quick update on the "not namwah and possibly rajapuri": we had a heavy rainstorm followed by 2 nights with freezing temperatures (30F or -1.1C). the woodchips in the yard, as well as some patches of grass had frost on it. Now that the frost has past (for the time being), our day temps sometimes don't go above 50F (10C) and lows are about 36F( 2.2C) on average if I had to guess.
After the heavy rain dried out, I made an enclosure, and about a week later, all of the leaves started to develop little brown spots. The cold rain seems to have damaged the leaves, but the spots don't seem to be killing the leaves...yet.
What I learned is exposure to cold and wet rain is a no-no for bananas that just started to fruit in the winter. If you cover them before the rain, I think you'll have a chance of keeping them alive. However, if you don't, they'll look a little bruised at first, but over the next few weeks of very cold weather, either fungi or necrosis from the physical damage caused by cold rain will kick in. I thought that after covering them with greenhouse plastic, everything would be safe and they'd have a good chance of developing normally, but to make things even more stressful, the plant only gets about 2 hours of direct sunlight a day during this time of year. To give you perspective, these are in blasting full sun almost all day during the summer!
What do you think, do these have a chance, or are they going to eventually rot? Photos taken 12/22/16:
Even the hands that were fully protected from the start of their development are starting to get small black spots. The soil under the shelter is dry, but i think due to the cold, stagnant air, some sort of fungus is growing on all the leaves and it's spreading to these fingers. Hopefully, its a non-virulent fungus that just looks bad but doesn't actually cause the fingers to rot:
This hand was exposed to harsh rains. No idea if these will make it, but with my american goldfinger that flowered in late October, I already had some fingers rot:
Newer hands don't look as bad, but the spots are starting. Not all of the hands have opened yet!
Doesn't that second hand from the top (well, technically the third hand from the top) look dubious?
On a side note:the american goldfinger bunches that bloomed in July are in perfect condition and were completely unharmed by the rain and cold so far!