asacomm

As one of the hardiest edible bananas, both Pahari Kela and Hajaray have
been talked and referred to among banana fans and growers for some yaers
on this forum.

Quite strangely and funnily, however, I never have read the articles or
reports about a flowing or fruiting of both bananas.
Or did I miss or overlook such reports? Or are these bananas only just
a fantasy?

In case anybody knows about the fact of the flowring or fruiting of these
bananas, please show me the truth.

Your information is anticipated with much interests.

Richard

Here in the U.S., nearly all the information we have on Pahari Kela comes from Dr. Chiranjit Parmar -- a colleague of Julia Morton. He resides in northern India and distributes a CD on edible plants which you can view on his website: Fruitipedia. It is from Dr. Parmar that I learned of Carissa spinarum - a plant I now grow here in San Diego. Dr. Parmar does distribute plants too, but he does not have access to phytosanitary certification. Consequently any plants (and seeds in my experience) that he ships to the U.S. are rejected by Customs. In particular, I received my Carissa spinarum from the Tropical Agricultural Station in Puerto Rico. In the past decade, some members here in Europe -- particularly eastern Europe were able to obtain Pahari Kela from Dr. Parmar but it has been years since those members have posted on Bananas.org.

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sunfish

Richard

Maybe it is also good to mention what a "cold hardy banana" means in India. First, examine the latitude. Most of India is in the tropics. In the northern states for example Hamal Pradesh where Dr. Parmar is from, the topography is in the Himalayan foothills with towns and villages at elevations of 2,000 to 5,000 feet. In those places the record low temperatures are 40F to 45F. This is where the Hill Banana is from.

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asacomm

Your comments suggest that nobody outside India and other tropical or
subtropical areas succeeded so far in fruiting or even in flowing of these
bananas.

Is this what you mean?

Richard

I have no personal experience with the plant. I'm simply pointing out that a plant that is cold-hardy for zone 11 is not necessarily cold hardy for zone 9 -- as growers in the UK and Israel have found by experience. Also I am taking issue with the claim made by some that Hill Banana is one of the hardiest edible bananas. I'd be happy to hear of some success stories outside of the tropics -- for example from Jack Daw or Ante.

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asacomm

Yes, me too! But they have been growing it for many years, so they must
have had some result so far. But no news at all!

Richard

Don't just stand there, contact them.

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asacomm

Yes, you are right, and in fact I have already contacted Ante, because Jack
didn't show up for a long time since some time in 2012.

asacomm

Hi Richard and other banana fans,

At last the mystery of Pahari Kela seems to be cleared.

I heard from one of the european banana fans that she lost contact with Jack
since a long time, but she knew that Jack had a problem with his PK that
couldn't overwinter as expected.
So now I suppose that's why he(Jack)didn't renew his thread since that time.
That means Pahari Kela was not so hardy enough as we expected.
This could be the answer.

On the other hand, however, the mistery about Hajaray is left still unsolved.
Could this banana be the same case as Pahari Kela?

Any objections??

Pancrazio

I don't know about Hajaray. But, if memory serves me well, i have read a report of an italian grower who got his Dhussray to fruit in 2012 on the coast near Rome. Since his plants were 4-5 years old at the time of flowering, they were able to survive to the infamous cold spell of 2009. That grower reported an unbelievable -4C in his garden. I haven't been able to find official registration of such temperature, but the value reported is something realistic (even if pretty hard to see, not completly out-of-this-world, so i still consider it reliable). 2009 was a cold winder here.
I have seen pictures of the plant with the flowers and the ripe fruits.
I seem to recall that Dhussray is somewhat similiar/similiar parentage to Hajaray?

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