Banana flowering question

plundccre · 05-11-2011, 02:32 PM

While I have over 20 varieties of bananas now in my yard, most are immature and have yet to flower, so i am a novice when it comes to the fruit production.

The current exception is my 2 year old Raja Puri which now has what seems to be two distinct types of flowers on it. One is the traditional hanging "hook" type flower that I am accustomed to while the other flower is upright and barely protruding from out from the leaves around it, looking more like a dull, red ginger flower.

My question is does the plant only produce one type of flower on it? Is the upright one deformed or is it something other than the flower that produces the fruit? The upright flower appeared a week or so earlier but is now much smaller than the "hook" flower.

Thanks for your help.

sunfish · 05-11-2011, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plundccre

While I have over 20 varieties of bananas now in my yard, most are immature and have yet to flower, so i am a novice when it comes to the fruit production.

The current exception is my 2 year old Raja Puri which now has what seems to be two distinct types of flowers on it. One is the traditional hanging "hook" type flower that I am accustomed to while the other flower is upright and barely protruding from out from the leaves around it, looking more like a dull, red ginger flower.

My question is does the plant only produce one type of flower on it? Is the upright one deformed or is it something other than the flower that produces the fruit? The upright flower appeared a week or so earlier but is now much smaller than the "hook" flower.

Thanks for your help.

Is this on one p-stem (trunk) ?

Gabe15 · 05-11-2011, 03:19 PM

Show us some photos, then we can help better.

plundccre · 05-11-2011, 03:50 PM

The flowers are on different trunks. I haven't uploaded photos on this site yet so I hope I am doing it correctly. I uploaded them to the banana flowering gallery.

plundccre · 05-11-2011, 04:08 PM

Tried to post the photos to the gallery but I don't know where they went. let me try to attach.

sunfish · 05-11-2011, 04:14 PM

That's the flower.Just didn't emerge all the way. I think the cold weather is the cause.

plundccre · 05-11-2011, 04:23 PM

If the one flower did not emerge all the way, is there anything that I could or should do to help it along for fruit production? Should I cut some of the surrounding leaves back?

sunfish · 05-11-2011, 04:35 PM

Mine eventually pushed out some.

Good Timing

pitangadiego · 05-12-2011, 10:35 PM

Welcome to "Choking".

See FHIA 17 Choking Pix

Skids · 05-13-2011, 04:41 AM

Slightly off topic question. What does the flower look like when it first starts to appear? Does it just look like a normal leaf that's about to unfold?

plundccre · 05-16-2011, 05:03 PM

Mine is definitely "choking". I took a closer look over the weekend and noticed that most of the lower pars of the flower were starting to rot. I pull them off and can see several layers of bananas still inside the trunk. I cut some of the leaves away to expose a portion of them but there seems to be at least two more layers of bananas inside. To expose them all, I would have to cull most, if not all of the leaves off this particular trunk. Besides looking ugly, am I going to have problems in the bananas developing on this trunk were I to cut the rest of the leaves off? There is another large trunk with "normal" bananas on it as well as 3 smaller drunks on the plant.

sunfish · 05-16-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skids

Slightly off topic question. What does the flower look like when it first starts to appear? Does it just look like a normal leaf that's about to unfold?

Here is a flower bud

05-11-2011, 02:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
plundccre plundccre's Photo Gallery Location: Sherman Oaks, CA, USA Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Peter Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 103 BananaBucks : 58,813 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 81 Times Was Thanked 111 Times in 47 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Banana flowering question While I have over 20 varieties of bananas now in my yard, most are immature and have yet to flower, so i am a novice when it comes to the fruit production. The current exception is my 2 year old Raja Puri which now has what seems to be two distinct types of flowers on it. One is the traditional hanging "hook" type flower that I am accustomed to while the other flower is upright and barely protruding from out from the leaves around it, looking more like a dull, red ginger flower. My question is does the plant only produce one type of flower on it? Is the upright one deformed or is it something other than the flower that produces the fruit? The upright flower appeared a week or so earlier but is now much smaller than the "hook" flower. Thanks for your help.

05-11-2011, 03:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
Gabe15 Moderator Gabe15's Photo Gallery Location: Oahu, Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 12 Name: Gabe Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 3,892 BananaBucks : 13,349,427 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1 Times Was Thanked 8,241 Times in 2,200 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 8 Times	Re: Banana flowering question Show us some photos, then we can help better. __________________ Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

05-11-2011, 03:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
plundccre plundccre's Photo Gallery Location: Sherman Oaks, CA, USA Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Peter Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 103 BananaBucks : 58,813 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 81 Times Was Thanked 111 Times in 47 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Re: Banana flowering question The flowers are on different trunks. I haven't uploaded photos on this site yet so I hope I am doing it correctly. I uploaded them to the banana flowering gallery.

05-11-2011, 04:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,009,527 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,592 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Banana flowering question That's the flower.Just didn't emerge all the way. I think the cold weather is the cause.

05-11-2011, 04:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
plundccre plundccre's Photo Gallery Location: Sherman Oaks, CA, USA Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Peter Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 103 BananaBucks : 58,813 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 81 Times Was Thanked 111 Times in 47 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Re: Banana flowering question If the one flower did not emerge all the way, is there anything that I could or should do to help it along for fruit production? Should I cut some of the surrounding leaves back?

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05-11-2011, 04:35 PM	#8 (permalink)
sunfish Banned sunfish's Photo Gallery Location: San Diego Find me on the map! Zone: 9-11 Name: Tony Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 18,429 BananaBucks : 1,009,527 Feedback: 8 / 100% Said "Thanks" 3,210 Times Was Thanked 20,592 Times in 7,760 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 2,716 Times	Re: Banana flowering question Mine eventually pushed out some. Good Timing

05-12-2011, 10:35 PM	#9 (permalink)
pitangadiego Senior Member Location: San Diego, CA Find me on the map! Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,489 BananaBucks : 133,329 Feedback: 9 / 100% Said "Thanks" 2 Times Was Thanked 2,730 Times in 930 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Banana flowering question Welcome to "Choking". See FHIA 17 Choking Pix __________________ Encanto Farms Nursery http://encantofarms.com We Be Bananas http://webebananas.com

05-13-2011, 04:41 AM	#10 (permalink)
Skids Location: Melbourne, Australia Find me on the map! Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 34 BananaBucks : 10,516 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 8 Times Was Thanked 44 Times in 18 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 30 Times	Re: Banana flowering question Slightly off topic question. What does the flower look like when it first starts to appear? Does it just look like a normal leaf that's about to unfold?

05-16-2011, 05:03 PM	#11 (permalink)
plundccre plundccre's Photo Gallery Location: Sherman Oaks, CA, USA Find me on the map! Zone: 10 Name: Peter Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 103 BananaBucks : 58,813 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 81 Times Was Thanked 111 Times in 47 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 6 Times	Re: Banana flowering question Mine is definitely "choking". I took a closer look over the weekend and noticed that most of the lower pars of the flower were starting to rot. I pull them off and can see several layers of bananas still inside the trunk. I cut some of the leaves away to expose a portion of them but there seems to be at least two more layers of bananas inside. To expose them all, I would have to cull most, if not all of the leaves off this particular trunk. Besides looking ugly, am I going to have problems in the bananas developing on this trunk were I to cut the rest of the leaves off? There is another large trunk with "normal" bananas on it as well as 3 smaller drunks on the plant.

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