Indoor Papaya Tree
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Judy Zeiler
Posted on: May 01, 2005

We live in Michigan, USA. We started a papaya tree from seed. It is now about 3’ (1 m) tall. It is about 4 years old. Last year it blossomed several times but produced no fruit. Can we successfully grow fruit on an indoor tree? If so, can you give us instructions on how to go about it?

You will have to fertilize the flowers yourself, otherwise no fruit will result. The species is normally dioecious, that is each plant carries either male or female flowers, but modern selections generally have perfect flowers, that is each flower has both stamens and a pistil. Check your flowers to see if they have both stamens with pollen and pistils for receiving the pollen. If you see only one type of organ, then you had better grow several more seeds of which roughly 50% will be male and the other 50% female. Richters seed is of a strain that produces perfect flowers, but it is not inconceivable that the odd plant mutates back to the ancestral form.

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