Nancy

My Raja Puri (in its second season) recently flowered. I think I'm starting to see male flowers now after only three hands. Is this normal? Is there something I could/should be doing to increase the amount of fruit? It's only in partial sun, which certainly might be relevant, but otherwise the plant seems pretty happy.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

hydrojeff

Nancy, did you give plenty of fert through the growing season, and plenty water, you also said not in full sun, they all play a big role in quantity of fruit, nothing can be done once the male flowers start to fall.....however next time can be different....
jeff

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Nancy

It definitely gets plenty of water, and I think it gets a reasonable amount of fertilizer (dedicated banana fertilizer, of course). I can't do anything about the sun: there are only so many sunny spots in our yard (and the plant is better protected from frost by being close to the house, which is why it survived the winter without losing any leaves). Oh, well, it's not as though I was expecting to break into the agriculture business.

jpfloors

I'd say it would absolutely be the fact that it's not getting enough sun. Bananas MOSTLY need at minimum of 70% of full sun to adequitely produce. At this point it's pretty much too late... but now you'll know for the babies!!!

hydroid

Had the same problem with my Williams, only a couple of hands and then male bananas. But hey, I was'nt even expecting to get anything close to that, I would have been excited just to see a flower by fall, everything so far has been "the icing on the cake" for me this year since it's only my second year at this stuff.
It's great to see all the posts of success, I especially like the pics.
hydroid

Nancy

This is exactly how I felt during my second season of banana growing when my Orinoco surprised me with a flower. Unfortunately, all it took was that little taste of success for me to start feeling more ambitious. Most of the time, I'm satisfied just to see the trees doing well... but eating my own fruit is pretty nifty!

jpfloors

I know what you mean. We have for 2 years now made pasteles (a Puerto Rican pastry kind of dish usually made with plantains). We used our Dwarf Cavendish bananas before they ripened all the way!

MediaHound

Was this plant in a pot at some point of its life?
Was it from Tissue Culture or was it cut directly from another plant?
What is the spoil like and did you amend with compost when you planted it?
These are some other things to consider in addition to the above.
The second bloom, the one from the next pseudostem to shoot up, will most probably be larger than this one.
Congrats on your bloom and now that you know its totally possible, you can give a little more attention as you prepare for the next bloom.
Raja Puri take a little longer to plump up and be ready to cut down than some other types of banana in my experience. They dont have what we would consider a thin skin either. So be patient with them!
Cheers

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Nancy

I bought my Raja Puri from a good nursery when it was about two feet tall and living in a small pot. I assume it was separated from its mother, likely the previous fall (although it didn't occur to me to ask). The soil is pretty good in this portion of my yard; lots of leaves have composted in naturally, and I felt my compost was more needed in other locations (although I do routinely toss my banana peels around the base of the tree).

By the way, I bought my Ice Cream banana at the same time from the same place in the same size pot, and the plants are separated by only about six feet. The Ice Cream banana grew very quickly and fruited last fall. Of course, its height also helps it get more sun than the Raja Puri.

Do new shoots come up essentially in random locations? The new Raja Puri has come up between its mother and the house (that is, in a very shady location).

MediaHound

Somewhat, they form a ring around the mother something like a star pattern but it can and will be more or less random. They may head for a better location, too, makes sense..

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Apologies in advance if I am slow to reply to your PM. I suggest posting in the forums for support if you need something urgent.

jpfloors

Hmmm, yeah, if I were a gambler, I'd put my money down on the lack of sun! Hehehe Goodluck with the fruit! Let us know how well it tastes!

Marc

Fruit count is determined months in advance of blooming. My guess is low temps in the panhandle determined this. This is common with the first blooms in a mat during the spring. Later in the growing season larger racemes are produced but frost tends to get them in northern latitudes before they ripen.

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east of Naples, FL zone 10a warm humid sub tropical

jpfloors

Another possible good reason Marc! Didn't think of that one as I'm in central FL and rarely get cold temps here.

Nancy

I had read before that spring blooms tend to produce relatively little fruit; I appreciate getting an explanation of why this is true. It's reassuring to think that the primary issue may be something I obviously can't control. (It really was an unusually cold spring in the panhandle! At least now we're finally getting some rain.)