Log in

View Full Version : Raja Puri flowers in Nov --- Ai yai yai!!


bananimal
11-06-2011, 11:32 AM
Raja Puri flowers in Nov ---- it had better stay warm out!!!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=46675&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=46675&ppuser=820)

sunfish
11-06-2011, 11:43 AM
Raja Puri flowers in Nov ---- it had better stay warm out!!!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=46675&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=46675&ppuser=820)

Looks like your going to be cooling down

Thursday
Chance of Rain 79 | 56 °F
Chance of Rain
20% chance of precipitation

Worm_Farmer
11-06-2011, 11:44 AM
Mine does the same thing, every Nov/Dec it flowers. This summer it flowered but choked out.

momoese
11-06-2011, 04:28 PM
I have one right now too.

caliboy1994
11-06-2011, 06:36 PM
Wonderful. One of the banana plants around my neighborhood decided to do the same. I think that would be more of a problem here than where you live...

bananimal
11-07-2011, 07:33 AM
Mine does the same thing, every Nov/Dec it flowers. This summer it flowered but chocked out.

Mike ------ please define "chocked out".

BTW ---- I discovered a way to force banana bloom early this year.

It worked on every mature cultivar except Pisang Klotek - so far.

Clare_CA
11-07-2011, 02:26 PM
My Raja Puri flowered for the first time last year in November also. My Iholena flowered in December. The Raja Puri was harvested in August of this year -- nine months! I would be interested to know how long yours takes from flower to harvest. Congrats anyhow! Let me know what you think of your fruit if you would. Mine was rather small, but I didn't fertilize as much as I should have.

mushtaq86
11-07-2011, 05:56 PM
Raja Puri flowers in Nov ---- it had better stay warm out!!!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=46675&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=46675&ppuser=820)

How tall is the p-stem.

momoese
11-07-2011, 07:28 PM
Mike ------ please define "chocked out".

BTW ---- I discovered a way to force banana bloom early this year.

It worked on every mature cultivar except Pisang Klotek - so far.

Do tell!

Darkman
11-07-2011, 10:10 PM
Dan we have 39 scheduled for a low Saturday.

Worm_Farmer
11-09-2011, 10:09 AM
I hate writing on my cell, I meant choked. The flower just pocked it head out then opened inside of the psteam.

But what is this magic that will force a banana to bloom early?? I have found to much Humic acid will make my other plants flower, is it just a heavy dose of humic acid?

Darkman
11-09-2011, 10:21 AM
Dan,

You brought out the bag and everyone can see there is something inside SOOOOO

you might as well spill the beans.

hydroid
11-09-2011, 02:01 PM
Come on Dan, inquiring minds want to know.

bananimal
11-09-2011, 08:54 PM
OK ----- here it is. The solution to force a banana flower to push out earlier.

For you guys in California it's cheaper than for me. I had to pay $45.00 for shipping alone.

Peaceful Valley sells a Sulfate of Potash product made by Diamond K. It only comes in 50 lb bags. To get the best fast result use the water soluble, ultra fines version. It meets organic certification requirement.

Using a strainer, I apply 2 tablespoons around the near to fruiting size pstem on each mat -- followed by a second and final application a week later. That's it! It's a fine powder - just tap the strainer and you get a good even distribution of the powder. I put the powder in the strainer sitting on a paper plate to avoid loss. The strainer sits on the plate - not me!

All my fruiting height pstems have produced the flower in 1 to 4 weeks after the S of P sprinkle. Exception is the Pisang Klotek at 9.5 ft.

I got this tip from a local certified organic farmer and am very happy to see it work for me.

And that's not all ------ to maintain organic certification he only ferts his naners with Purdue chicken mix (with caiticin and yucca added by our local Ag supplier -- Diamond R). His appl rate is 2 cups per mat every 2 weeks from March till end of Nov. He uses it on everything from his grafted tomatoes, lettuces, chard, kale, papayas to his bananas, to name a few.

So I started to add the chicken mix (3-2-3) to my mats along with the non-organic 6-3-16. It also helps to bring the nitrogen up closer to K/2 for better K utilization.

Chicken mix breaks down slowly so I expect to see the full effect in next years production.

Dan

bananimal
11-09-2011, 08:59 PM
Oh, I see ----- when you stop "chocking" you start "pocking"?

sunfish
11-09-2011, 09:03 PM
Sulfate of Potash product made by Diamond K I have this

venturabananas
11-09-2011, 09:11 PM
Dan, I'm not saying that what you've described doesn't work... but, as someone who teaches statistical analysis, there's no way you can tell if what you did sped up bud production. You'd need some control plants that you didn't use the magic treatment on. It may just be that you've become good at noticing when plants are about to produce a bud.

That's not to say I wouldn't give it a try!

sunfish
11-09-2011, 10:05 PM
Isn't this is what is used to get pineapples to fruit ?

sunfish
11-09-2011, 10:14 PM
Isn't this is what is used to get pineapples to fruit ?

Oops got that wrong,Never mind

bananimal
11-10-2011, 12:19 AM
Dan, I'm not saying that what you've described doesn't work... but, as someone who teaches statistical analysis, there's no way you can tell if what you did sped up bud production. You'd need some control plants that you didn't use the magic treatment on. It may just be that you've become good at noticing when plants are about to produce a bud.

That's not to say I wouldn't give it a try!

Mark -- My conclusion is based on observation and recorded data. Meaning - each cultivar was at the average height it flowered for the last 5 to 6 years. And the flowering dates this year are one to two months early.

Not to mention the guy that tipped me has been a grower for 40 years in Belize, Haiti and Costa Rica and now Ft Pierce, Fla.

