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twotallgirls · 10-20-2021, 03:38 PM

Welcome!!
Well, I don’t want to be a bummer but Zone 7 is gonna be really tough for fruit with an in-ground plant. I grow Raja Puri’s and I love them, but I now live in South Florida. Zone 7 is just pretty darn cold for growing a Raji in the ground. When they say “cold tolerant” or notes zones 7-10, don’t mix up with fruiting zone. When they note it may go to Zone 7, that probably means survival Zone of the corm in the ground (if well mulched, protected, etc.). I use Hardiness zone as where the leaves/p-stem might take a short frost and survive. Fruiting zone is that which you can get the plant to fruit in a normal growing season. So my Raji Pura take 5 months to flower, and 5 months until fruit is ripe…and that’s in Zone 10. Bananas stop growing in the 50’s so somehow you’ll need to work around that constraint… That’s how we get crazy about our bananas; how to get something to fruit with limited growing days.
Fruiting will be really, really hard without lots of planning in 7… but many members have different ways to try and fruit in colder zones. Example, grow them as much as they can in year 1, dig up prior to frost to maximize size, wrap/insulate and store over the winter in garage or basement, and get in in ground in Spring early with protection. Or some use greenhouse, some will grow in pots and nurse over the winter.
There a lots of posts about how folks grow in colder areas; for example search by “Cold Hardy Bananas” and lots of post will pop up.
I’ve seen discussion around which is best variety to beat the cold (seems like dwarf Orinoco vs. Dwarf Namwah). The standard for cold hardy ornamental in your neck of the woods is probably Musa Basjoo but there are others… just no edible fruit.
Don’t be discouraged as somehow some growers have made it work! I'll let someone else weigh in as its been a long time since I've grown outside of FL.

10-20-2021, 03:38 PM	#2 (permalink)
twotallgirls Location: Marco Island, FL Find me on the map! Zone: 10A Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 100 BananaBucks : 19,670 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 7 Times Was Thanked 207 Times in 69 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 5 Times	Re: Best fruiting banana for me? Welcome!! Well, I don’t want to be a bummer but Zone 7 is gonna be really tough for fruit with an in-ground plant. I grow Raja Puri’s and I love them, but I now live in South Florida. Zone 7 is just pretty darn cold for growing a Raji in the ground. When they say “cold tolerant” or notes zones 7-10, don’t mix up with fruiting zone. When they note it may go to Zone 7, that probably means survival Zone of the corm in the ground (if well mulched, protected, etc.). I use Hardiness zone as where the leaves/p-stem might take a short frost and survive. Fruiting zone is that which you can get the plant to fruit in a normal growing season. So my Raji Pura take 5 months to flower, and 5 months until fruit is ripe…and that’s in Zone 10. Bananas stop growing in the 50’s so somehow you’ll need to work around that constraint… That’s how we get crazy about our bananas; how to get something to fruit with limited growing days. Fruiting will be really, really hard without lots of planning in 7… but many members have different ways to try and fruit in colder zones. Example, grow them as much as they can in year 1, dig up prior to frost to maximize size, wrap/insulate and store over the winter in garage or basement, and get in in ground in Spring early with protection. Or some use greenhouse, some will grow in pots and nurse over the winter. There a lots of posts about how folks grow in colder areas; for example search by “Cold Hardy Bananas” and lots of post will pop up. I’ve seen discussion around which is best variety to beat the cold (seems like dwarf Orinoco vs. Dwarf Namwah). The standard for cold hardy ornamental in your neck of the woods is probably Musa Basjoo but there are others… just no edible fruit. Don’t be discouraged as somehow some growers have made it work! I'll let someone else weigh in as its been a long time since I've grown outside of FL. __________________ Blue Java, Raja Puri, Goldfinger FHIA-01, Mona Lisa FHIA-02, Sweetheart FHIA-03, Pitogo, Saba, Dwarf Cavendish, Super Dwarf Cav., Namwa, Brazilian, Mysore, Dwarf Red, and a mystery or two