Thanks,

Vidyaa

I'd like to obtain one as well (if you have enough to spare)

TIA,
JC

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAPAYA-LIVE-FRUIT-TREE-Dwarf-T-R-Hovey-/190615 696822?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6194b5b6#ht_1565wt_1089

Vidyaa

If anyone cares to pick it up I'm:

gnappi@earthlink.net

I grew a bunch of them from seed. I got a disproportionate number of male plants (over 50% versus ~20% males from other cultivars) the fruits on the two that survived to fruiting size have been small and none matured to edible size. Many fruits die on the tree. I plucked one of the two out of the ground and a third hasn't flowered yet to see what sex it is.
I have a bunch of others with store names, like Caribbean red, solo, which is which in the ground now I do not know.

If they taste sweet they stay, if not, they get the axe :-)
I gave away several of the red lady type to co-workers, and friends who are condo dwellers and or have limited space, so far none have been too eager to get them out of the pot so I'm not sure if theirs will pan out like mine over time.

No male pollinators = No male seedlings.

No the above is in relation to Red Lady, as for taste, Red Lady is one of the sweetest varieties there is, but it is a Hybrid ! so replanting the seeds will not give you the best quality.

I suggest that if your going to plant Red Lady or Sun Gold, or other F1 hybrid, just buy certifies seeds, Aloha is cheap.

Other varieties like Red Maradol, will have a 33/66% ratio of Female to Hermaphrodite. ( hermaphrodite being preferred commercially ) and again, you will not get any males from certified seeds.

with these non hybrid types you can replant the seeds from the fruit, and as long as you have NO male trees in the area, you will not get any male seedlings.

If you save seeds from the elongated papaya fruits ( hermaphrodite tree ), you will get the same 33/66 ratio, if you save seeds from a round fruit ( female tree ) you will have a 50/50 ratio of F/H sex. Red Maradol, Know You #1, and Solo varieties are non hybrid and should come out pretty much like the parent in quality.

I am not aware of any papaya anywhere near my home, other than mine and none are male other than those I killed very young.

The Red Lady are the only ones I've had this issue with.

you can do the same, when flowers start to mature, ( on non hybrid, herm. tree ) just bag up the flowers, then save the seed from the fruit that grows there.

as for the shipping cost, yeah i guess on a small order its kind of steep, my last order, I purchased a small pack of 10, and another of 100 seeds, shipping was 6.50. so not too bad.

I placed 2 seeds per poly bag, and around 40 bags.

I planted around 35 plants on a small lot ( Red Maradol ) and around 8 Sun Gold Hybrid, I regret not getting more Sun Gold.

Production wise, they both put out about the same amount, but the Sun Gold is PRSV tolerant, and can have 1-2% higher brix on average on the fruit.

You can often find people selling seeds on ebay. so that's another option. but for hybrid varieties, I stick with professional seed supplier though. am not sure exactly how they create hybrid seeds, I believe they cross two different varieties, to get the Red lady F1 and other hybrids, like Sun Gold.

I noticed the Sun Gold plants sprouted faster, and grew faster than the Maradol. and had slightly thicker stems, not sure if there will be any difference, once they are mature, I am keeping notes.

Thnx

I purchased my seeds from Aloha, the only seeds left over were a few Red Maradol, my friend was the one that planted the Red Lady, and he purchased the plants from a nursery.

He went the commercial route, with about 5 acres planted. I only planted like 40 plants all together more as a hobby/experiment as i am doing the organic thing with mine, and I have not been taking care of my plants, I still need to put in the drip irrigation. and have not fertilized other than 1 folliar spray with worm compost tea about 6 weeks ago.

Any advice? My plant is very healthy otherwise.