I've got a bunch of small ones and a few larger ones that I've grown from seeds over the past few years. I'm in Coral Springs. Email me at crs9617@bellsouth.net if you're interested.

Hi Redfoot,
Would you mind sharing one with me? I am ready to pay postage or trade.

Thanks,

Vidyaa

Hello Redfoot,

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

TIA,
JC

You can get seeds cheaply from Aloha Seed as well for this cultivar. That's where I got mine. I have found them very reliable.

Here is a link that might be useful: aloha seed

Hi John5b1,
I recently bought a T. R. Hovey papaya (Dwarf) from this ebay seller..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PAPAYA-LIVE-FRUIT-TREE-Dwarf-T-R-Hovey-/190615696822?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item2c6194b5b6#ht_1565wt_1089

Vidyaa

I have a nice one about 3' tall free to a local good home. I grew several and am disappointed in them.

If anyone cares to pick it up I'm:

gnappi@earthlink.net

Why I'm disappointed in them:

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.

With certified seeds, you will get a 50/50 ratio of Female to Hermaphrodite plants ( all will produce fruit ) the only way you will get male plants is if you use seeds from a papaya plant that was pollinated by a male tree.

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 just checked aloha seeds website . They charge 5.50 s&h. I was shocked to see this price.

Good info, thanks, but how do they "certify" seeds? Do they track the genetics of a certain strain? Or do they invade nearby villages burning down all the male trees :-)

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.

@gnappi to prevent cross pollination, they just pollinate by hand, using pollen from hermaphrodite flowers, then bag the flowers, to prevent contamination.

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.

Hi tropic dude,
Pls. Let me know if you are interested in selling some seeds (red lady hybrid)..

Thnx

@vid

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.

I went ahead and ordered some seeds from Aloha to start my own plants since it is a hybrid. I ordered a second variety, Improved Sunrise Solo--only $2.50 more for the seeds and the shipping cost stayed the same. So $10.50 total. Not so bad. I think we may end up with a lot of papaya plants, but this family really loves papaya! (I think my wife likes papaya more than mango, if you can believe that!)

I bought a Red Lady Papaya (approx 2' tall)today at Walmart at Sawgrass Mall. It was marked at $7.50 but rang up at $5.50.

@fruit, wow, good find, Red Lady seems to be the variety that's becoming most popular it seems. I can understand why, sweet, low musk smell, compact growth, heavy production, Not a GMO, and is PSRV tolerant.

Last week I planted the rest of my seeds left over from last year when I ordered from Aloha Seed. So far, I have these seedlings up: 2 Red Lady, 2 Solo Sunrise (improved), 2 Waimanalo. Still waiting for the Solo Sunsets. I didn't think these would germinate since they were old but so far pretty good. I soaked for a day in hot water first before planting in peat pods in the little greenhouse thingy and am using a heat mat (ok its the cable box Lol).

I'm growing a Red Lady plant from seed for 3 years now. It has flowered once (and it was a female flower) in winter, but the small fruit dropped very soon. Since then it produces a large amount of flower buds in winter that drop just before opening.
During the summer it grows at quite a pace, but no flowers at all. Is it a short day plant, perhaps?

I am having the same problem as Luigi flowers just dropping.

Any advice? My plant is very healthy otherwise.