Pronounciation: Car-E-ca pa-PEYE-ya

Hardiness zones
Sunset 13 (with protection)-24
USDA 9 (with protections)-11

Landscape Use: Tropical garden themes, textural accent plant, edibile gardens, tropical fruit production.

Form & Character: Strongly upright, columnar, somewhat palm like, bold, mesic, tropical.

Growth Habit: Evergreen, herbaceous to semi-woody, short-lived perennial (10 to 15 years maximum, often less), moderately vigorous, upright to 20-feet tall, often less, single trunk becomes thickened and fibrous with age to nearly 12-inches wide, seldom branches.

Foliage/Texture: Terminal rosette of large, strongly palmately-lobed green leaves to 30-inches wide, 5 to 9 lobe segments with prominent veination; coarse texture.

Flowers & Fruits: Dioecious or hermaphroditic (perfect) flowers depending on varietal selection, yellow, male flowers are small and appear in branched clusters on 1/2- to 2-inch long stalks, female or hermaphroditic flowers are considerably larger and appear singular or in clusters at leaf axils on shortened stalks; fruits are produced along the trunk at leaf axils, are melon-like, round or oblong, and might contain more than 1000 seeds. The fruit epidermis is smooth and green when immature, but ripens variously depending on varietal selection to greenish yellow, bright yellow, orange, orange red or rose pink, sometimes multi-colored in mottled, blotched or striped patterns, seeds are black and rounded, positioned inside the open fruit cavity.

Seasonal Color: Ripened fruits are colorful, yellow flowers are a marginal aesthetic.

Temperature: Damaged by freezing temperatures and heat sensitive; grows best between 60^oF and 100^oF. In Phoenix, papaya needs winter protection from freezing temperatures. Some will decorate papaya with 'old fashioned' (non-LED) Christmas lights during the winter to keep trunk tissues artificially warm during cold winter nights. Papaya is difficult (but not impossible) to keep alive outdoors throughout the Phoenix summer without surrounding vegetative protection or western shade.

Light: Partial shade to full sun (no western sun).

Soil: Tolerant of most soil types, but does best in a light, organic matter amended, well-drained soil.

Watering: Regular irrigations are needed, especially during summer. During winter water much less frequently.

Pruning: None

Propagation: Propagated by seed. To propagate, remove black mature seeds from the fruit cavity, place in water, select seeds that sink, wash off viscous film covering the seeds, dry and sow immediately into a sterile moistened potting soil. Keep potting soil temperature around 75^o to 80^oF

Disease and Pests: Whiteflies, root rot, and especially prone to attack by Erwinia mallotivora, an Asian phytopathogen bacteria that can cause plant death.

Additional comments: Papaya grow non-climacteric fruits (do not sweeten after harvest), thus harvest fruits when fully ripe. The most common local landscape use for papaya using hermaphroditic varietal selections is for fruit production; however, it can make a wonderful, coarse textural accent plant to help create a tropical landscape setting. In the United States, hermaphroditic varietal selections of papaya are commercially grown in southern Florida, southern California, far southern Texas, and Hawaii. There are SO many varietal selections of papaya grown around the tropical world now. In Phoenix, locally-grown papaya plants for home gardens can be purchased at Green Life Nursery.

Some well-known varietal selections of papaya include:

• 'Guinea Gold' - Australian selection with bright and brilliant green, thin epidermis, pear-shaped fruits, one of the best for eating
• 'Hawaiian Sunrise' - popular, unique tasting fruits (some say like a mixture of mixture of peaches, melons and berries), fruit cavity shallow, ripened fruit pink and orange with a shallow cavity
• 'Hawaiian Sunset' - dwarf selection of 'Hawaiian Sunrise' with a slightly more pungent taste and deeper-colored epidermis, seed cavity star like in appearance
• 'Hortus Gold' - South African selection, fruits large, banana yellow, sweet
• 'Kamiya' papaya - genetically modified Hawaiian varietal selection, resistant to papaya ring spot virus (PRSV), fruits orange, aromatic, high sugar content
• 'Kapoho' - popular Hawaiian varietal selection, epidermis yellow-and-green speckled, mesoderm yellow, sweet
• 'Mexican' - Mexican varietal selection, largest fruit up to 10 pounds in weight, oval to pyriform shape, epidermis variable in color, green to yellow to orange, mesoderm yellow, soft and dense texture, sweet
• 'Mexican Red/Yellow' - Mexican varietal selection, epidermis orange, mesoderm variable in color, yellow to rose orange, sweet
• 'Oak Leaved' - South American varietal selection, fruit epidermis has a gold and green striped pattern, mesoderm orange, sweet, seeds edible
• 'Peterson' - Australian varietal selection, epidermis stays green, mesoderm deep dark orange, sweet, aromatic
• 'Red Lady' - Mexican varietal selection, disease resistant, fruits large, epidermis bright yellow, mesoderm pink salmon, melon-like flavor, aromatic
• 'Royal Star' - south Texas hybrid of 'Mexican Red/Yellow' papaya, epidermis vibrant orange, mesoderm orange, pulpy, sweet, seed cavity star shaped
• 'Samba' - ripened fruits with green and yellow spots, mesoderm dark orange, pulpy, tangy taste
• 'Tainung' - hybrid of 'Hawaiian Sunrise' papaya, fruits large, elongated, epidermis yellow, mesoderm pink to light red
• 'Waimanalo' - dwarf Hawaiian varietal selection, reproductive after 9 months, ripened fruits orange, sweet

Medicinal benefits: Phytochemical extracts from papaya are thought to be effective prophylaxis against chronic diseases such as cancer and dengue fever. As a nutritional supplement, papaya fruits are rich in beneficial antioxidants.