OK, I am not a papaya expert but at this time I am growing a papaya tree which is overall I think it is a success. So far.
To answer your question:
1. No you don't have to stake your papaya as long as the trunk is growing straight up. But in the case like mine it appears it is leaning towards the sunlight so I have to stake it to keep it straight.
2. If possible separate it from other plants because it grows very fast so the roots will intertwine with the other crops roots you have. Make sure that you water your papaya with lukewarm water all the time. Do not add any nutrients or fertilizer at this time. Get a soil thermometer. The soil must be at least 78 degrees. Wrap a Christmas tree lights around the pot if you have to to raise the tempt.
Do not use artificial lights. Mine created round holes on much of the leaves perhaps because I put the light too close. So I am playing it safe now. No lights at night.
I started with a 7 gallon pot. I think a 20 gallon will be too large at this time. I am treating my papaya like a citrus plant. If too big of a pot the tree will suffer from overwatering and fungus deseases. Papaya is more sensitive to root rot than any plant I know of.

You can see it at the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: red glory papaya2

Well, well, Benny is alive and well. I was just about to send you a E-mail to see what happened to you. Have you been gone? REALLY NICE to see you back Benny. About papaya culture. I have 13 trees growing at the present time. They are between 5-ft to 8-ft. tall and producing a lot of papays. I live 20 miles east of Denver just off I-70. So you and I are in the same zone. In fact I think I have talked to you on this forum in the past. One caution, NEVER EVER water a papaya when the soil is cold/cool. Benny is correct about the water. Always water with warm water. Papayas are big feeders and take a lot of fertilizer when they get some size to them. Keep a eye out constantly for spider mites. As you are going to grow your trees in a container, do as Benny suggests, and be sure to keep the soil warm. I also have 8 small papaya seedling that I have recently started. I generally start them in a 6" pot and than transplant them into the ground (in a greenhouse). If you are ever out for a drive near Bennett, CO. feel free to stop by and you can see how a mature papaya tree looks and how their pollinated. If you got your seeds from a papaya purchased at the store, you will get some female trees, male trees and bisexual trees. Take care. Millet (GBTS)

Thanks, Millet. I was just about to catch up with a very very busy schedule renovating(my part electrical) a large beautiful upper class home in Pebble beach. I was offered to do another one but I declined.
I even neglected my citrus trees. But they are all thriving well. With the rain that came along who wouldn't. I just make sure that no bugs are around them.
I have a question for you. I am not sure what happened to my papaya but it was growing beautifully until after the 46th day I checked the soil pH and it read 4.90. The brochure that came with the seeds that you sent me said the optimum pH is 6.4 so I tried to raise the soil pH by adding a minute amount of dolomite mixed in water. The result was disastrous. All the leaves except the most young lost the green chlorophyl, round shape the size of dimes all over the leaves. See the pic at my website.
It is now recovering but I lost most of the old leaves.
But it is now 16 and 3/4 inches and keeps on growing.
I may transfer it to a whiskey barrel when the weather gets warm here. I figure it will not get to big as big as yours 8 feet tall?
According to a website I read, red glory will fruit at 3 ft and a half (If I remember right).

Thanks for all of the insight. I have the seeds soaking now. I need to run to the store for some dirt for the pots and then I'll get started. I think I'll start them on the counter and then transplant. That will give me a couple of week to find the pots I am looking for. I bought some seeds from the aloha folks. Mexican Red Maradol. I was looking for a fast grower and a smaller plant, if that is at all possible?

I'll keep you all informed how it all goes, so far my total investment is $8.00.

Millett, I am still working an getting out to see your set up. Work has been pretty busy lately and with tywo small kids at home...

Artichuck, I am currently growing Red Maradol Papaya from seed that I also purchased from Aloha, it is a good variety-Good Luck. Benny, I do not have any idea why your papaya perormed the way it did when you added dolomite. However, looking at you plant it looks to be doing well. Know that the bottom leaves of Payapa's naturally turn yellow and die off as new leaves sprout out of the top of the plant. Payapa's are such fast growing plants, as I am sure you are aware. Millt (GBTS)

Thanks Millet.

Benny

I was going to purchase more seeds from Aloha but I waited. One of them is Red Maradol.
I thought I'd see first if the one I have will thrive first.

I'm buying land in VA and setting up greenhouses. I am setting up one for tropical fruits that thrive in 80 degrees. I'm wondering tho if papaya can take temps, in a greenhouse constant in the 40-50's?

We have red lady dwarf but I also have some other types in the ground. The trees in the ground survived a few cold snaps but the container trees lost leaves then came back. I'm sure it had to do with the roots getting cold.

Millet what temp do you keep your greenhouse at?

Tamara

Tam, I keep my night temperatures at 60F during the winter months, during the winter when the sun is really low the day temperatures only climb to 70 - 75F. Even at these temperatures the Papaya's growth slows way down. Papaya's like it HOT, and full sunlight. Planted outside, I always recomend to place them in the hottest location on the property. Millet (GBTS)

I had two trees (a Golden and a Red) that millet gave me and they did not survive the winter living in in my kitchen. They got root rot and died.

