Papaya’s one of the more forgiving things we grow.
The Basics
Papaya, Carica papaya, is a fast-growing, tree-like plant in the family Caricaceae. Ours includes the Kamiya variety.
Origin and Habitat
Native to Central America and southern Mexico, now grown throughout the tropics worldwide.
What It Looks Like
A fast-growing, palm-like plant with a hollow trunk and large lobed leaves, fruiting within a year or so of germination.
Uses and Flavor
Sweet and orange-fleshed when ripe, or used green in savory cooking. The Kamiya variety is a big-fruited strain with orange and red flesh that this area used to be well known for.
Growing It Here
Started a whole tray of papaya seeds in grow tubes, a good chunk of them the Kamiya variety, and it showed up in the breakfast orchard mix along with everything else. We’ve eased off intentional papaya planting for a while now, so most of what’s around these days is just wild volunteers doing their own thing. Once some of the overgrown areas get pruned back, the plan is to fill that open space with papaya again.
Pests and Diseases to Watch For
Papaya can be prone to ringspot virus and fruit flies in general, though nothing specific to report from ours so far.
Kenta’s Take
This is one of the fastest payoffs in the whole food forest on paper, even if right now ours are mostly wild volunteers waiting for us to give them a proper comeback.