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Kostas
04-28-2010, 02:43 AM
Hello all!

I am Konstantinos Giannopoulos and live in Melissia,Greece. I have a garden in Pyrgos(300km away but in a great climate!) where its warm and rainny for most of the year but still there are 2 months below 13C mean temprature and another below 14C mean and 3 dry summer months. The record low of the area is -3,6C but that can only happen a single night every 20years. The rest of the years it can only get to a little above 0C or -1C to -2C at most. I am a big palm,cycad and fern fan and my garden is mostly planted with that but i like all tropical plants,be it dicot trees,bananas,aroids,bamboos,heliconia,orchids,bromeliads and will hopefully me incorporating them all in this and my future main house garden(when i buy it........). My Pyrgos garden is still very new,only 1,5years old but i think its coming along well. Lots of work remaining but its all about time for the plants to grow now. Many new plantings are to be done,including a single Musa species in addition to my newly planted Ensete ventricosum. That last one is what got me into growing bananas. A friend of mine gave me 2 of these wonderfull plants that he grew from seed to make some space for more plants as these damaged a lot by the high winds he is frequently getting. A few days after getting them home,waiting to be transported to Pyrgos,i couldnt believe their growth rate! In just a week they became beautyfull and the extra sun they were getting under my care brought out amazing midrib and edge colors! So i decided i want to grow a big Musa too just for the joy of fast growth and the beautyfull tropical feeling they give when their leafs droop or when viewing them from below. Their seeded but sweet fruits may also be a bonus.
Anyway,after growing my first Musa from seed,i am sure i will not confine myself there...I have 2 good sized yards in Pyrgos where i may cultivate another or 2 Musa species for their bananas where i wont mind how they look in winter. In my Pyrgos garden i want the species i will grow to keep its leafs yearround except for the worst years and of course to be getting mature fruits most of the years,even if just for the seeds.

Other interests of mine are diving,tropical fish keeping(mainly of the Loricariidae family of Catfishes(Siluriformes)),growing palms and cycads from seed and surfing(windsurf although i would love to try true surfing too!)

I am sure i will enjoy being here a lot and i really like the cheerfull atmospere of this forum!

Aloha from Greece!

Dalmatiansoap
04-28-2010, 05:52 AM
Hello Kostas,
welcome from Croatia!
:nanadrink:
If I were You I wouldnt wait a moment before planting few quality cultivares there. Your climate is like Californias and just peek in few post of CA members here and U ll see in a moment what plats are good for You (but that are allmost all in my opinion:ha:)
But dont forget main banana grower planting tehnique! Its to have a FUN:ha:!
:woohoonaner:

cherokee_greg
04-28-2010, 08:52 AM
welcome from California

Caloosamusa
04-28-2010, 09:08 AM
Welcome to Bananas dot org Kostas, from the Sunshine State! Good weather and good growing to you! :2239:

Abnshrek
04-28-2010, 09:59 AM
Hello & Welcome Kostas from the Sportsman's Paradise :^)

Bananaman88
04-28-2010, 12:15 PM
A big welcome from the state of Texas!

DaveE
04-28-2010, 12:33 PM
Welcome, from Texas!

palmtree
04-28-2010, 03:42 PM
Welcome!! Lots of people on this fourm dont only grow bananas, but various other tropicals. I love palms and all tropicals. I plan on getting some more bananas this year, but as of right now I have 4 different types, 2 of which make edible fruit.

Good luck!

LilRaverBoi
04-28-2010, 05:52 PM
Welcome to the site! I hope you enjoy it here and learn a lot!

soundofthemusic1
04-28-2010, 10:32 PM
Aloha, Konstantinos.

A warm welcome from Georgia. You have many fun hobbies. Enjoy!

Rae

saltydad
04-29-2010, 03:32 PM
A big Maryland welcome to you Kostas. I also share your love of tropical (and saltwater) fish and diving (I'm a Certified Rescue Diver). Amazingly, the Chief here has another forum on just these areas of interest, so drop by if you haven't already. Aquarium Forum (http://www.aquariumforum.com/)

Kostas
04-29-2010, 04:11 PM
Thank you very much all of you for your warm welcome!!!

Dalmatiansoap,

Yes,i am aware of that! Unfortunately the yard i could cultivate edible bananas in needs some serious clearing from weeds and old wooden buildings that are falling apart before i can do anything. Plus some better fencing....I hope to have that done within the next 2 years as lots of palms and cycads are waiting for a spot in the ground too!
Banana growing must have a very good fun factor and offer satisfaction with their ease and speed of growth!

Greg,

Thank you very much!


Thank you very much Caloosamusa!
I was vacating at the Central and Southern Sunshine State for 17 days this Easter and totally enjoyed it! This was the second time i come to FL for vacations and hope to repeat it when i can again! The Golden State and HI is due for a visit too!

Thanks Abnshrek!

Thanks a lots Bananaman88 and Dave!

Thats great to know and quite logical palmtree!
When someone loves the tropics,he cant help it but love ''everything tropical''!
I currently only got 2 Ensete ventricosum as far as bananas go.

Thanks LilRaveBoi! I am sure i will!

Aloha Rae! Thanks you very much! I am glad you like my hobbies!

Thanks saltydad! I can see where you nickname comes from too then! I am mostly into catfish and this is the reason that i dont have a saltwater tank too,just a couple of saltwater catfish species exist and none belongs to the family Loricariidae which is a personal favourite! I love reef tanks too though and Marine crustaceans but time and funds are limited at the moment and as i plan to make a monster plecotank in the near future,i am concentrating on that project(3meter tank for a start and hopefully a 5++m one in the not so distant future!)I know someday i will fall for a reef tank too though! I will check out the forum you told me! I mostly post at Planetcatfish.com and Aquatek.gr(the Greek Aquarist's Forum where i am also a Moderator).
Its great to hear you are a Rescue diver! I hope to get that qualification too in the coming years!


Again,thank you all for the warm welcome! Its great to be among you!:bananas_b

Jack Daw
04-30-2010, 04:01 AM
There are cons to gardening...
Unfortunately the yard i could cultivate edible bananas in needs some serious clearing from weeds and old wooden buildings that are falling apart before i can do anything. Plus some better fencing...


And then there are these long term pros...
I hope to have that done within the next 2 years as lots of palms and cycads are waiting for a spot in the ground too!
Banana growing must have a very good fun factor and offer satisfaction with their ease and speed of growth!


Good luck with your endeavours!
Please do post pics when you are finished and/or progress. ;)

Maybe you would like to see some inspiration. If so, you can always visit this thread on bananas.org:
http://www.bananas.org/f2/bananas-org-members-yard-photos-2173.html

saltydad
04-30-2010, 03:24 PM
Yes, let me second jack's request for pics of your garden(s), both now and as they progress. Thanks!

Kevin
04-30-2010, 06:41 PM
Welcome! What orchids do you grow?

Kostas
05-01-2010, 06:46 PM
Thank you very much for your wish Jack!
I 'll make sure to post photos when the above things are done. For now,as you already saw, i posted pictures of my present garden following your's and Saltydad's request!

Saltydad,your wish came true as i think you already saw!

Thanks for the welcome Kevin!
I am currently only growing a Cymbidium hybrid which i cant wait to replace(i dont like hybrids)with something pure. I am waiting my canopy to grow before growing more orchids and other epiphyts and then i plan to grow various pure species on my trees epiphytically and maybe some ground orchids too.