I Have A Bloom In April! - Page 2

jewelbaby1224 · 04-20-2008, 02:40 PM

Help! What is the best way to cover/protect this banana cluster to maturity??? See gallery.

I'm at day 20 with my banana fruiting. Last week the temp was 70 deg with strong winds. Friday had rain and then hail. Lost the blooms for one hand.

I've read back about Seaside Banana Farm, La Conchita, CA how he used "blue bags" to protect the fruit. I would assume that they have to be rather stiff to protect from wind, hail.

I'm open to all ideas..............

john_ny · 04-21-2008, 12:03 PM

Karen- This is from a posting of mine last month:

__________________

Quote:

I once saw, at a commercial banana growing operation, all of the fruiting stems were enclosed in blue translucent plastic bags. When I asked some of th locals what that was for, I was told that it was to prevent scarring of the fruit from the edges of the leaves, whipping around in the wind. If this is the case, does anyone know why the bags were always blue?
__________________

I got no reply at that time, but maybe someone seeing this knows the answer.

Bananaman88 · 04-21-2008, 12:07 PM

Karen,

We are out of danger of any damaging cold easily by now in our area. The main thing you will need to worry about is high winds. I'd definitely stake the fruiting pstem. I usually just drive in a fence post to support the pstem; however, I had one break over last year just above where the tie was so this isn't always good enough. I think Jarred developed a way of using a long piece of PVC, put a "t" fitting on one end and then two "90's" to make a horseshoe shape to support the actual fruit stalk. There are some photos of it on the website here somewhere. Maybe someone else can direct you to the post showing them. They look very effective and should be relatively cheap to build.

jewelbaby1224 · 04-21-2008, 03:03 PM

Yes thanks, I made a support first thing when the bloom started. I was sent an excellent diagram last year and this year I'm ready.

I've seen the "blue bags" on the banana clusters at (the now closed)Seaside Banana Farm in La Conchita, CA when I lived there. They were used to protect the fruit. So I know they exist. I'm thinking maybe a white trash bag with the bottom open - don't know if that will be strong enough.

Between the 70 deg temps, rain, hail and wind last week i lost the blossoms from one hand, the rest of it seems to be OK, so I want to protect them from further wind. We do get a nice breeze here on the lake, but it's been very windy lately and we know how that tears up banana leaves.

jewelbaby1224 · 04-23-2008, 08:57 PM

OL I've made a bag of sorts to cover the banana fruit. I lost 14 blossoms in the wind and hail. So I used thin packing foam sheets (hot glued) to form an open bottomed bag for protection. A blue bag...........

damaclese · 04-24-2008, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john_ny

Karen- This is from a posting of mine last month:

__________________

I got no reply at that time, but maybe someone seeing this knows the answer.

Iv been told and alsow read that the bages speed up riping by holding in the ethalean gases that fruit produce

Dean W. · 04-24-2008, 09:17 AM

jewelbaby,

Congrats, on the fruiting of your banana. Nice to know someone in Texas is having luck.

Dean

jewelbaby1224 · 04-24-2008, 11:09 AM

This year I'm growin my nanners to eat! My goal is learning to grow as many varieties of nanner fruit possible!!!

I'd love to know where you found the info on the bags.

As for growing nanners in Texas, from the forum I've learned about limiting the number of stems per area, composting with Black Cow steer manure (they are heavy feeders), and reg water.

A mat came with our house, I found that growing banana trees and "growing bananas are 2 different things!"

damaclese · 04-25-2008, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jewelbaby1224

This year I'm growin my nanners to eat! My goal is learning to grow as many varieties of nanner fruit possible!!!

I'd love to know where you found the info on the bags.

As for growing nanners in Texas, from the forum I've learned about limiting the number of stems per area, composting with Black Cow steer manure (they are heavy feeders), and reg water.

A mat came with our house, I found that growing banana trees and "growing bananas are 2 different things!"

