Growing Papaya Trees from Seeds, Days 0-102

Based on my limited experience trying to germinate papaya seeds, the seedlings are very prone to damping off, even with frequent hydrogen peroxide sprayings. Even with my latest method of indoor seed germination the germination rate isn't high; at least half of the seeds don't germinate, and out of those that do, very few make it without damping off from fungi or fungi-like microorganisms. Out of many seeds, only a few at a time will germinate at any given time up until 2 months after being sowed. This is a very slow growing plant for the size of the seed; it lacks structure in the early phase, but if it survives it will grow upright with a thick stem relative to the size of the leaves. I germinated my seeds indoors at 75-87 Fahrenheit, or 24-31 Celsius. My germination attempt with the Caribbean Red cultivar halfway through the first episode shows that seed germination occurs in 10 days using my conditions and the shoots should be popping up by 15 days. My seedlings were planting in a 90+% sand sandy loam with 1 volume of filtered clay soil for every 7 volumes of sand. The pots have drainage holes at the bottom. I flood water once a week, and fertilize every other week with a small scoop of Miracle Gro and a pinch of crushed vitamin powder. My first fertilization was done on day 82.