Ships now unless you order banana plants that ship at a later date. All plants in one order are shipped together ...A very desirable Papaya plant, this is a sweet strain with firm red/orange pulp. Its foliage is a beautiful canopy of snowflake shaped leaves. Height 7' to 10' you need two but sometimes both sex flowers are produced on one plant....We ship a healthy papaya plant with soil, shipping is one $6.95 charge for as many plants as you order Our papayas plants are grown with miricle grow potting mix and are in a 4" pot. We remove the pot and ship a nice 16"+ plant. PP1 14.95 7.95 Same as above but two plants. PP2 24.95 15.95 To order and find avilability send email to ted@greenhouse.net or call 800-927-3084 ....Fresh cut large Papaya leaves cut the day we send them by Priority Mail. We use no sprays on them and they are grown organicly and we send the largest ones we have. Click pic to enlarge. PL20 The flesh of the ripe papaya fruit is yellow, creamy yet firm, fiberless, sweet and refreshing. Some liken the flavor to melon and apricot. The soft black seeds in the central cavity also are edible, tasting a little like watercress or nasturtium. Ripe papayas are soft and have a thin skin. In most cases the papayas available in grocery stores were picked while still hard and unripe. Like avocados, they will ripen off the tree at room temperature, but they will never taste as good as tree ripened fruits. Hasten the ripening of papayas by putting them in a paper bag with an apple or banana for a day or two. Never chill papayas until they are completely ripe. Use papayas in fruit salads, or serve sliced with lime juice. Pureed with ginger and hot peppers, papaya marinade is a natural meat tenderizer. Unripe, green papayas are pickled or cooked and eaten like summer squash, especially in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The young leaves are sometimes eaten like spinach. Leaves and unripe fruits are toxic and must be cooked before eating. The unripe papaya fruit and the leaves are the source of papain, an enzyme that digests protein and that is used as a dietary supplement to aid in digestion. Papain is used as a meat tenderizer, to clarify beer, in the processing of natural silk and to give shrink resistance to wool. Papaya Fruit often called Paw Paw, Mamao, and Tree Melon, grows on what is usually referred to as a tree. But the Papaya plant is actually a large herb growing to heights of up to thirty feet with a hollow green stem becoming up to a foot and a half thick at the base. The leaves emerge directly from the upper part of the stem in a spiral. Both the stem and leaves contain copious white milky latex. Generally, the fruit is melon-like, oval to nearly round. The skin is waxy and thin but fairly tough. When the fruit is green and hard it is rich in white latex. As it ripens, it becomes yellow externally and the thick wall of flesh becomes aromatic, yellow, orange or various shades of red. It is then juicy, sweet and somewhat like cantaloupe in flavor. Papaya is believed native to tropical America. Seeds were taken to Panama and Hispaniola before 1525 and cultivation spread to warm elevations throughout South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Papaya is now familiar in nearly all of the tropical regions of the world. Successful commercial production today is primarily in Hawaii, Africa, the Philippines, and India. Papaya Fruit is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Potassium. Papaya Fruit also contains smaller amounts of calcium, iron, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamine. The most interesting constituent of Papaya Fruit, however, is Papain. Papain is an enzyme that aids in the digestion of protein. Papain is often used as a meat tenderizer, as well as an aid to digestion. Recently, studies have shown that Papaya Fruit has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Papaya Fruit is used in some cultures as a vermifuge.