sunlight
Concerning the soil prep, make sure that you keep the soil damp but not soggy to monitor the moisture levels.
You must also water the plant thoroughly. As the plant grows, give more water to them and make sure you also provide adequate sunlight for better growth.
If you prefer growing papayas indoors, the plants must receive minimally 6-8 hours a day of sunlight. This way, enough sunlight will stimulate the plant to thrive faster in warm climatic conditions.
If you want to have a more tasty fruit, maintain the temperature of 70 to 90 F. If the temperature is below 31F, the plants will get damaged.
Plantation
Once the soil is ready, sow the papaya seeds in a large chosen container. Space them about 2 inches apart from one another. This will lead the papaya seeds to germinate faster.
Further, the seeds will also sprout quickly if you use sterile potting mix soil like vermiculite.
In this step, the seedlings may appear after fourteen days. The dwarf varieties will particularly grow up to 6 feet in height.
Pollination
Pollination is another step to growing papaya trees in a container. Pollination is a must to develop in order that the pollens can be changed from the male gametes to the female ones in the plants.
As the flowers cannot pollen themselves, they need to attract insects like honeybees, butterflies, and birds. These insects will absolutely transfer the pollen grains for fruiting purposes.
Papaya Fruits’ Pest
Pests are unavoidable when you are growing fruit trees. In particular, some pests attack the papaya tree: spider mite, yellowmouth, scales, fruit fly, and whitefly.
To deter them, the most common solution that most papaya growers take is spraying ammonium. Pests or insects will disappear from the plants since they don’t like the smell.
Papaya Fruits’ Diseases
There is also some papaya fruits disease that is also unavoidable. They include papaya ringspot, bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose, and transit rot.
Like how you treat the pests, you can also spray ammonium on the plant, especially on the spot that suffers from the disease. You can also use other organic methods to overcome the issues.
Fertilization
Papaya trees need better fertilizers to ensure quick growth and fruit development. Thus, based on the recommendation, you must apply fertilizers like N-P-K standing for Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) on the plants in a 10-10-10 or 14-14-14 ratio for root establishment.
Further, you can also give organic compost, manure, and mulch to the soil for fertilization.
Harvest Time
Nothing is making me happy but the harvest time. Yes, harvesting the fruits can be the most awaited moment to see whether your plantation and fruit growth are successful or not.
This way, you can harvest papaya fruits only when the fruits turn yellow. Generally, it takes 6-9 months for papaya to ripe its fruits at the hot temperature and 9 – 11 months at the moderate temperature.
How can you harvest papaya fruits?
Cut the papayas using your gardening tools like a sharp knife or scissors. If you leave the fruits to ripen on the tree, you allow birds and mosquitoes to damage them.
Before you eat the fruits, it is highly recommended to store them firstly in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days. Later, you can consume the fruits when it is already half yellow.
Grafting Papayas
Is it possible to graft papayas? Why not? You can do it between two different varieties to create a single hybrid papaya plant.
Undoubtedly, the hybrid plant will produce tasteful fruits and promote high yielding for a long time.
Here are the procedures for grafting papayas:
- Pick a time for grafting papayas since they need enough nutrients to grow well.
- Choose a scion that is a young stem from the plant to form leaves and flowers.
- Choose a healthy rootstock plant to which the graft is attached.
- Cut the scion stem below the graft and rootstock stem above the graft in your desired shape with a knife.
- Join both scion and rootstock in your desired shape and wrap it using grafting tape.
- Plant the newly established graft in a pot or container.
- Regularly water the plants so that they can thrive well.
- Provide sunlight for better growth.
How to Take Care Of Papaya Trees
To ensure that you grow papaya tree in a container well, there are some points on how to take care of the plants as follows:
- You don’t have to perform any plant pruning.
- Add mulch over the top of the soil to keep the moisture levels well-maintained.
- Keep pests and pets as well as your kids from the harmful tools and fertilizers for papaya trees.
- Follow the instructions on how to cover the seeds when you purchase them online.
- Harvest the fruits early in the morning before they face the sunlight.
- Maintain the temperature, water, and sunlight availability if you perform papayas grafting.
- Make sure that the containers already have holes at the bottom for good drainage.
Papaya’s Health Benefits
Once you decide to grow a papaya tree in a pot, you will get the big health benefits of enjoying the fruits.
As known, papaya is one of the natural remedies for treating many kinds of diseases like heart issues, cancer, atherosclerosis, and digestive health.
Finally, you have all our tips on growing papaya trees in a container. Once you learn our tips and follow each instruction, you will successfully grow the plants even if you don’t have a backyard to grow them. Yes, grow them in containers and enjoy the benefits of your health.