Eric

Hi . Am trying to help a young member out. Does anyone have any ideas as to what edible bananas might survive, even flower, in Buffalo New York? Would very much appreciate any suggestions or experiences ya might wanna share .

austinl01

The hardiest edible bananas are Orinocos. However, they must be dug and stored in a cool place for the winter.

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

CValentine

Wow Buffalo, NY!!

5a to 6a USDA Hardiness Zone.

Edible Eh? Hmm....

I don't know Eric...

Is he willing to bring them/grow them indoors or greenhouse them? ~Cheryl

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When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix

Eric

Not sure, yet. Will have to find out. Will add the answer to this post as soon as I find out. Thanx .

Bob

Eric your question hits to the heart of: How far do you want to go to get results in a cold climate? Are there restrictions? Do you want to grow a mini banana to maturity in a pot? Maybe you're crazy enough to want to try to get some fruit/ Let's say you start with a smallish, fast flowering early to bear variety(I'll pick Dwarf Nam Wah for example) and grow it the first year starting in ..................late September.... indoors under optimal conditions and plant it out in ground in early May. It then grows actively for 3 months (June , July .August) being outdoors producing best root growth for 5 months ( May through September). At the end of September in Buffalo (or earlier depending on the year) it must be brought indoors either to bare root in a dormant state or grown in a pot in a condusive environment. Maybe it's 5 foot tall (p- stem height) or better put 2/3 grown at this point during it's first season. Either way it is put under stress and is set back. This repeats itself every year for the life of the plant. Maybe , I'd guess probably the one grown in a pot would suffer the least shock although storing bare root in a basement for example would be most practical to the majority of gardeners.
In an ideal environment with consistent growth a banana plant would probably be at least 18 months and probably more before it bore edible fruit. The same plant in Buffalo could potentially take 3-4 years if all things were equal and transplant shock is kept to an abosute minimum.
All this of course assumes optimal conditions for the plants (fertilization, pot size or in ground soil conditions, average temps) during active growth.

Bottom line, in Buffalo to get fruit from a banana plant you'd have to pick the best variety for your goal and provide consistent optimal conditions for a seemingly excessive amount of time ......My picks based on nothing but gut feeling from those varieties grown here..... (not having had fruit yet but hopeful). Veinte cohol, Ca. Gold , Dwarf Nam Wah, Raja Puri, S.D. Cavendish.
Go buffalo you can do it!

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Eric

Thanx Bob ! Fast-flowering Early-to-Bear? That's just what I'm after. And Thanx for the list of most-likely candidates! Will relay this info with full-credits to you. Will Definitely also study all this info for my own uses, too !

bencelest

Fast flowering early to bear is senorita but everybody wants one. I've waiting for mine for 8 months now.

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Banana Nut

Eric

Thanx for the Senorita info, Benny ! I've got lots of patience.... well, for some things anyway.... and that sounds Great!! Will definitely check into it!!