grafting Papayas

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I have about 10 seedling papayas (from 4 batches of seed, from a far away country where papayas taste better, and are much more appreciated!)

I'm hoping to grow them out, taste the fruit next year...and pick the best one for tissue culture, and grafting.

Has anyone grafted papaya?

It seems quite easy...I remember seeing someone named Ariel from Israel on yahoo doing this.

I wouldn't mind taking some of the better seedling papayas and grafting them onto dwarf rootstocks of TR Hovey seedlings.

Even though this might not make any difference, it sounds like a fun project 

[red durian]

Thanks for posting this.  I had never heard of a grafted papaya before.  Lots of wild papayas in Belize and lots of problems growing papaya organically... I wonder if grafting onto a wild rootstock could help.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Adam,

Papaya can be grafted About three years ago, I had two young(about a pencil thick) papaya's growing in the same pot...so, I decided to approach graft them together and it was success Planted it out, got severely attacted by powdery mildew and was totally defoliated by this...My uncle uprooted it and throw away maybe, he though it was dead So, i never got to see the result of this papaya with an extra root system ya know me...i'm always doing crazy experiments

Grafting papaya's are on my ''to do'' list for next year...but, this time I will not approach graft them. I will do a cleft graft and this must be done when they are in full swing of growth...but, still young with a height of atleast 12 inches I reckon we can adopt a similar method of grafting them tomato for papaya's...just need to do some minor alterations and use parafilm instead of a grafting clip

Adam, are you talking about that fellow in Israel, that had a plantation of low producing papayas...He was underneath the canopy?

Here's a vid...but, this papaya was grown from a cutting We can most definitely achieve the same by grafting, with the added benefit of a full root system  The race is on, Buddy

Paw Paw or Papaya

[MangoFang]

for papaya grower/lovers this is great news - I'll def. try that next year when my potted papayas
start to get going.....

thanks guys and dolls....

FangGang

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Jackfruitwhisperer,

not sure about the guy in israel, but I'm sure he posted pics of how to graft these!

I'm going to cleft graft them and shield bud them.

and then play Frankenstein with Babaco and Papaya, to see if I can create a mouth watering monster, capable of handling adversely humid/low elevation.

 

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Howdy Adão,

It's him
 
Ariel Shai with his low bearing papaya, Moshav Beit Helkiya, Israel.

Shield budding sounds truly awesome...Thanks for sharing, Adam This will save alot of material I am planning to do a few grafts, my self
Babaco and papaya will be match made in heaven

Here's some info on grafting

Vegetative propagation of the papaya by two means has been shown to be possible, but it is not yet demonstrated that either of these methods produces satisfactory plants. Cuttings are readily grown, but they develop more slowly than seedlings. Grafted plants are more rapid in growth and come into fruit early, and it was thought at one time that this method offered great possibilities; but later experience has shown that when propagated by this means in Florida, a given variety degenerates rapidly, and in the third or fourth generation from the parent seedling the grafted plants make very little growth and their fruits are small and practically worthless. The explanation of this behavior has not been found, nor is it known whether it will occur in other regions; but its effect in Florida has been to do away with grafting and cause all growers to return to seed-propagation.

In order that those who are interested in the subject may experiment for themselves, a brief extract is given here from "The Grafted Papaya as an Annual Fruit Tree," by Fairchild and Simmonds. 1 These investigators found that seeds of the papaya, when planted in the greenhouse in February, produce young seedlings large enough to graft some time in March; that these grafted trees, which can be grown in pots, when set out in the open ground in May or the latter part of April, make an astonishing growth and come into bearing (in Florida) in November or December; that they continue bearing throughout the following spring and summer, and if it is advisable, can be left to bear fruit into the following autumn.

"After a seedling begins to fruit, it does not normally produce side-shoots which can be used for grafting. It has been observed for some time, however, that if the top of a bearing tree is cut or broken off accidentally, a large number of shoots begin to form, one from the upper part of each leaf scar; that is, the axil of the leaf. This takes place three or four weeks after the tree is decapitated. It is these small shoots, of which as many as 50 or more may be produced by a single tree, that are used in grafting the papaya. One of these shoots is taken when a few inches long and about the diameter of a lead pencil, is sharpened to a wedge point, the leaf surface reduced, and inserted in a cleft in a young seedling papaya plant which has been decapitated when 6 to 10 inches high and split with an unusually sharp, thin grafting knife. At this age the trunk of the young seedling has not yet formed the hollow space in the center. It is not necessary for the stock and the cion to be of equal size; the cion should not, however, be larger than the stock. After inserting the cion, the stock is tied firmly, but not tightly, with a short piece of soft twine. The grafted plant should be shaded for a few days after the grafting has been done and the twine should be removed on the sixth or seventh day. The best success has been secured in these experiments by grafting potted seedlings in the greenhouse, or under the shade of a lath-house, presumably because the stock can be kept in good growing condition under these circumstances."

