Papayas....

Hey guy&gals,
   Just wondering....I am growing 5 papays right now.  I germinated them from seed last August, and now they are somewhere between 10" and a 1 foot tall....does this sound about right?
   I have them in potting soil mixed with some lava rock, about 6 - inches from 4 flourescent tubes (not warm enough outside yet).  I water them twice a week, sometimes with miracle gro, superthrive or both.  
   They seem heathly, but does anyone know anything else I should do for/give them?  Thanks!

Yeah, i do... plant them in your yard in southern Florida.  They grow like weeds down there. lol



I dunno Schloaty, they seem like pretty easy trees from the ones i looked at when i was down south.  I hope you have a big (tall) grow room, though.  They're not like mangos or carambolas that take up your enitre yard before they produce much fruit, but they still get pretty tall.

So, my advice is... throw them away and grow something good to eat in their space.    (i'm not a big papaya fan.  Now mangos.... there's a delicious fruit.  Especially in shakes.  Mmmmmmm....)

you don't necesarilly need a airy soil mix to grow papayas right, but you do need to have a very rich compost. I don't see anything wrong with your setup, except the space issue. :S These plants grow very fast when they're in the right conditions, and can easily grow a couple of feet in one year (at least where I live). My uncle has lots of them on his farm; all of them are 15+ ft tall and I can still remember when they weren't even 10 ft tall (2 or 3 years ago). You're gonna be wanting lots of space soon i'm afraid.

Jœl