Quote:
Originally Posted by jjjankovsky
in my area of mexico, the farmers count the current number of leaves to determine if there will be a harvestable bunch...if over 12 leaves, very good...if under 8 (due to disease in the plantation), cut it down and burn the affected plant...
nobody here has time to count leaves during the year...
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That might be a very interesting show. Seeing those farmers count leaves on thousands of plants they have at the farm.
But another question: For which variety do you need at least 12 leaves to have a good, harvestable bunch? Is it some guideline: If it doesn't have at least 12 leaves, chop it down and burn? Does it always have to be some disease?
Also, what is the optimal number of leaves for extremely good quality of fruit? I guess the more the better, but at some point many of those leaves become redundant and take more energy than give back, don't they? I can't imagine a banana with say 20 green leaves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sbl
Is that the number of leaves on the plant at bloom or the number of leaves it has had at an age?
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I suspect that jjjankovsky meant it as green leaves, when the flower bud starts to appear. Once the flowering was initiated, no more leaves will come out and the bunch is most probably affected by how much those leaves can synthesize. Also the pups might help, but I guess they keep less plants/corm on the plantations to encourage fast growth and fruit production.