Abstract
A planting distance experiment with the Sunrise Solo papaya cultivar was performed in St. Augustine, Trinidad. West Indies, in which the distance between plants was varied from 0.602 to 3.046 m. Each plant received a total of 340.2 g of 13-13-20 fertilizer in six bimonthly applications. Plant height, stem diameter, and fruit yields during a 5-month harvesting period attained maximum values of 309 cm. 30 cm. and 328.86 ql4/ha, respectively, at planting distances of 0.715, 2.206, and 0.987 m. Petiole length did not vary significantly with variation in planting distance. Fruit yield during the 5-month harvest period (August to December 1969) increased from 58.38 ql/ha with a planting distance of 0.602 m and 93.89 ql/ha of 13-13-20 application to 328.86 ql/ha with a planting distance of 0.987 m and 34.87 ql/ha fertilization, decreasing to about 70 ql/ha as planting distance increased to 3.046 m and fertilization rate decreased to 3.66 ql/ha. A quartic algebraic equation fitted to the data explained 51% of the variation of fruit yield as a dependent variable on planting distance.