Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawler
How do the (subject title) selections compare to Orinocos in terms of cold hardiness?
|
I'm probably the less experienced guy around here. And my climate differs from you both in quantity and quality of cold days during the year. However, my experience with rajapuri has been more than disappointing. Another guy from italy, wich has experienced with that plant, says the same. I would put the rajapuri in same class with cavendish. They can take some cold probably, but can't stand extended periods of cold weather. Maybe it's an humidity thing, i don't know. Here it is pretty humid during winter. But i simply think that it can't survive in long periods with low temperatures (even if freezing).
Rajapuri is an amazing plant overall, but in some climates its reputed cold hardiness doesn't work in my humble opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amantedelenguaje
I am pretty disgusted with my DC's right now. They keep sending up flowers around Thanksgiving; though I bring them indoors, there is not enough light to ripen the fruit, which eventually rots away.
|
I haven't flowered a single banana yet, but i have tought a lot about this issue. Apparently many bananas start differentiating the flower at some point of the summer. Obviously, since our summer ends just when the flower shows up, we end with a flower at the beginning of the autumn: and this is more and more true if we contimue to push our plant at the maximum speed in hope of obtaining a flower (think about this: if you put attention on it you'll notice tthat most temperate growers get a flower just at the beginning of the autumn).
So, i thought, what can be done to overcome this? The best idea i have come with is to put the plant in a stress once the flower is differentiated, to slow down the development. Yes, i know, quality and quantity of the flower will be affected but it's better to get few finger than no fingers.
So far, since my growing period goes from april to the beginning of october, my solution has been the following:
I uproot and pot up all my plant during the last week of august, at the peak of the gowing season, when temperature are still high but are about to decrease. So far, almost every plant treated this way, got an huge stop in growt. They always take about a month before starting to grow again in pot. This way, i hope, i will slow any flowering plant enought to force any flower inside the plant to emerge after the winter, when you have a long summer ahead to ripen the fruit.
Will this work? I don't know. I think that much depends from the bananas: if they are able to "reset" themselve, and abort the flower already developing, my efforts are vane. But as far as i know, bananas don't about the flower once the flower initiation has started, so we should try to work on it.
And anyway, i should pot my banana every winter, so i'm not adding work to my schedule.