I'm in coastal Southern California. I recently bought a 4" tall Hawaiian papaya sprout online. The instructions that came with it said to use a cactus potting soil, which I did. It seemed to be doing just fine up until we had a triple digit heat wave that lasted about a week and a half.

I'd been trying to water it every day since the cactus soil kept draining so fast. But there were a couple of days when I wasn't able to water it during that heat wave and it just wilted over like it was trying to pop itself out of the soil, since the trunk is a little shy of 1/4" wide. I thought they were supposed to thrive in the heat.

I got the trunk to firm back up a bit, but now I'm noticing what looks like it might be trying to rot at the base. Is there anything I can do to save it? I really don't want it to die on me, I already named him, so kind of attached.

I'm pretty much a novice at fruit growing, and trying to learn as much as I can. So thank you for any advice.

Get it out of the sun while you are fussing with it. Try watering with a dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide and then leave the plant alone until the soil is dry at least one to two inches down. Water sparingly. It's OK to give the plant only partial sun for awhile, just go light on the water until you see whatswhat.

I speak from experience and am sorry to say it's probably a goner :-( If you want more input you'd probably have better luck in the Tropical Fruit forum.