Culturing papaya axillary buds obtained from mature field-grown trees on solid MS +0.1 mg/l BA + 500 mg/I casein hydrolysate + 0.38 mg/l riboflavin produced less than 2 shoots per explant over a period of 2 to 18 weeks. However, 82 times more shoots were produced when the explants were cultured on solid medium for 10 weeks followed by another 10 weeks in liquid medium.