Thanks for the reply. The plant is in a container and I water until I see about 15-20% runoff. I water every other day. The soil is an all organic mix that I mixed myself with worm castings, kelp, alfalfa, dr. earth fertilizer. I do not have mulch on top of the soil.

Mrblazito, those flowers are currently male flowers.Male flowers will not set any fruit on your tree and eventually wither away.Over time papayas will either produce male,female, or hermaphrodite flowers.Since yours is a self pollinating papaya you'll probably have hermaphrodite flowers that would essentially have both sexes.Keep on maintaining it currently and probably follow on greenman's advice in adding mulch or compost as this improves the conditions of your soil and add essential microbes/nutrients for your papaya.

My opinion Mr. Blazito, is that the nothing is wrong with your healthy papaya! Lots of early flowers fall/drop on my trees. Eventually fruit will set. Just be patient....

I think he said they drop off before they flower ?

mine dont do that, even young plants.

i think i would cut back on the water to every 3 or 4 days and see how it does. usually, you can tell when they overheat or are too dry when the leaves wilt/droop. it really depends a lot on the potting mix. some hold water a lot more than others. worm castings tend to hold a lot of moisture.

i normally put mine in part shade, or spritz them with water and not water the roots.

ive noticed sometimes a black container in the sun will "cook" the roots.

i always put mulch on top of the soil and try to keep the container cool.

Just a quick update. I finally got my first flower :D

Way to go, Mr. Blaze!!!!

Very nice!

Next photo you should post would be a little paps on the stem!

Is this a pap I'm looking for?

YES... thats either a female or a herm. either way,it appears you will be getting fruit.

it will take several months, but, your on your way !

here is an old thread about papaya sex and flowers...

with pics

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2190434/pollenated-papaya-flowers-not-fruiting

Yes, greenman is right! Very cool - now watch it swell and grow!

So it seems the papaya fruit didn't have enough warm time to ripen. The fruits have stopped growing and are still very green and rock hard. The temps have dropped over the last month. It now gets to low 40's at night and around 65-70 during the day. All the leaves are drooping. Should I cut down the fruits and let them get ripe indoors?

actually, they probably will not ripen indoors, unless thee is at least some yellow on the skin of the fruit. (supposedly over 7 percent yellow is needed)

obviously, you can try,

also, some people use them green, and make a type of cole-slaw - salad

green papaya salad / Som Tum

https://www.google.com/search?q=green+papaya+salad

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i fight this every year, trying to get ripe fruit before winter.

i am in New Orleans (zone 9) if i protect the tree with frost cloth, and plant it very close to the house (south-side), it will come back in spring, and i get 2 - 3 months of fruit in the fall.

then...'

i still have to compete with the critters.

they even took a fruit off the tree when i put a sock around it... LOL

i am guessing my neighbor with find a sock in his yard somewhere...

2 plants next to the house, with evergreens on the side

i chop the top few inches a couple times a year when young to keep them short.

What did you do differently to get the flower to stay?