Papaya 'Red Queen'

A few years back we trialed several large fruited hybrid disease tolerant papaya cultivars and 'Red Queen' was by far our favorite. This variety has the following going for it- 

Low bearing habit - flowers and fruits at a younger age that many types, and as such is considered a "semi-dwarf" variety, which is a bit of a misnomer because all "dwarf" papayas will grow tall eventually, what it really means is this type of cultivar will flower and bear fruit at a smaller size. 

Excellent tasting flesh - many are turned off from papaya because some are sensitive to off flavors in some varieties - the salmon red flesh of 'Red Queen' is tasty and melon-like. The very large thick walled fruit size also lends itself well to use green as a vegetable, this is a great type for shredded papaya salad. 

This is a "feminized" hybrid, which means all plants will bear fruit, this type is about 50/50 hermaphordite and female. Lone female trees may bear but will be seedless. We suggest planting 2-3 if your wish to ensure consistent pollination. Unfortunately being a hybrid variety does mean we do not produce our own seed for this variety and saving seed from it will not come true to type. 

This variety is papaya ringspot virus tolerant - a major insect spread virus mainly in south FL that makes lesions on the fruit that can make the fruit unusable and cause early mortality in trees.

Trees offered will be in 3.5 inch square pots and generally 6-8 inches tall.