Papaya

Papaya is usually started from seed or set out as a potted transplant, since seed-grown plants may turn out male, female, or bisexual; growers plant at least two seedlings near each other to ensure pollination if the sex is uncertain. It thrives where temperatures stay between 70 and 90°F and struggles below 59°F, doing best in USDA zones 9B through 11 with at least six hours of sun and well-drained soil that tolerates sand, loam, or rocky ground but not standing water; in flood-prone spots it should be planted on a mound.

Watering: Papaya needs frequent, even irrigation and will drop leaves, flowers, or fruit if stressed by drought, and mulch kept about twelve inches from the trunk helps retain moisture and suppress weeds. Feeding: small, frequent applications of fertilizer suit young plants better than infrequent heavy ones, tapering to about once a month once the plant is several months old. In colder regions gardeners often grow papaya in containers so it can be moved indoors for freeze protection, or treat it as a short-lived annual.

Papaya ringspot virus is a serious and often fatal disease, recognisable by ringspot markings on the fruit; once these appear, the affected plant is typically removed. Nematodes are another persistent problem, difficult enough to manage that growing papaya in containers is sometimes recommended where soil nematode populations are known to be high.

The papaya fruit fly lays eggs in developing fruit, and a paper bag or cloth barrier placed over young fruit can mechanically exclude the female flies. Cold and wind also damage papaya directly: temperatures at or below 31°F cause significant injury, flowering falters below 59°F, and high winds can topple heavily fruited plants.

Fruit is picked once color begins shifting from green to yellow, generally when roughly a tenth to a third of the peel has turned, though leaving fruit on the plant longer improves flavor. Harvested fruit finishes ripening at room temperature over a few days and does not discolor once cut.

Ripe papaya keeps for about four to seven days at room temperature or refrigerated, and is best eaten within a day or two of full ripeness. Green, unripe fruit can also be harvested and cooked as a vegetable rather than eaten fresh.

Culinary: Ripe papaya is most often eaten fresh as a breakfast or dessert fruit, and is also used in juices, jams, dried fruit, and salsas. Its black seeds are edible with a peppery flavor and can be used as a seasoning or in salad dressings, its skin has been used as a meat tenderizer owing to the enzyme papain, and green, unripe fruit is cooked and used like a vegetable.

Medicinal: Papaya has traditionally been used as a medicinal fruit in various cultures, alongside its role as a food crop.

Papaya's domestication is thought to have begun in southern Mexico and Central America, with its wild origins in tropical America extending toward the Andes of South America. From this center it was carried by indigenous peoples through the Caribbean and later spread further afield by Spanish explorers, reaching the Philippines in the 1500s and Guam in the 1600s. It was introduced to Hawaii in the 1800s and to Florida in the early 20th century, though a viral disease later devastated the Florida crop and left Hawaii as the primary commercial producer in the United States.