Orinoco question?

[Jamie p]

Hello all,

My Orinoco bananas are beginning to ripen! I am just wondering when are they the best flavor? Do the peels need to start turning brown? I'm just curious if anyone else has grown these bananas and know when they are best to eat? Thank you everyone and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Greenie]

congrats!.....but you will soon find out there are better tasting bananas out there.
Once they turn yellow they are good to go and don't let them over ripen.
They make great "tostones" though when still green.

[island cassie]

Well Jamie - it seems to depend which strain of Orinoco you have. I had one plant that was a heavy cropper but with only average flavour - this is now compost. But the other Orinoco is delicious when fully ripe. I leave the bunch on the plant until the peels turn orange/yellow, then cut them and wait until the fruit feels slightly soft before eating. If you eat them underripe they will be tasteless and astringent and only fit for tostones - but fully ripe - one of my favourites. I hope you have the latter - the skins will turn quite orange.

[Jamie p]

Hello everyone!!

Thanks for the replies. These are my first bananas so I'm really excited. Especially for them to ripen in the middle of winter! I do have one more question. What are tostones and how do you make them? Thanks everyone!

[The Hollyberry Lady]

Would've loved to have seen some shots!


: )

[island cassie]

Jamie - in the recipes section there is a great recipe for tostones - they don't come any better!

Sherry there are lots of Orinoco fruit pictures in my gallery with instructions on how to freeze them if you have too many.

[john_ny]

Jamie - Where is Fairgrove?

[Jamie p]

It's near Springfield Mo.

[TommyMacLuckie]

I've had several bunches bloom over the years that I've eaten and it's very bizarre to get orinocos at the right time. Perhaps I should have said 'difficult'. I've found that when the banana starts to get black or brown spots on it that that is the time for best taste - but pretty much any more after that they really start to go bad.

[island cassie]

Tommy - how early do you cut them down? Do you leave them on the plant until they turn yellow?

[TommyMacLuckie]

If possible I do leave the fruit on the plant, yes. This summer I managed to eat some off the stalk. It was quite enjoyable considering hardly any bananas bloomed this year. In the past, if there's not

They seem to do better when on the plant. If they fall over a bit it's even better it seems, makes the fruit sweeter. Cutting them off and getting them to ripen is rather difficult for some reason. Perhaps it's the thick skin/peel of the fruit. But with the minimum amount of bananas on the one this year, it was hilarious to watch them ripen up a little bit each day starting from the top going down. I could judge it just by looking at it - "Oh, it's good to pick" and people enjoyed them.

[island cassie]

When they start to yellow and turn orange - cut the bunch down so that you can monitor the ripening. If the plant seems to lean - put a prop on it for support. Dont eat them before they are fully ripe and starting to soften or you will miss the best of them.