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Mudturkle · 10-12-2017, 12:39 PM

I live in zone 8B (Central Texas). Right now at home I have a Dw. Orinoco in which the first hand showed on 7-27-17. They are looking nice and plump. What I read is that they are 110 days from flower to harvest, which would be 11-14-17 and shouldn't be a problem. (I also have a tall Orinoco that flowered about the same time in zone 9B, which also shouldn't be a problem.)

The problem is that I have a Raja Puri that the first hand showed on 9-1-17 and a Dw. Brazilian that showed the first hand on 9-27-17. I am planning on building a "tunnel" out of PVC pipe which I'll cover with building plastic and put an electric heater in there to keep it from freezing (but not *warm*).

I assume that the cooler temps of winter will slow down/stop banana growth. So under the conditions given, will the bananas *eventually* mature so that I can harvest them, even if they will be later than the expected 12-23-17 and 1-18-18 dates which I would have expected without the cooler temps?

Or would it be necessary to prune off some of the hands in order to get them to fill out while under the PVC/plastic tunnel?

10-12-2017, 12:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
Mudturkle Location: Central Texas Find me on the map! Zone: 8b, and also 9b Name: Mudturkle Join Date: Jul 2015 Posts: 183 BananaBucks : 30,062 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 328 Times Was Thanked 320 Times in 120 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 5 Times	Winter ripening? I live in zone 8B (Central Texas). Right now at home I have a Dw. Orinoco in which the first hand showed on 7-27-17. They are looking nice and plump. What I read is that they are 110 days from flower to harvest, which would be 11-14-17 and shouldn't be a problem. (I also have a tall Orinoco that flowered about the same time in zone 9B, which also shouldn't be a problem.) The problem is that I have a Raja Puri that the first hand showed on 9-1-17 and a Dw. Brazilian that showed the first hand on 9-27-17. I am planning on building a "tunnel" out of PVC pipe which I'll cover with building plastic and put an electric heater in there to keep it from freezing (but not warm). I assume that the cooler temps of winter will slow down/stop banana growth. So under the conditions given, will the bananas eventually mature so that I can harvest them, even if they will be later than the expected 12-23-17 and 1-18-18 dates which I would have expected without the cooler temps? Or would it be necessary to prune off some of the hands in order to get them to fill out while under the PVC/plastic tunnel? __________________ Central Texas Zone 8B and Gulf Coast zone 9B: Raja Puri, Dw. Brazilian, Dw. Orinoco, Dw. NamWah, Dw. Cavendish, Dw. Green?, Dw. Red? Iholena Tigua, Veinte Cohol, Misi Luki, Pisang Raja.