Papaya (again)

[gnappi]

I have been going to a local indoor farmer's market in the last several weeks more to support them through the mall closure than  to get anything I REALLY needed. So a couple of days after going there on a return visit  I spied a Red Lady papaya with 85%+ coloration.

I cut it today and it was WONDERFUL. No puke smell or rancid taste.

It is the best I have had in years. Since I was there a couple of days earlier and there were no papaya on myearlier visit I have to believe that this one got picked in a more than typical ripe stage.

I planted every seed and will have some GR8 seedlings to share soon.

Anyone else have luck with papaya this season?

[Kevin Jones]

Bought a Caribbean Red at Sams Club last month and planted seeds... now have 15 seedlings coming along nicely.

Kevin Jones

[pineislander]

I have grown many hundreds of Red lady papaya and all my customers enjoyed them. Unfortunately my usual supplier has been out of stock for quite a while so I am trialing Red Maradol this season. So far I have 20 potted up and another batch on the way my target is 40 plants to go in this season.

[Oncorhynchus]

I bought a Red Lady plant a few years ago just to try growing it since it was cheap even though I didn’t like papaya. After having had the fruit, I will always have a Red Lady or two growing somewhere. I can’t imagine a better tasting papaya, they’re the perfect size, super easy to grow (they fruit much better if you feed and water them but do fine if you’re lazy) and usually available for $10 at Lowes in February or March. I haven’t tried growing them from seeds yet (they don’t have that many seeds either) but I’ve heard they usually grow true to type. The only problems I’ve had with them have been papaya wasps (those got me bad this year) and them tipping over during storms.

[stephen]

I bought a Red Lady plant a few years ago just to try growing it since it was cheap even though I didn’t like papaya. After having had the fruit, I will always have a Red Lady or two growing somewhere. I can’t imagine a better tasting papaya, they’re the perfect size, super easy to grow (they fruit much better if you feed and water them but do fine if you’re lazy) and usually available for $10 at Lowes in February or March. I haven’t tried growing them from seeds yet (they don’t have that many seeds either) but I’ve heard they usually grow true to type. The only problems I’ve had with them have been papaya wasps (those got me bad this year) and them tipping over during storms.

I'm interested in growing papayas, but have never done it. Can we really find Red Lady papayas at Lowe's? When you purchase them, do they already come with perfect flowers or do I need a second plant? Thank you!

[fliptop]

I'm not sure about California, but in Florida, yes, you can buy Red Lady at Lowe's, as well as Home Depot and Walmart. You only need one plant.

I'm presently growing Waimanalo (seeds from tradewinds) and should hopefully be able to comment on quality soon. I too liked Red Lady when I grew it.

[pineislander]

Regarding the sex of the plant Red Lady is described as:

F1 Hybrid with 50/50 ratio of hermaphrodite to female trees.

https://www.shop.alohaseed.com/product.sc?productId=18&categoryId=4

I have grown seedlings of Red Lady twice and out of 200 seeds never got a male. Somehow they select for this and the hermaphrodites act as pollen donors but if you were to get a female and had no nearby sources you might lack for pollination. I eventually got some males by self sown volunteer seedlings. The female are more round and hermaphroodite are more elongated. I had some fruit completeely seedless and many had very few seeds.

[Ckitto]

I'm interested in growing papayas, but have never done it. Can we really find Red Lady papayas at Lowe's? When you purchase them, do they already come with perfect flowers or do I need a second plant? Thank you!

I saw them in Mimosa LA and Calpoly nursery in the past.

[stephen]

I'm interested in growing papayas, but have never done it. Can we really find Red Lady papayas at Lowe's? When you purchase them, do they already come with perfect flowers or do I need a second plant? Thank you!

I saw them in Mimosa LA and Calpoly nursery in the past.

That's super helpful! Thank you!

Do you have any suggestions/favorites from the following varieties?: red lady, solo sunrise, linda, bella, and waimanalo x-77

[stephen]

Sorry, I accidentally quoted my own question lol

Do you have any suggestions/favorites from the following varieties?: red lady, solo sunrise, linda, bella, and waimanalo x-77

[savemejebus]

We've got a couple Hawaiian varieties growing that are delicious. Only 2 trees have survived the iguana onslaught though. I need to start killing them a bit more frequently if any more are to survive.