Anyone grow Red Lady Dwarf Papaya and get ripe papayas the first year?

Very cool looking plant. I've never tried Papaya but I know a couple others on here who have. I'm sure they will chime in.

Frank,

I've grown papaya and gotten fruit the same year. They usually begin setting flowers at abt. 6 months.

I grow Papaya, but if they successfully overwinter for you in your area then you should get a good crop as long as it doesn't require pollination by a male papaya. 

Frank,

I hope you can do it. I made an effort twice - once in a self watering containers followed by a second in ground. The trees got big and produced large fruits both times but there was not enough time to ripen. The cold was tough on the trees and the frost was punishing. I cut the tops of and put them in the garage and tried to see if with an excellent root system, that I could get fruits quickly the following season. No luck for me.

Given your space, maybe you can get a crew together (I'll join) and build a hoop house for winter protection.

I bought these two Red Lady plants  in March, at Walmart, of all places,  Seeds are hard to find and expensive.

Very pleased that they started fruiting already at about 3-4 feet tall. I am hoping they will not grow more than 6 feet, so that I can do the "papaya shuffle" comfortably this winter.

JD, thanks for the photos. Those are great looking trees. Good luck getting fruit from them this year!

 Pete

Pete,
The mild winter of 2011 but late frost in 2012 killed off those papaya.

To my surprise, three trees have sprouted up in my compost area. If they make it, then it will be survival of the fittest or I will have found someone with a greenhouse who will take a few boarders by the winter.

Keep them in pots and bring them in I had one for 4 years dont let the roots go in ground itll kill it to rip them up. I am working on the second generation right now I hope one makes it. 

Jimmie, were they Dwarf Red Ladys?

Did you know that you can cook green unripened papayas like you would sweet potatoes or other root veggies in many types of Asian recipes? My wife has made some nice dishes using them in this manner.

Frank,

They were not Dwarf Red Ladys - sounds like a bad Cold War B-film - but they were Red Ladys.

Yes. I had unripened papaya in a couple of non-Asian dishes before. It did not leave me wanting for more.

First year mature papaya/ Taste? Really good!

I was shocked to find the fruit totally seedless, however. 
Why oh why?

They will go into the garage when frost nears and perhaps next year produce  some more.

Nice job! That is a nice accomplishment! I did finally get a papaya plant and am hopeful for a similar result next year! Unfortunately I don't have the same warm weather as you, but I'm gonna give it my best shot.

Don't have a source for the info, bu7t was told that Papayas come in male, female and hermaphroditic. The males do not have seeds. Haven't verified that, but two of my trees were seeded and one was not, and that was the explanation I got.

Hawaiian papayas grown here struggled the first winter, and di better when older. However the fruit always seemed to ripen in late winter or early spring when there was little heat, and were always rather tasteless. Suspect they would have been much better if they had ripened in the summer.