I have found the best way to germinate papaya seeds is to remove the arils surrounding the seeds, rinse them under warm water to remove the juice from the arils and soak them overnight in warm water. Discard any seeds that are floating after the soak.

Plant them in a soilless mix (do not cover them very deeply) and keep them in a warm (80 degrees F or so) area until they sprout. Don't keep them too damp or they are likely to suffer from damping off. I have actually started using seed starting plugs to germinate the seeds. With these there is a small hole in the center of the plug and seed is inserted into the hole and not really even covered.

The 2 biggest factors seem to be lots of warmth at sprouting time and never allowing them to stay damp. Even when they are monsterous trees they will develop root rot very quickly if allowed to have wet feet.

One other word on seeds from store bought papayas. If the fruit came out of Hawaii it probably was irradiated to kill any pest on the fruit surface. If that is the case the seeds will probably not sprout. I have never had any luck with seeds from the papayas from Hawaii for that reason. The fruit from Mexico, Belize and other locations in the Caribbean do not have this problem.

A great source for seeds (if you are interested) is Alhoa Seed Company in Hawaii. Their seeds are of very good quality and they offer some nice varieties.

Itzel