Tropicallvr

Some books and people say that Raja Puri is the hardiest edible, but some here say it is CA gold, Dwarf brazilian, and Ornico.
Has anybody tried testing Raja Puri's cold tolerance compared to the others?

Gabe15

All are cited as being hardy, but I would think it unfair to compare hardiness in different climates. They are probably equally hardy depending on where they are growing, so you may need to just test and see which ones prove hardiest in your particular growing conditions.

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

mrbungalow

I've heard somewhere that Brazilian does better than the others in cooler summer climates, but don't take my word for it. If I remember correctly, a fellow from Pennsylvania on this forum claims to have overwintered a brazilian plant succesfully outside. As far as I know, no "brazilian" cultivars are available on the european market, but maybe I will get my hands on some since some friends are going to Florida tomorrow. (I told them what to smuggle!) Rajapuri seems to try pushing out all leaves at once in climates such as the pacific northwest and UK. Orinoco is also said to be less than optimal for the UK climate.
California gold is a cultivar that I must say I have not completely understood...

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JoeReal

I have all of them planted side by side... And we had a cold of a blast, consistently in the low 20's for about a week, and 20 deg F for more than 6 hours... So this is a fair and simple comparison in my yard.

Dwarf Brazilian's stout trunks remained shiny green through the entire winter. California Gold's outer sheath turned brown as well as Misi Luki, but only one layer. Dwarf Orinoco's two layers of outer sheath turned dry. Raja Puri's three outermost sheath turned black.

Come spring, the first to raise their roll of leaf is Dwarf Brazilian, followed closely by California Gold and Misi Luki, then Dwarf Orinoco. the first to unfold a complete leaf is California Gold. The Dwarf Brazilians are starting to unflod their first leaf completely as of yesterday, the dwarf orinoco is still pushing out a roll of leaf, halfway through there.

Meanwhile, Raja Puri seemed to be asleep.

Except for the Raja Puri, I consider the above mentioned bananas to be really cold hardy in the actual arctic blast this past winter.

asacomm

Thanks JoeReal,

Your report is exactly what I have been waiting for. Straight and fair
comparison!
This is a real good reference for those who are atempting in the similar
climate like 9a or so.

Stan

asacomm

Hi JoeReal,

Stan is here again.
I forgot to ask you a very important question as to mode of overwintering
of those bananas.
Were they left umprotected or protected by some materials?
Your answer helps me a lot and thanks in advance.

Stan

eggo

You guys forgot a very important question here!
Joe, out of the three(D. Orinoco, Cal Gold, and D. Brazilian) which one would you consider the tastiest?

asacomm

Hi Eggo,

I have never harvested the fruits yet of the three bananas, thus have
never tasted yet. Could you tell us what is the best taste among them?
Of course the sweeter the better!!

Regardless their taste, the important factor which drives me to grow bananas
is how to manage to fruit and harvest the EDIBLE bananas in the marginal
area where I live.

As you know, just to grow bananas, it is enough to grow Basjoo and
Sikkimensis and other cold hardy non-edible bananas.

Stan

Panaroma

The (dwarf brazilian) isn't to be found on the European market. Strange, as it is indeed the best edible cultivar to resist freezing temperatures.
Joereal, do you also have the tall brazilian? I've read that it's even more hardy than the dwarf one.
Too bad it's not one the european market. I was also wondering about the coldtolerance of Ice cream, there it's sold in the UK by easytropicals.

Gunther

ngiann

Gunther,
check again easytropicals in March 07 availability list - not in online shop, and there you can find dwarf brazilian!

Nikos

JoeReal

the standard protection that I did is to leave all the leaves and outer pseudostems intact, never top off nor cut anything the entire winter.

On the night of the coldest temperature, I draped a floating row cover on top of the bananas. The floating row cover is made of breathable polyester fabric and are very cheap. I then took it off after the coldest night is over.

Come spring time when there is no more frost, that is when I cut off each dead leaf individually and peel off the dead outer sheaths to expose the green sheaths for photosynthesis.

JoeReal

Although they tasted almost similar, in that they are really more of a cooking banana than dessert bananas, I would vote for DB, followed by CG and lastly by DO.

The DO would really have to be dark skinned almost black ripe for the sweetness to develop. CG and DB just need to be yellow skinned.

JoeReal

None of the three mentioned bananas are as sweet as the standard dole, chiquita or del monte cavendish bananas from the store, as these are more of a cooking type bananas. I love to use them for various cooking recipe when the cavendish dessert types would be too mushy to use. They taste almost the same with DB being the slightly better, then followed by CG and lastly the DO, but those are according to my taste buds.

The DB and CG makes superb sherry wine. I harvested three bunches last year, 2 DB's and one CG.

jrozier

I don't have dwarf orinoco, but I have a 'California Gold', regular Orinoco, and Raja Puri. Winter here in coastal South Carolina was mild with a few nights in the mid to high 20's. None were protected at all and browned foliage was left in place. Dead material was trimmed back on March 10. Raja puri was the first of the three to start growing, orinoco just after and the CG still has not started. The Raja is the most attractive of the three, too. I haven't tasted the fruits, but I am still hoping!

Unrelated to the edible comparison, my sikkimensis seems to be the first to grow each year, followed by basjoo and itinerans. For appearance, M. sikkimensis is the winner here; basjoo sulks in the summer for me

But....my conditions are less than ideal. I don't fertilize enough and don't water as much as I could. I'm going to try to be better this year.

jeffreyp

Raja Puri is superior to any orinoco - dwarf or tall. It's close to what you'd get at the grocery store, the peel is thick and it has a pleasant taste.

Tropicallvr

Thanks for all the great info. I'm surprised that Raja puri isn't more cold hardy, and I thought my first one dying the winter before last was a fluke.
Dwarf brazilian it is!

jeffreyp

Raja Puri is somewhat hardy, I've heard Georgia was looking into promoting them as an alternative crop for the south eastern part of that state. Generally speaking, the more established a banana plant is, the hardier it will be. Soil conditions, overall health of the plant, siting, etc. all play a part.

JoeReal

Even though Raja Puri is not as hardy as my other bananas, the most important thing is that its trunk has survived the arctic blast, a little setback in terms of blooming, it will surely miss it this year after the extreme once every ten year cold conditions, and so for our other ordinary winters, it will surely survive and bear fruit. It is the best tasting amongst the cooking type according to my taste buds, that is why I plant it. It can make it in most years when it comes to fruiting. One other problem though is that Raja Puri is prone to choking.

asacomm

Hi JoeReal,

If I stick to the cold-hardiness of edible bananas in your area regardless the
quality and the quantity of the fruits, can I simply understand as follows?

1st hardiest .... Dwarf Brazilian(incl. toll one)
2nd " .... California Gold
3rd " .... Misi Luki & Dwarf Orinoco(incl. toll one)
and then 4th perhaps Raja Puri

And what is the ranking of Icecream. May be 5th or so?

I am also in 9, so your experimental informations help me a lot.

Stan

JoeReal

Next to California Gold would be Thousand Fingers, then Misi Luki and Mysore, Raja Puri and Ice Cream would rank the same from my previous non-arctic blast tests.

I was surprised also that a potted Mauritius survived the whole arctic blast ordeal! It is leafing out from its brown pseudostem, and it would have been tougher if potted. Either the Mauritius is cold hardy or I have yet another mislabeled cultivar. Too early to tell, will know soon by summer's end what I have.