I had ordered Kandarian because I am following the work of Dr. Richard Wallace on bananas that can be grown as annuals if overwintered in a protected place. Against my better judgment, I ordered from Central Florida Farms because they were the only ones who had it. When it came (after I had to persistently harangue one of the owners, not a pleasant experience), the plants looked nearly dead, they were so dehydrated. Kandarian looked a lot like a dead, foot-high brown stick. But it still felt firm inside the brown exterior, so I kept it a little moist, but not wet, all through the late summer, fall and winter.
It is now unfurling!
http://www.bananas.org/images/smilie...oohoonaner.gif Whoever said "Never give up!" was totally right. It's on a southwest balcony at my San Jose home. It's about 1.5 feet high and the leaf isn't totally unfurled yet, but it's green and healthy looking, and most of all, NOT DEAD! The other one I got from them still looks pretty dead, but we'll see, I'm not going to give up easily.
I'll give updates occasionally about how this experiment is going.
Best regards,
Lisa