🥭 Papaya
Fruit Trees · growing reference
| To first harvest | 300 days – ~1 year, by type |
|---|---|
| Spacing | 96″ in the row × 120″ between rows |
| Planted as | plant |
| Water | ~1–2 in a week |
When to plant
In USDA zone 6, for example: Plant around Apr 29, once frost danger has passed. It's container-grown, so any mild spell after that will do.
| Spring | |
|---|---|
| Zone 3 | May 29 |
| Zone 4 | May 21 |
| Zone 5 | May 10 |
| Zone 6 | Apr 29 |
| Zone 7 | Apr 15 |
| Zone 8 | Mar 29 |
| Zone 9 | Mar 6 |
Dates are the typical window for each zone's average frost dates — your own last frost can differ by a couple of weeks. Zone 10 and warmer is effectively frost-free: plant to the season, not the frost. Southern Hemisphere: shift six months.
Papaya Types
- Hawaiian · 300 days · 30–60 lbs/plant — Solo types (Sunrise, Kapoho) — 1 lb pear-shaped fruit, mostly hermaphrodite, fruits fastest.
- Mexican · ~1 year · 50–100 lbs/plant — Big 5–10 lb fruit on a taller plant — milder flavour, needs a male or hermaphrodite nearby.
🌱 Five Acres of Freedom — plan a year's food, map
your land to scale, and keep every homestead record. The numbers on
this page are the same ones the app plans with.
🍏 Download on the App Store
📱 On Android? Join the waitlist