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i need a papaya "expert".

Hi everybody
i want to knopw which ones of these seedlings are male , female or herma.
thanks

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As far as I know (I am far from an expert) if it is from unknown seed, you have to wait about 7-9 months from germination to see flowers what it is.  Most of the Carribean Red variety are hermies but the rest I do not know. 

i have seen that in nurseries they pick the good ones while seedlings stage.....?

My apologies then, I didn't know you could identify them at that stage.

Chivas is right: you must wait for the flowers to see if it is a male (many like a mango or grape) or female (a much larger, single or double). I have tried to see a difference in the plants at earlier stages, without any success: they are identical.

Hello elin,
I looked it up and came across the article whose link is down below.
You can ' google translate ' the whole thing from Portuguese to English. I did it and it still makes sense. 
In a nutshell it says you can be certain the plant is a male/female/or herma only when it flowers for the first time (3-4 month old seedling).
Large orchards tend to plant 3 seedlings and then leave only the female seedling or the one that looks healthier after it has flowered for the very first time.

http://www.ceplac.gov.br/radar/Artigos/artigo39.htm

I had a chat with a friend and she said you can judge the sex of a seedling long before that 'flowering stage'.
Male seedlings tend to be more 'elongated' and female/herma tend to be 'rounder'.
And  the leaves tend to be a bit far from the papaya 'trunk', when it's a male.
When Closer: female. That's for the 'seedlings' stage.

Now bear in mind that this second opinion comes from observation and it is 'tricky'.
And the information you get from that article is what papaya growers rely upon.

i think its tricky as you say jesj. maybe best thing to leave them untill they show leaves and flowrins take another photo and ask again.?

they grow fast though and i believe they will show their sex soon.

till now it is a blind date....

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