There will be bananas in zone 7 again this year

[bigdog]

My first bloom this year, a Tall Orinoco.



The funny thing is that it thinks it's a dwarf! It only has about 6 feet of pseudostem, and the pups are catching up to it.



I think that it was probably stressed this Spring, due to the cool May we had and whatever other reasons. I was shocked to see the flag leaf though! I definitely was not counting on fruit from this guy. If my other plants bloom that I am counting on, I should get 5 bunches this year!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.......... Bananas!

[JoeReal]

Congratulations!

[momoese]

That's awesome! Will they have time to ripen before winter hits?

[Southern-Grower]

imho,

yupper,

should have time to plump up and ripen inside.. don't you have till end of nov.?

[Frankallen]

Frank,
Congrats!!

My Tall Orinoco was around 10' before it bloomed this year, my first!!!

-Frank

[austinl01]

Frank, great job yet again! You never seem to disappoint. Hasn't it been like 5 years straight of you enjoying bananas? Maybe my orinocos will decide to fruit one of these days!

[bigdog]

Thanks, guys!

They will have way more than enough time to ripen. In fact, I'll probably pick them well before first frost. I need them to bloom sometime around the end of July/early August in order for them to plump up properly.

SG, It's more like the end of October around here for first frost. The frustrating thing is that there are usually a couple of weeks of nice, warm weather right after the frost ! If I could just protect them enough for a few days, I could keep them going for a couple more weeks. Then again, that is just more work.

Frank, I have another one, two banana plants down from that one, that is over 9 feet now and still doesn't want to bloom! I don't think it's far from it though.



Austin, more like 3 years. I started growing them 5 or 6 years ago, then a friend (and neighbor) gave me a mother load of Tall Orinocos that he didn't want to keep anymore.

The rest is history!

[GATrops]

Congratulations Frank!!

Here's hoping you see many more blooms soon.

Richard

[Basjoofriend]

Congratulations also from Germany to your first banana bloom!

Hope that your orinoco bananas will ripen enough before the first frosts.

Did you overwinter your orinocos outdoors with winterprotection? Or without winterprotection?

I also tried overwinter one orinoco like Musa basjoo with winterprotection outdoors, but it didn't survive unfortunately, the ground in Germany does freeze deeply for weeks in winters, this is the main problem! But one German lady in Cologne had success with overwintering one fruit banana from Greece with heated winterprotection (heating cables with thermostat switch). See more about that under http://www.tempelbluete.de , but the site is only in German language, but I think, some of you speak also German. She also harvested own bananas in her garden in Cologne!

But one friend, one resarcher and genetic engineer, will cross Dwarf Orinoco with Musa basjoo by DNA fusion. Perhaps this cross will be much hardier and also bear edible fruits.

With the best
Joachim

[bigdog]

Thanks Richard and Joachim.

Joachim, I overwinter my bananas under the house. Here is a link to how I do it. Enjoy!

Time to put the bananas to sleep for the Winter

Can't wait to hear about the results of that cross, if it is successful!

[austinl01]

Frank,

I really enjoyed reading the post of your winter digging and storing methods of bananas. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I saved the entire post on my computer!! It's a great reference for anyone who is growing bananas. My musella lasiocarpa has 7 baby pups now!!! It's going crazy! I'll let these pups grow all year and maybe separate them next year. I agree that this banana is one of my favorites. I'll get a pic of it soon. My orinocos are doing well, but the ice cream is still moving pretty slow. Ice cream takes some hot weather to get going really well.

[bigdog]

Austin, glad you enjoyed it! I just wanted to pass along what I have learned from others. Everyone seems to do it just a bit differently, so adapt it to your own needs.

Don't tell Joe Real that musella lasiocarpa is a great banana, LOL ! He doesn't appreciate them as much as we do. I'm still hoping for a couple of blooms this year. I planted them a bit later than I should have, but better late than never. Here's one of them:



My Ice Cream took a while to recover from being under the house. It didn't store that well. It's growing really well right now, and has at least 3 pups. I'm still not sure why I'm growing it. I need to switch to growing dwarf varieties only. Easier on the back!

