Papaya sex types gynodioecious dioecious plant thinning hermaphrodite papita fruit shape
Which papaya (papita) is gynodioecious or dioecious and how does sex affect my planting plan?
JJignesh Patel8mo ago · 275 views
6 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓8mo ago
Papaya varieties are either dioecious, with separate male and female plants, or gynodioecious, with female and hermaphrodite plants, and this changes how you plant and thin. With dioecious types you need to keep a few male plants for pollination and rogue out excess males, while with gynodioecious types the hermaphrodite plants are self-fertile and give the elongated fruit shape many markets prefer. A common practice is to plant more than one seedling per pit and, after flowering reveals the sex, retain the desired female or hermaphrodite plant and remove the rest. Knowing your variety's type avoids ending up with too many unproductive male plants. Confirm the variety type and the recommended plants per pit with your seed supplier and local KVK.
JJignesh Patel7mo ago
We sow two to three seedlings per pit and wait for first flowering to identify and keep the best plant. Saves us from a field full of male plants.
MMihir Patel7mo ago
With the gynodioecious type we grow near Anand, we learned to identify the hermaphrodite plant at first flower by the flower shape and keep those, because they give the long uniform fruit our buyers want. The pure female plants give rounder fruit, which sells but at a slightly lower rate here. Do not remove the extra seedlings too early, wait until flowering tells you the sex clearly.
RRakesh Solanki7mo ago
A note from experience: when you finally thin to one plant per pit, remove the unwanted ones carefully without disturbing the roots of the keeper, because papaya roots are shallow and sensitive. We cut the extra plants at the base rather than pulling them out, to avoid loosening the chosen plant. Also keep just enough males in a dioecious block, too many males waste field space without fruit.
IIla Patel7mo ago
We learned to look at the very first flowers carefully, because the male plant throws long hanging flower stalks while the hermaphrodite and female flowers sit close to the stem. Once you can read the flower you stop keeping useless males. Ask your KVK or a senior grower to show you the difference once and it becomes easy.
KKiran Chauhan7mo ago
Keep a few males in a dioecious block but not too many, roughly a small share is enough for pollination and the rest just take up space without fruit. We removed the excess males only after we were sure of the count we needed. Verify the right male share for your variety with your seed supplier because it varies.