Wikapedia they have a nice but short lital esay on banana growing showed the blue bags in a pic

04-20-2008, 02:40 PM	#21 (permalink)
jewelbaby1224 Junior Grower jewelbaby1224's Photo Gallery Location: Conroe, Texas zone 9a Find me on the map! Zone: 9a Name: Karen Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 77 BananaBucks : 45,851 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 26 Times Was Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! Help! What is the best way to cover/protect this banana cluster to maturity??? See gallery. I'm at day 20 with my banana fruiting. Last week the temp was 70 deg with strong winds. Friday had rain and then hail. Lost the blooms for one hand. I've read back about Seaside Banana Farm, La Conchita, CA how he used "blue bags" to protect the fruit. I would assume that they have to be rather stiff to protect from wind, hail. I'm open to all ideas.............. __________________ WHEREVER YOU GO, BRING YOUR OWN SUNSHINE....

04-21-2008, 12:07 PM	#23 (permalink)
Bananaman88 Bananaculturist Bananaman88's Photo Gallery Location: Houston, TX area Find me on the map! Zone: 9 Name: Brent Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 3,019 BananaBucks : 222,374 Feedback: 22 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1,339 Times Was Thanked 2,263 Times in 1,178 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 191 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! Karen, We are out of danger of any damaging cold easily by now in our area. The main thing you will need to worry about is high winds. I'd definitely stake the fruiting pstem. I usually just drive in a fence post to support the pstem; however, I had one break over last year just above where the tie was so this isn't always good enough. I think Jarred developed a way of using a long piece of PVC, put a "t" fitting on one end and then two "90's" to make a horseshoe shape to support the actual fruit stalk. There are some photos of it on the website here somewhere. Maybe someone else can direct you to the post showing them. They look very effective and should be relatively cheap to build.

04-21-2008, 03:03 PM	#24 (permalink)
jewelbaby1224 Junior Grower jewelbaby1224's Photo Gallery Location: Conroe, Texas zone 9a Find me on the map! Zone: 9a Name: Karen Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 77 BananaBucks : 45,851 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 26 Times Was Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! Yes thanks, I made a support first thing when the bloom started. I was sent an excellent diagram last year and this year I'm ready. I've seen the "blue bags" on the banana clusters at (the now closed)Seaside Banana Farm in La Conchita, CA when I lived there. They were used to protect the fruit. So I know they exist. I'm thinking maybe a white trash bag with the bottom open - don't know if that will be strong enough. Between the 70 deg temps, rain, hail and wind last week i lost the blossoms from one hand, the rest of it seems to be OK, so I want to protect them from further wind. We do get a nice breeze here on the lake, but it's been very windy lately and we know how that tears up banana leaves. __________________ WHEREVER YOU GO, BRING YOUR OWN SUNSHINE....

04-23-2008, 08:57 PM	#25 (permalink)
jewelbaby1224 Junior Grower jewelbaby1224's Photo Gallery Location: Conroe, Texas zone 9a Find me on the map! Zone: 9a Name: Karen Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 77 BananaBucks : 45,851 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 26 Times Was Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! OL I've made a bag of sorts to cover the banana fruit. I lost 14 blossoms in the wind and hail. So I used thin packing foam sheets (hot glued) to form an open bottomed bag for protection. A blue bag........... __________________ WHEREVER YOU GO, BRING YOUR OWN SUNSHINE....

04-24-2008, 09:17 AM	#27 (permalink)
Dean W. Dean W.'s Photo Gallery Location: Cedar Park, TX Zone: 8b Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 4,279 BananaBucks : 240,882 Feedback: 13 / 100% Said "Thanks" 6,325 Times Was Thanked 2,130 Times in 972 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 300 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! jewelbaby, Congrats, on the fruiting of your banana. Nice to know someone in Texas is having luck. Dean __________________

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04-24-2008, 11:09 AM	#28 (permalink)
jewelbaby1224 Junior Grower jewelbaby1224's Photo Gallery Location: Conroe, Texas zone 9a Find me on the map! Zone: 9a Name: Karen Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 77 BananaBucks : 45,851 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 26 Times Was Thanked 13 Times in 12 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 11 Times	Re: I Have A Bloom In April! This year I'm growin my nanners to eat! My goal is learning to grow as many varieties of nanner fruit possible!!! I'd love to know where you found the info on the bags. As for growing nanners in Texas, from the forum I've learned about limiting the number of stems per area, composting with Black Cow steer manure (they are heavy feeders), and reg water. A mat came with our house, I found that growing banana trees and "growing bananas are 2 different things!" __________________ WHEREVER YOU GO, BRING YOUR OWN SUNSHINE....

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