[austinl01]

Great pic, Frank! I think anyone growing lasiocarpa in zone 7 enjoys it as being a great cold hardy banana that's smaller and easier to overwinter. Wow...look at all those pups! That musella has gone wild!!! The hospital nearby planted about 3 dozen musellas this spring. I've been meaning to get a pic of them. They always have a tropical theme for the summer. Last year it was bananas as well. Very cool. I'll be watching this fall when they dig them up. Maybe I'll be able to catch them and get a few for dirt cheap. If so, I'll be doing the banana dance:

I hear ya with the dwarf varieties. I overwintered a 8 ft. tall p-stem of an Orinoco but could barely drag it out from under the house (and I have a full door height crawl space!). Those things weigh a ton. I threw out an ice cream banana a month ago and it was gone the next morning. I guess one of my neighbors decided to pick it up or something. I'm keeping my eyes peeled (pun!) for that banana growing around my neighborhood just so I can figure out who snatched it! Good for them!

[JoeReal]

Originally Posted by bigdog

Don't tell Joe Real that musella lasiocarpa is a great banana, LOL ! He doesn't appreciate them as much as we do.

I respect people's appreciation for them, but I still hold firm that they don't belong in my yard at the moment. My friend's musella lasiocarpa has bloomed, and the blossom is indeed beautiful and almost forever lasting. At first, the blossom looked dirty and moldy spotty when it first opened up, but as time goes by, the yellow color became more intense and very clean, simply beautiful. But still, am not planting it, although am appreciating it now .

[mikevan]

Bigdog - Please take pics of your new nanner grove! The first one was stunning and I also enjoyed your winter storage tutorial - I'm interested in seeing how they turned out after the move and after winter and... well... with all that new ground you now have to tear up. I'm currently laying out mulch and compost on what I hope to be next season's grove as well as working on aquiring more nanners. I only have a few now - an DC and SDC, a mystery nanner and a couple sumatranas - but a little jungle like yours is what I'm aiming for!

Be well,
Mike

Originally Posted by bigdog

Austin, glad you enjoyed it! I just wanted to pass along what I have learned from others. Everyone seems to do it just a bit differently, so adapt it to your own needs.

[bigdog]

Hi Joe! I was hoping that would catch your eye, LOL! Just messing with you. What's one man's weed is another's prized plant! I know of a guy in Spring Hill, TN that has one still flowering after 14 months!! It started flowering last June, right up to frost. He then covered the stem with a bag-o-leaves, leaving the flower exposed. It sunk back into the stem, and reemerged in the Spring! As of now, it is still flowering with no end in sight. Truly an amazing plant. I like them because of their incredible durability and cold-hardiness. I still have 2 of them leaning against the back of the house, unpotted. They have rooted into the ground and are fully leafed out and growing...no water or fertlizer, and hardly any sun (very late afternoon). Any plant that basically takes care of itself like that is a plant that I need! Lord knows I've killed enough plants due to neglect.

Mike, I'll get a picture or two up in a while of the whole garden. I wasn't "allowed" to have my way with it this year like last year, as it is really not my yard anyway (I live with my girlfriend). As a result, it doesn't look quite like my plantation did last year. Ahh...but next Spring! I still need to have my tomatoes, okra, cucumbers (one of these days I will successfully produce a good-tasting dill pickle...maybe...I'll keep trying anyway!). I haven't had a ton of time to work out in the garden this year either because I am back in school after a 15 year hiatus.

Ok...enough excuses...I'll get pics up next week. Thanks!

[Westwood]

Ok i dont see the Bloom But i do see the funny leaf is that the give away ?
Tammy

[AnnaJW]

A late Congrats!!!

[AnnaJW]

Hi Tammy,

The "funny leaf" is the exciting part! That's when the growing gets really addicting!

[devildog805]

Congrats, still waiting for a bloom here.