sean

ok, so I have waited patiently now to cut the bunch off of my dwarf brazilian. I cut one hand off and let that ripen, it took about a week and a half or so for it to fully ripen.
my question is this...does this now mean I should cut the entire bunch off?
once I do that how long would I have before all the hands ripen?
or should I simply leave the bunch on the plant and cut individual hands as I am ready to eat them?

By the way, these are one of the best tasting bananas, sweet and creamy and absolutely delicious. And i'm not just saying that because it's my first banana to fruit on me since I started planting a year ago

pitangadiego

If you want a whole bunch of ripe bananas in a week and a half, cut the whole bunch. The better way is to cut one hand each week, or as often as you need more bananas. This spreads out the harvest. Eventually the rest will ripen pretty much all together.

__________________
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http://encantofarms.com
We Be Bananas
http://webebananas.com

halo

Hello, this is my first nanner post. I have a single Ice Cream banana that survived a lot of heavy frost here this past year and is growing wonderfully. I can see where I just might have to get another....and another....so Im now reading all about bananas that can be found. I have one question, which fits into this thread. When you are lucky enough to get an entire bunch of bananas to ripen, what is the best way to preserve them? I dont think that people can eat a whole bunch of bananas before they go bad (or can they??)

sean

I have taken the suggestion to cut just one hand at a time and it has been working great!
The ones I don't eat, I have frozen in my freezer for use in banana cake

Enjoy!

halo

So when you cut one hand, do you cut it when its still green? How long will a bunch last if you just cut one hand at a time? Do naners ripen faster once they are cut?

Sorry for all the questions, Im really enjoying watching my nanner grow. And thanks for your help.

Kathy

sean

mine are still green...the dwarf brazilians take a bout a week and a half to ripen. and i am cutting one hand at a time. it put out 7 hands and so far i have cut 2 off completely. i first cut off only about 3-4 fingers to make sure they would ripen off the tree.

GATrops

Kathy- I cut a bunch of mature CA Gold fruit the first of last week and as Pitangadiego predicted, I had 30 pounds of ripe bananas by the end of the week. It is a good thing I have lots of banana loving neighbors to share them with. In the future I will only cut a hand or two at a time.

Richard

halo

Thirty pounds of bananas?? Good grief. So how will I know when they are "mature" but not "ripe"?

Im really getting addicted to these bananas, I am practically watching mine grow.

Kathy

pitangadiego

Kathy,

You can tell by time. Most are mature 6 months after flowering. Some are a little faster, some can take 9-12 months (Saba was nearly 12). You have to experiment with your first bunch of each variety to see what its' particular characteristics are. I cut the first had at 6 months on any variety that I haven't had fruit from before. You have to start somewhere, and that seems to work pretty well.

The second way is size. Most varieties swell in diameter when they are getting ripe and are a little more rounded and less angular. Some are almost imperceptible, but FHIA-17 nearly doubled in diameter.

__________________
Encanto Farms Nursery
http://encantofarms.com
We Be Bananas
http://webebananas.com

halo

Excellent tips, thank you.