Came in a few days ago with only one leaf yellowing, it was the oldest so not a big deal. Trunk is very strong and about a foot tall upon arrival. New growth right out of the box, very excited to see it develop.
Despite the close family relation and similar looking fruit, get used to calling this plant Babaco and not Papaya. The ripe fruit of a Babaco is as juicy as a extremely overripe melon, but spoiled it is not. It simply self juices. And that juice is quite a delicious combination of passionfruit and starfruit. Babaco is not a sweet fruit and the juice is best sweetened. Fruit begin to change color on the plant and fall off on there own when ripe. 2 days on the counter and they will develop there full color.
I purchased mine in 2018 and received a 4" twig, I planted it in a 5 gallon growing bag and left it to do its thing. By fall it was 3' tall and had set 7 fruit. It was brought into a unheated sun porch where it was kept warm most of the time but also was hit by several sub 0 days when the heating failed while on vacation. Followed by extreme dehydration when water was neglected by heat was not. It basicly shrugged off everything and ripened all 7 fruit starting in June.
2019 I have 5 more fruit set this season and 2' more growth for 5' total. As this is still quite manageable, but I will likely top it next year.
I have owned a Babaco Papaya for at least 4 years, purchased from Logees as a small plant. I love tropical plants, but my house is very old and heated mainly with a wood stove. That means my plants must be able to withstand temps below 55F, or lower, as well as bake on my back porch all summer. The Babaco has done beautifully under these conditions, fruiting 4-8 fruits each summer from year 1. The fruit is not as sweet as other papayas, but it makes the best sorbet I've ever had, also excellent in marinades for pork and venison, and eaten fresh alone or in addition to other fruits. It does grow tall, and eventually you will have to top it. I hacked the trunk down to about 3 1/2 feet, and put a can over the top (saw this on a youtube video) and in a few weeks, new shoots grew. The hacked-off top lost all leaves but then also rooted and has started to grow. I should have cut it off shorter, but live and learn. All in all, the Babaco Papaya has been the best value of all the fruiting tropical plants I have owned over the years. Keep it properly potted, don't over-water in cool conditions and it should last for years plus it is easy to propagate from stem cuttings. Also my cats and dog are not interested in it. Happy me!