Now I'm really beginning to wonder what is going on here. Sensibly (aka Creme) why would you sign "Millet (GBTS)" at the end of your post? Are you all the same person? I thought people weren't supposed to have more then one account at the garden web?

Foxy.

What's funnier is Sensibly says Millet gave him two trees...yet he signs his name Millet..Now that's really interesting..Toni

Toni- I thought so too!

Foxy.

I am kind of new at growing papayas. What would be the best kind to grow in a pot and it stays around 5 feet or less. Also would a papaya winter ok in a basement with a wood stove?

Go here and it will tell you what you have in mind. I ordered 4 varieties all of which will bear fruit at 3 and 1/2 feet or less.
http://www.alohaseed.com/cgi-loc/webcart-frames.cgi
It will also tell you how to propagate and take care of it.

Benny.

What are the 4 kinds of papayas you ordered and what is the max size this papayas grows to.

They are waimanalo, solo sunrise, gold and red maradol.
I am new to this also. They are about 23 days old now but I have one that is over 130 days old and now almost 23 inches tall. All of them are in pots.
I don't know the max size they will grow to.
I can be wrong But I imagine it should be less than 6 ft.
But is it any wonder having fruit when they are only 3 feet tall?

citrusmaster:
This is how the papaya will look like at maturity

{{gwi:572321}}

Hello, I also need some help on this subject. I started some papaya seeds just from a large ripe papaya that I picked up at our local fruit market last winter. They took a month at least to sprout, in fact I thought they were duds, and planted cosmos in the same pot, but all of a sudden I was getting dozens of papaya sprouts in between my cosmos! I was a bit slow in transplanting them, and most of them were in crowded pots of 5-7 plants per 6-8 inch pot for most of the summer. Now I have weeded them down to 7, and they are all in their own pots. Two of them I transplanted into larger individual pots earlier in the summer, and they are the largest by far now. The biggest one is 3 1/2 feet tall, and the other large one is 2 1/2 feet, with the smaller ones ranging from 18 inches to just under over one foot tall. The two tallest plants are in... I am guessing 4-5 gallon pots, but not sure, and the smaller ones are in 8 1/2 pots. None of them are showing any signs of flowering yet. Now, I need some advice. I plan to try and find space for them inside this winter, of course. We don't have a lot of available sunny windows, but I will try and rotate them. My questions are, do you think I should put them in bigger pots before bringing them inside? Is there any hope of them fruiting inside? How soon should I bring them inside? Can they wait until just before the first frost, or should they come in now(nights have been getting down to the low 50s now)? Any other suggestions are welcome! Thanks!
~Seeds_of_Love

Pretty easy to grow from seed to fruit production. I'm in Greeley and have good luck using the same techinques that Millet uses. We often trade plants including papayas. I like the dwarf mountain types...they do well in large containers and usually start producing at about 5' in height.

I ordered some seeds this Spring no luck, Bought a fresh Papaya cleaned the seeds an planted them they really took off.

I dont recall the type of Papaya it was, but at the time I look it up, And it was a rather large tree.

All my trees must remain in containers an I was wondering if I could grow an produce fruit from these seeds by keeping them in a small container.

I dont like to ask this question on the Citrus Fourm, but Garden Web doesnt have a Papaya fourm that I know of

Dale, Use at least a medium large container. As you purchased your papaya from a grocery store then it is almost certainly a Hawaiian grown Solo variety papaya. This variety of papaya generally grows 9 to 12 feet in height. Of course, as with citrus, a container grown plant will not get as tall. All of my papaya's are grown in the ground on raised beds inside the greenhouse. Generally the soil in raised beds stays warmer then the ground. Technically, the papaya is not a tree, but a herbacous FAST GROWING shrub. Papaya's rarely live past 4 years, and their demise is almost always caused by root rot. You **MUST ALWAYS** keep the soil above 60 degrees as papaya growth is very slow or reletivally non-existent at lower temperatures, and can very easily, AND WILL die from cool moist soil conditions. ****NEVER EVER, EVER**** water a papaya when the soil is cold. It could die befor the soil even dries. Dale, to fertilize your papaya seedlings, until you transplant them into a one gallon container, fertilize using 1/4 tsp. of a water soluble fertilizer with each watering. After your papaya has been transplanted into a one gallon container, drench the ALREADY MOIST potting soil every two weeks with about one quart of warm water that is mxed at the rate of 1-level tbs. per gallon of 20-20-20. Any commerically available fertilizer is OK. Finally transplant into a medium larger container and fertilize ever two or three weeks. Papays can die very easy from being transplanted without great care, so be careful and you should be OK. Water only when the top one or two inches of potting medium is dry. As with citrus, papaya's require a fast draining soil. Remember, ALWAYS, ALWAYS AVOID the following: (1) Never ever water a papaya while the soil is cold. (2)Always try to keep the soil above 60 degrees. If for some reason the soil temperature drops much below 60, then keep the soil dry until you can again raise the temperature. The good temperature for growing papaya's is between 70 to 80 degrees. However, during the summer months I often let my greenhouse temperature raise to 80 - 95 degrees and the papaya's love it. Take care my friend, Drop me a line anythime you have a question. - Millet