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harveyc · 09-07-2008, 03:45 PM

Thanks, everyone.

Chris, the plant gets water every day unless I'm just too busy which happens maybe once a week. They don't ever seem to be lacking moisture. Yesterday we were at about 101F (38C+) and we got down to about 72F (20C) lasts night. I did not water my plants yesterday as I was already busy with other farm work all day long (getting ready for chestnut harvest). Still, all of my bananas looked good by the end of the day. If it weren't for the pesky mosquitoes, I would have watered them last night when I was checking them out. I did see a huge moth on the flower with glowing amber eyes and a wingspan of about 4 inches. It almost seemed like a hummingbird the way it flew off but it came back. I grabbed my camera but, unfortunately, it was gone when I got back and I did not get a photo. Pitangadiego suggests leaving from 8 to 12 inches of the flower stalk on below the last hand to prevent dessication of the fruits, but I might just try wrapping the end of the stem with something to prevent this (our humidity typically gets down to 20% or so). I have two other plants with flowers and haven"t cut the male bud yet, though I've been meaning to get to it. Just waiting to see if my Dwarf Brazilian will touch the ground (about 6 inches away now) and I was going to photograph my other unknown, but I need to clear some weeds to have a less embarrassing shot! Randy turned down my offer for free weeds.

Thanks Chris and Mitchel for giving me some hope that I may get these things to mature enough. We should have another 6-9 weeks of decent weather. I was figuring I'd leave the fruit on until the leaves got fried by frost. I might get lucky like last year and not have a heavy frost.

I'm wondering if an actual thinning of fruit would accelerate fruit maturation significantly. Some fingers are smaller as it is, so it could be like thinning out the runts, etc. I'd rather have 60 nice mature bananas than 90 that didn't quite make it. Anybody with any thoughts on this?

Also, I've read at times about bunches being bagged. Is that something that can help speed up maturity? I'd be reluctant to do anything like that right now with the hot weather we're having but maybe it could be helpful later on when the weather cools down.

Thanks again,

Harvey

09-07-2008, 03:45 PM	#9 (permalink)
harveyc Been nuts, gone bananas harveyc's Photo Gallery Location: Isleton, Calif Find me on the map! Zone: 9b Name: Harvey Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 5,119 BananaBucks : 276,335 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 6,025 Times Was Thanked 4,460 Times in 1,896 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 1,785 Times	Re: My Mystery Busy Bee Banana Thanks, everyone. Chris, the plant gets water every day unless I'm just too busy which happens maybe once a week. They don't ever seem to be lacking moisture. Yesterday we were at about 101F (38C+) and we got down to about 72F (20C) lasts night. I did not water my plants yesterday as I was already busy with other farm work all day long (getting ready for chestnut harvest). Still, all of my bananas looked good by the end of the day. If it weren't for the pesky mosquitoes, I would have watered them last night when I was checking them out. I did see a huge moth on the flower with glowing amber eyes and a wingspan of about 4 inches. It almost seemed like a hummingbird the way it flew off but it came back. I grabbed my camera but, unfortunately, it was gone when I got back and I did not get a photo. Pitangadiego suggests leaving from 8 to 12 inches of the flower stalk on below the last hand to prevent dessication of the fruits, but I might just try wrapping the end of the stem with something to prevent this (our humidity typically gets down to 20% or so). I have two other plants with flowers and haven"t cut the male bud yet, though I've been meaning to get to it. Just waiting to see if my Dwarf Brazilian will touch the ground (about 6 inches away now) and I was going to photograph my other unknown, but I need to clear some weeds to have a less embarrassing shot! Randy turned down my offer for free weeds. Thanks Chris and Mitchel for giving me some hope that I may get these things to mature enough. We should have another 6-9 weeks of decent weather. I was figuring I'd leave the fruit on until the leaves got fried by frost. I might get lucky like last year and not have a heavy frost. I'm wondering if an actual thinning of fruit would accelerate fruit maturation significantly. Some fingers are smaller as it is, so it could be like thinning out the runts, etc. I'd rather have 60 nice mature bananas than 90 that didn't quite make it. Anybody with any thoughts on this? Also, I've read at times about bunches being bagged. Is that something that can help speed up maturity? I'd be reluctant to do anything like that right now with the hot weather we're having but maybe it could be helpful later on when the weather cools down. Thanks again, Harvey __________________