PaulOdin

I got a mixed lot of about 72 bananas from Agri-Start last March 6th, a bit before I joined this forum. Probably because I picked them up, I wasn't charged a packing or split tray fee, though I was reminded a few times that they are only allowed to sell wholesale. The total haul was 2 1000 Fingers, since that was a leftover sitting around, and a dz. or more each of Dwarf Brazilian, Pitogo, Red Iholeni, Kru and Double. Basically, I was asking for groups of 2 dz., and taking anything they had in smaller quantities "as a favor to them". All together it was a very interesting afternoon and a remarkable place to visit.
The bananas were in 1" round plugs, and a couple inches tall. After passing some to a friend, I kept the rest indoors under florescent aquarium lights for 6 weeks w/out losing any, but w/ little growth. Then they were in planters outdoors through June, where they grew to about 6", and I lost a few while on vacation for 2 weeks. At that stage they were pretty crowded, so I moved them to 3 bathtubs I'm using as outdoor planters, and the current size varies by cultivar, w/ an average stem height around 24". It is probably time to move out the 3' plants, but I haven't decided how to handle them all during the winter. Maybe I should move the 10 biggest into 3 gal. pots, and see how the rest do w/ more space.
The point of this is that these little pluggers are healthy, but take forever to grow. After 7 months some have less than a foot of stem, and I doubt if the big ones have anything that could be called a corm. Reputable growers like A&B Nurseries who do this all the time charge a 1000% mark up from what they pay Agri-Starts, but they invest 6 months in the plants and the nanner is only a small part of their expense.
My feeling is that if you buy a tray you should do it as soon as possible. It is unlikely that babanas bought now would be ready to go into the ground before next April.

Paul