GreenFin

I emailed Agri-Starts to see if they'd do a special run of Gros Michel for us, and it turned out that they had coincidentally just done a small run and will have an extremely small quantity available (3-5 trays, i.e. 216-360 plants) later this month.

Agri-Starts claims that they received the plant material directly from the USDA. The USDA provides pics of their material (pasted by harveyc into page 10 of the other thread where we've been discussing this) and which have been confirmed by Gabe (in that same thread) to indeed be Gros Michel.

The purpose of this thread is to tally the demand, so if you're interested, post a reply saying how many you'd want. We can then have one of our commercial members take advantage of that known demand by buying the trays and reselling/distributing them to us (for enough of a markup to make it worth their time).

So I'll start: I'd like 2

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

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briancoconut

I would like 2-4 plants depending on the price????

fmu65

I would also be interested dependant on price.

Kostas

I would also like 5-10 plants,depending on the price

Is it the short growing variety of ''Gros Michel'' or the Tall one? I am only interested in the tall one.

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emegar

Very interested.

Nicolas Naranja

If you are getting them from agristarts expect about $2/plant from agristarts The plants are really sensitive and would likely need to be hardened off before any long shipment occurred. You are looking at 2-3 months to get them acclimated. If I were selling them at cost it would be in the $4-$5 range in a 6" pot.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

harveyc

Edit: I changed my mind and decided I shouldn't waste my garden space on something that will not do well here. Besides my cold winters, my summer evenings are just too cool for a variety that is one of the more heat-demanding varieties.

I'll gladly buy some fruit to sample from someone else, though.

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jasonlotp

ME! I'd like 2-4 plants.
Does anyone know how hardy Gros Michel is supposed to be? Seems like it only existed before us northern banana growers existed.

nph

I am interested as well in a few plants, 3-4.

scottu

I would like at least 2, thank you very much!

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Viva La Banana

alemily

Depending on how much they are, maybe one or two. I'm sure I could find room for a potted banana...

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Fruting: Pisang Awak, Rajapuri, Dwarf Brazilian, Gros Michel, Dwarf Red, FHIA-1 'Goldfinger', Veinte Cohol, FHIA-3 'Sweetheart'
Ornamental/Species: M. bauensis, M. velutina, M. "Milky Way", M. "African Red"

GreenFin

My understanding is that it is one of the least cold hardy.

Someone (I think it was Richard) posted a list of bananas ranked by cold hardiness. GM was near the bottom and only rated to zone 11. Here's a copy of the list:

Texas Star 7.0
Amistad 7.5
Carolina King 7.5
Golden Rhinohorn 7.5
1000 Fingers 8.0
Dwarf Orinoco 8.0
Orinoco 8.0
California Gold 8.5
Cardaba 8.5
Double 8.5
Dwarf Brazilian 8.5
Dwarf Puerto Rican 8.5
Ebun Musak 8.5
French Horn 8.5
Giant Plantain 8.5
Goldfinger 8.5
Gran Nain 8.5
High Color Mini 8.5
Ice Cream 8.5
Kalela 8.5
Lady Finger 8.5
Mahoi 8.5
Mauritius 8.5
Mona Lisa 8.5
Monkey Fingers 8.5
Mysore 8.5
Pisang Ceylon 8.5
Pitogo 8.5
Rajapuri 8.5
Saba 8.5
1780 hybrid 9.0
African Rhino Horn 9.0
Argentino 9.0
Belle 9.0
Brazilian 9.0
Dwarf Cavendish 9.0
Dwarf Namwa 9.0
Dwarf Thai 9.0
FHIA-18 9.0
FHIA-20 9.0
FHIA-21 Plantain 9.0
FHIA-23 9.0
Green Red 9.0
Hua Moa 9.0
Iholena 9.0
Kandrian 9.0
Misi Luki of Samoa 9.0
Pace 9.0
Popoulu kaia 9.0
Red Iholene 9.0
Red Jewel 9.0
Sweetheart 9.0
Tuu Gia 9.0
White Iholena 9.0
Williams Hybrid 9.0
Zan Moreno 9.0
Ae Ae 9.5
Dwarf French 9.5
Ele Ele 9.5
Enano Nautia 9.5
FHIA-17 9.5
Golden Beauty 9.5
Manzano 9.5
Namwa 9.5
Pisang Buai 9.5
Praying Hands 9.5
Sumatrana X Gran Nain 9.5
Super Plantain 9.5
Tall Red 9.5
Valery 9.5
Kaulau 10.0
Kofi 10.0
Pisang Klutuk 10.0
Cavendish (banana) 10.5
Cocos 11.0
Dwarf Gros Michel 11.0
Dwarf Red 11.0
Gros Michel 11.0
Jamaican Red 11.0
Kappa Pazham 11.0
Pisang Tandok 11.0
Rose 11.0
Karat 12.0
Kru 12.0
Latundan 12.0
Nino 12.0
Utafun 12.0

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com

sunfish

GreenFin

Quoting for emphasis:

It would really benefit from greenhouse conditions, but it's fairly tall (listed at 12'-14' in the webebananas directory) and could be tough to accommodate in one.

Fruiting a GM will be quite a challenge for most of us.

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com

nph

Given this (tenderness) I am not so interested anymore...

Richard

Sarasota FL is in USDA Hardiness Zone 9b. I imagine several of the varieties I grow here in coastal San Diego (10a) would be a problem there.

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scottu

Thank you much for your efforts. I will have to reconsider also.

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Viva La Banana

Magilla Gorilla

Four if they are not teeny tiny.
Thanks!

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Andrew

GreenFin

It's the regular Gros Michel, not the Dwarf.

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com

Chance1945

Since we haven't had a volunteer yet, I'll step up to the plate here. If we get enough interest I'll order the GM's from AG (AgriStarts) and distribute them to everyone who orders. Just as long as I can get a commitment because I don't want to get stuck with a whole tray of GM'.

I understand that AG will have them ready late this month. I have an order coming in late Feb. and another order coming in early April so if we want to piggy-back the GM's on one of my orders we need to decide which one. Early April would probably be a good time for shipments to colder areas. If you decide on the April shipment we would need to see is AG will hold them until then.

I can't imagine having to hold them for months to harden off. My intention is to ship them immediately when I receive them.

My experience with AG is that the plants would be 4-5" tall. So those who voiced that you didn't want teeny weeny plants need to understand that these are tissue cultured and will be small plants compared to something that has has a year or two to grow.

I don't know the price yet because AG doesn't even have them listed yet. I would expect them to be $2.00 max. I also don't know the price of postage on plants that small. I'd have to ask at the post office and get some idea.

I have "Rose" growing here (I'm in South Alabama, probably zone 8). It was listed as zone 11 on the list in this thread. So you decide. I would imagine that if we had a 100 year freeze that they would bite the dust, but on average it does fine for me.

You decide and let me know. I'll help out but I just want you to make sure you know what you want.

Terry