obdiah

does any one have or know of any research dealing with ethlyne gas to force blooming with bananas / I know it works with pineapple but haven't found anything on bananas in my zone early blooming is a have to to get mature fruit

Richard

In my experience, forcing flowering on bananas is a poor practice. In particular, the fruit isn't worth eating.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

obdiah

thanks Richard
I am aware of that but growing bananas in the foothills of the north Carolina mountains is a rather poor practice also but I do it and manage to fruit a few now and then poor bananas are better than no bananas and in a short growing season timing is ultra critical if you expect fruit
and bananas on their on could care less about timing they usually bloom when the darn well please I am doing the best I can in a difficult environment and seem to be making some progress its just a hobby and I love pushing the envelope to the exstreams so I will ask again does any one know of any info on the subject? just seeking knowledge no since doing research again that's already been done

D L Moody quote
One day a lady criticized D. L. Moody for his methods of evangelism in attempting to win people to the Lord. Moody’s reply was "I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?" The lady replied, "I don’t do it." Moody retorted, "Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it."

Gabe15

What technique have you used to force bananas to flower?

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

obdiah

nothing yet just trying to set pups at the right time for spring flowrig I have used ethyline
on pineapple and cut almost 6 months of time to bloom both with apple slices in the crown
and calcium carbide in a cloth bag ( acetylene instead of ethylene) but seems to give the same results as I grow several plants in pit greenhouses in a semi closed inviroment it would be easy to add ethlyne gas in small amounts but there seems to be very little info
of its use on bananas other plants yes but not bananas I also plan on trying a high phosphors fertilizer this spring

Richard

These were all performed in USDA hardiness zone 9 on pups that arose in the summer in a single mat. By fall they were 4' to 5' tall. The mats were at least 2 years old. Only one pup per mat was allowed to proceed. The stimulants were applied to the entire mat.

One Spring, a diet of water soluble 5-50-17 on Namwa.

Another Spring, a diet of a licensed PGR on Dwarf Brazilian.

Two years later, a moderate diet of both on Manzano.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

obdiah

thanks Richard can I find copies of the study online?

bananaT

This is observations over the years;
Stressed plants have fruited faster at times. I've noticed this with the drought we had here the beginning of the year. After the rains started quite a few of my clumps pushed bells way before I was expecting. Veinte cohol, nam wah, double, Orinoco, patupi all did when they were much shorter than normal.
The bunches were smaller, or in the case of 1000 fingers, Orinoco, double, they produced only male flowers in a few.

Sooo, perhaps cutting water in the dry season, and then feeding and watering well later on would force some bunches.......

Or!! get a really big bag, place it over your banana and tie it off.
Get a large bag of ripening fruit; apples, bananas, something that gives off lots of ethylene.
connect it to your tree with a hose....
Maybe that'll work.

__________________
Come visit my corner spot; read some interesting post, buy rare edible plants & animals
and maybe learn something!
SUBCRIBE!!
https://youtu.be/sPa7tzsIbhM

T.Farms

aruzinsky

Can you be more vague?

No, but an ethylene precursor, Ethephon, has been used to hasten ripening of banana fruit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethephon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RZBYC2...4RZBYC25203320

The effects of ethephon on the ripening of Vietnamese Latundan bananas(Musa sapientum) - - ScopeMed.org - Deposit for Medical Articles

Typically, ethylene or Ethephon will cause early senescence of leaves in many plants but I don't know the exact effect on musa plants.

Richard

Those were my own trials at my former residence in Rancho Peñasquitos, CA. In each case the plant flowered early in comparison to other mats. The buds were anemic and when ripe the fruit taste was poor.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

obdiah

thanks Richard not great news but a place to start any way I suppose the best solution would be move to Florida but stuck here just to old to move

edwmax

Grow basjoo for aesthetics in the yard. ... buy bananas to eat at the store. Save the aching back, possible heart attack, and likely much cheaper.

__________________

Richard

Actually, you have other possibilities ... including learning to overwinter bananas indoors or in a greenhouse. Much cheaper than moving!

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

Richard

Bleeck.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

edwmax

When you can't grow 'em, store or market bought is the only option. ... Unless you are willing to give yours away FREE.

__________________

obdiah

already done that gota do something new and fun

I have heard plants respond to music what do you think about playing bluegrass music
for them 24 hours a day could force blooming from shear enjoyment

or perhaps loud rap music with a promise to turn it off if they bloom i would bloom to get away from rap

obdiah

aesthetics? heck even my basjos,s have naners never mature though thinking about green basjoo dill pickles

Gabe15

Richard, what PGR did you use? How much quicker did the plants flower in your experiment compared to untreated plants? How fast was the response?

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

Richard

The PGR was a pint sample from a colleague that worked for Abbott. Apparently it is used in aerial spray on row crops to induce uniform flowering. Target crops include brassicas and strawberries.

For the bananas in question at that location it was typically 18 months from new pup in the mat to inflorecence. Hence I learned to select and cull around October for blooming a little over a year later.

My first experiment was on Namwa. March that year was very temperature so I began dosing the mat with 5-50-17. Sure enough it flowered that summer while the other mats did not (as usual) until the following spring. In my recollection the inflorecence produced only about 6 female hands, most of which missing a finger or two, all a bit shorter than usual, and when ripe was basically tasteless -- like some "supermarket" bananas can be.

I tried the following year with the PGR on Brazilian and two years later with a bit of each on Manzano -- both trials with the same result.

A year later (2013) I moved to my present location in NW Vista, CA. The microclimate is a little milder here -- probably zone 10b. The cycle seems shorter here. Pups of most varieties that come up in mid-Spring bloom 10-14 months later. An exception is a Gros Michael I obtained as a TC which is taking a long time to get established.

__________________
Back in business at plantsthatproduce.com

obdiah

ethylene is considered a pgr
easier to get my hands on than I thought pricey though
ebay really does have everything just out omf money right now


Matheson Ethylene gas ultra high purity LOT of 2 cylinders / bottles .25 lb each | eBay