caliboy1994

That's right in time for the start of my sophomore year of college!

If I were to try growing Raja Puri in Santa Clara in zone 9b (with consistently cooler and wetter winters and more mild summers; and with frosts occurring every year, as well as a shorter growing season), how do you think it would do? Varieties like Orinoco and Nawmah have been successfully grown and fruited here.

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JodoGarden

The interesting thing is, bananas are described to bloom "when they feel like it". I realize that those of us out of the truly tropical zone are growing them out of their range... you would think that the bloom would have been suppressed by environmental factors, especially shorter days. Each variety probably has it's own responses and levels of tolerances. Maybe Raja Puri can handle the winter bloom time.

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caliboy1994

By bananas being described to bloom "whenever they feel like it," it basically means that a mature pseudostem will throw a bud if conditions are right. What really determines flowering time is how mature the pseudostem is. I can have a plant bloom in the middle of summer, or I could have it bloom in the middle of January during a warm spell as long as the bud is on its way. The warm weather just facilitates growth and causes the bud to come out. During cold weather, a plant may be just about to bloom, but since it's dormant and its growth is slowed to a crawl, it will wait until things warm up before actually blooming.

Bananas are indeed tropical plants by nature and don't synchronize their blooming with seasons like many other plants do (including many species of tropical plants), but they are very tough plants, which allows them to be grown in subtropical and warm temperate climates because they always can regrow after the winter (as long as it's mild enough). Moreover, a lot of varieties are cold resistant because they contain genes from Musa balbisiana, which is a species of banana that is native to both subtropical and tropical areas and is naturally cold hardy. The tender varieties tend to only contain genes from Musa acuminata, which is native exclusively to the tropics and has not evolved to deal with winter cold like Musa balbisiana has. Plantains are an exception. They tend to be tender plants and contain both A and B genes. Generally, the more B genes a plant has, the more cold hardy it is. Rajapuri is AAB and it has a good deal of cold hardiness. It survived the Southern California winter relatively unscathed and resumed growth in the spring like nothing had even happened. Some varieties, such as Namwah and Orinoco, which are ABB varieties, are more cold hardy than this. Many varieties without any B genes can survive the winters here, but they don't like it and will often lose their vigor.

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caliboy1994

Update on Raja Puri!

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trebor

There it goes again my Manzano If I don't get to much cool weather Ill have another bunch total of 5 off this mat this year. This is on a very tall thick plant this time Ill be interested to see the size of this bunch because I had a small stem produce 3 bunches ago .. With good results.

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If ya can't eat it, it ain't growing in my back yard !

caliboy1994

The flower is still opening! Night shots of Raja Puri:

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~ Masanobu Fukuoka

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amantedelenguaje

Congratulations Caliboy! I hope the weather cooperates so that you get many hands of delicious fruit.

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caliboy1994

Thanks. I don't think weather will be an issue, as frosts are extremely rare here. The winter will definitely delay the ripening though, and might affect the texture of the fruit. The weather has been decent as of late though, with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the mid 40s. The bloom is still opening.

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"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
~ Masanobu Fukuoka

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momoese

Another FHIA 18

venturabananas

Here's the newest addition, "Misi Luki Awak" from Pitangadiego:
[IMG][/IMG]

And some updates.

A couple of massive inflorescences on the Dwarf Namwah mat. As of today, they're up to 12-14 hands each, maybe with more to come?
[IMG][/IMG]

Rose bunch and male bud:
[IMG][/IMG]

Monthan:
[IMG][/IMG]

Pisang Klotek:
[IMG][/IMG]

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amantedelenguaje

Awesome looking banana stand, Venturabananas!

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robguz24

My first Monkey Fingers. After looking at some other photos I'm thinking it really is going to be that. Probably the fastest to flower of anything I've grown. Small TC to 8' tall and flowering in 12 months.









A couple days later

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Dangermouse01

Another Raja Puri bloom starting.

Current Raja Puri bunch that flowered a month or so back.

Another Manzano bloom starting.

Current stunted Manzano bunch from the tree that broke in half earlier in the year, but still sent up a flower.

Current Tall Dwarf Namwa bunch.

Current Gran Nain bunch.

Current Ice Cream (Not) bunch.


DM

Nicolas Naranja

Goldfinger



Njalipoovan

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robguz24

My first Monkey Fingers a few weeks after the flower emerged. A lot has happened since. Very odd differences. The first few hands came out long and skinny, then it switched to making shorter and thicker fruit.






UPDATE: Probably not Monkey Fingers and looks to be 1000 Fingers. Yet another banana that isn't what I bought.

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CathyK

Howdy, I have a small bunch of bananas, and am curious??
Check out my bananas
Bananas Photos by CathyKantowski | Photobucket

Wondering if anyone can tell me, why they stopped producing small bananas after 3 layers of flowers, Why didnt others develop?

Also can anyone tell what 2 kind I have?

venturabananas

Looks like Zebrina (the colorful one) and Orinoco.

There's two basic kinds of factors that control the number of bananas produced: genetic makeup and environmental conditions. Your fruiting one looks like Orinoco, which is a variety that never makes lots bananas compared to some other varieties. But it will make more than yours did if grown in optimal conditions, e.g., lots of warmth, light, water, and nutrients.

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CathyK

Thx for helping identifing,
I will not waste time waiting on fruit from the Zebrina for sure.
I will look into the Orinoco type, and do some reading upon.
One last ?,
Any idea, how long it takes fruit to mature?
Could it be a dwarf Orinoco, bc the fruit do not appear to be getting larger?
Since, it stopped producing we cut off the flower, in hopes fruit would develop larger.
Thx again for the info. Have a great day.

venturabananas

How long it takes the fruit to develop depends on the climate. For this variety, as little as 3-4 months in good, warm, tropical-like conditions, or as long as a year in my cool climate!

The "dwarf" part of Dwarf Orinoco refers to the height of plant not the size of the fruit. From your photos, yours appears to be too tall to be Dwarf Orinoco. My Orinoco fruits looked like they would never fill in, but towards the end of the maturing process they got a lot bigger. Just wait and see what happens. Good luck.

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momoese

FHIA 18 bunch is huge! Bigger than the p-stem.