Papaya

A short-lived, fast-growing, woody, large herb to 10 or 12 feet in height. Need a light, well-drained soil and can be killed by excess moisture. Papaya plants come in three sexes: male (produce many flowers on long stalks); female (flower is rounder shaped, puffed out by the fat ovary inside; fruit will be round); and hermaphrodite which has both male and female parts on the same flower (flowers are thinner than females, with a tubular shape; fruit is elongated, somewhat football-shaped). Farmers will plant three papaya seedlings where they want one tree. They wait for them to reach flowering age, and cut down any males, females, or extra hermaphrodites, leaving one hermaphrodite per planting spot. Hermaphrodites are the most common papaya sex, followed by females, with males being the rarest. Grown from seed from NON-GMO “Sunrise’ trees. Seedlings usually begin flowering 9 – 12 months after they germinate.