Read more: http://chestofbooks.com/gardening-horticulture/fruit/Tropical-And-Subtropical-Fruits/Papaya-Propagation.html#ixzz2AcddpmPm

If all goes well...we will get a plant like this

[jcaldeira]

. . . . Here's some info on grafting . . .

Thanks for sharing the info on grafting papaya.   I'll try cleft grafting next year (too painful to decapitate a heavy-bearing tree right now!).  I have some unusually low-bearing (for Fiji) papaya and am curious to learn if the rootstock will give this character to other papaya varieites.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Isn't there already low-bearing varieties that you can plant from seed that start flowering in 8-9 months?  Is grafting supposed to produce even more drastic results??  I have two varieties in the greenhouse.  One is blooming, has fruits, but is pushing against the glass roof.  The other has a bloom and less than 4 feet tall.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

. . . . Here's some info on grafting . . .

Thanks for sharing the info on grafting papaya.   I'll try cleft grafting next year (too painful to decapitate a heavy-bearing tree right now!).  I have some unusually low-bearing (for Fiji) papaya and am curious to learn if the rootstock will give this character to other papaya varieites.

Hi John,
Thanks to Adam for starting this thread and spreading the word

Your papaya looks great...it surely will make an excellent rootstock

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Jay,
Papaya usually produces side shoots and I was thinking of using these shoots for grafting. They will flower way earlier than 9 months.

[Mike T]

Considering how quickly papaya grow and produce fruit it seems hardly worthwhile to graft.There seems to be dozens of named papaya varieties in my area and many are just known by letters and numbers.Commercial growers are routinely changing cv's to suit their area or to get the edge on competition.They are using tissue culture produced plants more often these days.
I see several dwarf types in peoples yards and recognize the thai red dwarf.A friend told me he can make papaya dwarf by bending the taproot to point upwards when planting.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

grafting helps keep a cultivar going, rather than depending on seeds which are variable.

also papaya is short lived, if u find one u like it will be easier to keep a cultivar from dying off, by means of  grafting.

also, tinkering with rootstocks can improve resistance to adverse conditions...or dwarf a larger growing tree with exceptional fruit quality.

also  it's fun to graft everything you can!  grafting a plant will further increase your intimate knowledge of a given species!

[siafu]

 Aren't Ariel's short papayas mostly the result of planting them in a deep hole,
 filled with dry straw, or something like that?

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I'm going to be grafting some papayas, hopefully tomorrow.

I'm going to do something like a chip bud, or like a tiny veneer graft.

I've got a special papaya with lots of vegetative buds forming on the stalk...I'll carefully excise one such growth, and affix it to another tree.

I think the graft will show signs of failure or success relatively quickly...with new growth pushing within 2 weeks or so.

[Ethan]

I believe a gent in Italy was grafting papaya onto babaco to help with root rot issues in colder climates?

[red durian]

Where I lived in BZ, if you planted from your own seed, you would get miserable papayas the next generation because they would have crossed with the wild papayas that grow all over the place. 

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Rojo Durio,

Good point...this is why grafting interests me.  I want to find a few amazing papayas, and keep them going.

the only other choices I see are cuttings and Tissue culture....grafting seems the easiest. 

At least for me.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Adam,

Awesome to hear that you are going to graft so papaya's now...Good Luck, Buddy They heal quite fast...you will see

 I got a bunch of small papaya seedlings at the moment...still waiting for the others to start to germinate Though, i want to wait for my T.C papayas to ripen up and use the seeds for rootstocks. This papaya is already adapted to my location I want to also try to multi-root graft a few papayas as well...I curious to see the result My experiment was cut short

Hi RedDurio,

Papaya's are native to your neck of the woods...You will find excellent wild papayas and also the insipid ones with a strong papain taste It's better to graft superior varieties onto the criollo papayas...they are adapted to your location. When you need scions for grafting...just decapitate a mature tree, that is very productive and cover the wound, so that the rain water doesn't wet the wound which can make the stump to rot. In a few short weeks to a month...you will have a bunch of scions from this productive tree for grafting

[gunnar429]

anyone have success with their grafted papaya experiments?  bump.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

anyone have success with their grafted papaya experiments?  bump.

my friend had grafted some successfully...but I never really gave it a good attempt.

I need to do this, because I have some Broad leaf papayas that I'd like to propagate.

they are just getting large enough for me to take a few scions.

[jmc96]

I do a few cuttings each year from a sweet red variety labelled RB6, they strike readily.  I never thought grafting was justified  till I read through this thread. I'll be giving it a go as well. I'm interested in the faster maturity trait of grafting.

[Taweesak]

My grafted papaya.

[shinzo]

When you graft a hermaphrodite scion on a female papaya established tree, the result will be herma or female?