It probably would have grown faster if you just planted one tree by itself. The trees are competing with one another for root space and nutrients.

Did they ever bloom so you could know which to remove? We planted seeds yesterday, All Solo varieties from Hawaii. Solo only has females and hermaphrodites, so in all my research, you need one hermaphrodite to help pollinate the females. We intend to cull when the first flowers show us which is which. They are supposed to bloom in 4 - 8 months.

Have you ever seen blooms? My research told me that some varieties have males and males do not produce fruit. Could yours be male?

Tony,I left a group thinking I needed male and female. They've faded down to two dominant. I might remove the others. I notice they are heavy feeders even if their metabolism isn't much in the 75-80f H,55-60f L. degree Hayward summers.

Suzi,the largest bloomed in spring..but it still was so cool..Nothing happened. I am in a super marginal climate for Papaya. I've tried since the 1980's to grow them ( every 5- 10 years I got the urge to try again) I was shocked really when this survived the first winter.

Urban or Global warming or both? Not sure.

From what I've heard, when there is a male around the fruit produced by the female will contain more seeds than one from just a female by itself . My grandmother has a papaya tree by itself which produces really good fruit and I havent seen a male around it.

Also a female tree produces its flowers closer to the trunk so the fruit stands a greater chance of developing without falling off, while a male sprouts a little stem with flowers on the outside.

most fruit you get at the store are maradol or Caribbean red, and are going to be %66 hermphrodite, with %33 female. Same way with the Solo.

it makes it much easier for growers to know they can plant 1 seed per hole

its very rare do i find a male from a grocery store fruit. it does happen, but 1 in 10 at most. ive grown at least 100 plants to maturity.

there are varieties that produce males, but its just not often you see them in grocers (now anyway)

planting 3 per hole takes away a lot of nutrients, makes them grow crooked etc...

give them a lot of light and organic matter, and they will grow so fast, you can plant a seed in February, (inside) and put it in ground after frost is over, and you will have fruit in the fall.

dont "tease" the roots. plant the whole root-ball undisturbed. plant on well drained area or raised bed.