Hey --- worked for me --- should work for anyone. And it will stimulate bloom on garden veggies too. Just follow dose recommended on "bloom" products sold at HD or Lowes. Basically one tblsp per gal water - spray or drench.

One other thing - after application in sandy soil like s Fla I ran the emitters for just 10 mins to avoid washing out the S of P. Resumed regular water schedule 3 days later.

To answer earlier question I missed -- the RP height was 7.5 ft.

venturabananas
11-10-2011, 12:55 AM
Dan, I agree that the stuff you used COULD have caused your bananas to fruit earlier this year. Or it could have just been an early year and they would have fruited early regardless of whether you had used it or not. Do you have any duplicate mats of the same variety? Treat one and not the other. See if there is a difference. Do this in more than one pair of mats.

Gabe15
11-10-2011, 04:10 AM
On the short end, typically the bunch is initiated about 3 months before you ever see it, it takes a while to travel all the way from the ground up through the pseudostem and out of the top. 1-4 weeks is not enough time for the plant to differentiate the meristem and send the whole thing up all from a chemical signal applied at the soil surface. If it is forcing the plants to bloom, you should be able to do it on a young plant and have it still flower. It sounds to me like you have just had coincidence. I am believer in all kinds of unusual things, but in this case it seems there is a more mundane explanation.

Are the plants you are noticing flowering quicker older mats? After a mat gets older and well established, the fruiting times are quicker even if it is starting from a young sucker.

sunfish
11-10-2011, 08:28 AM
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=sulfate%20of%20potash%20to%20promote%20bloom&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adonline.id.au%2Fflowers%2Fthe-potassium-myth%2F&ei=09C7TrmkOaSLiALB67yHBQ&usg=AFQjCNEosEC47_Jnp4vHGfIEohXzmC0m3A&cad=rja

Potassium and Flowering | The Story of Flowers | Adam Dimech

bananimal
11-10-2011, 11:10 AM
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=sulfate%20of%20potash%20to%20promote%20bloom&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0CDAQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adonline.id.au%2Fflowers%2Fthe-potassium-myth%2F&ei=09C7TrmkOaSLiALB67yHBQ&usg=AFQjCNEosEC47_Jnp4vHGfIEohXzmC0m3A&cad=rja

Potassium and Flowering | The Story of Flowers | Adam Dimech

Thanks Tony. Learned something from this writeup. Explains why NANAMAN fruits his mats in June/July. Hormonees!

momoese
11-10-2011, 11:51 AM
Thanks Tony. Learned something from this writeup. Explains why NANAMAN fruits his mats in June/July. Hormonees!

As a teen I used hormones that are usually used in the citrus industry to change male pot plants into female. It did produce some hermaphrodites.

sunfish
11-10-2011, 12:07 PM
I believe Oakshadows is also using this on his plants

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=gibberellic%20acid&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGibberellic_acid&ei=VgS8ToreFueqiALa7oD3AQ&usg=AFQjCNGMRLzzYZtjCkM5_A2r36JoN_lVRw&cad=rja

Darkman
11-10-2011, 01:11 PM
As a teen I used hormones that are usually used in the citrus industry to change male pot plants into female. It did produce some hermaphrodites.

Lucky you turned out OK. I wouldn't use plant hormones on myself.

:woohoonaner:

momoese
11-10-2011, 03:32 PM
Lucky you turned out OK. I wouldn't use plant hormones on myself.

:woohoonaner:

:ha: ok smarty! I may have gotten a little on myself but it was sprayed on the plants.

bananimal
11-10-2011, 08:33 PM
Mitchel ---------------- now you see why I said "The strainer sits on the plate - not me!" in my last post. Some folks actually read every word and catch stuff.

Like "chockin" and "pockin". :ha::ha::ha:

bananimal
11-14-2011, 10:04 AM
Update ----- RP looking good!!

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=46790&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=46790&ppuser=820)

momoese
11-14-2011, 11:02 AM
Looks great! Mine plant was under fed so this bunch is smaller than the last.

venturabananas
11-14-2011, 11:49 AM
Dan, Mitchel,

How big are the mature fruits on your Rajapuri usually? Under good conditions. I've only seen them on plants that probably were not fertilized at all, and they were very small -- not more than a bite or two of fruit.

Clare_CA
11-14-2011, 12:32 PM
Mine were very small too. The flower bud, however, is massive.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l153/Clare_CA/bananas/111210013.jpg

momoese
11-14-2011, 01:06 PM
Dan, Mitchel,

How big are the mature fruits on your Rajapuri usually? Under good conditions. I've only seen them on plants that probably were not fertilized at all, and they were very small -- not more than a bite or two of fruit.

Not real big, 4" or so. About the same size as my dwarf Brazilian fruits.

venturabananas
11-14-2011, 01:33 PM
Thanks Mitchel. That's bigger than the ones I've seen.

momoese
11-14-2011, 01:55 PM
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m161/momoese/2raja2011.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m161/momoese/RPflower.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m161/momoese/rajapuri2010.jpg
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=13235&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=13235)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=13236&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=13236)
RP on the left, DC x2 on the right
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=14456&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=14456)
DB fruit
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=29661&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=29661)

Clare_CA
11-14-2011, 06:41 PM
What did you guys think of the taste?

momoese
11-14-2011, 06:49 PM
They taste like chicken :ha: JK

I like them. Mild flavor, some acid.

venturabananas
11-14-2011, 06:54 PM
To me they tasted identical to dwarf Brazilian, which I think is excellent. But I only tried a couple and that was a year ago.

bananimal
11-14-2011, 07:48 PM
Clare ----------- I've never tasted them - the RP bunch from last year was the first time it flowered, and I threw it over the fence when the Dec frost killed the leaves. The fruit had not filled in. Along with 4 other bunches that bit the dust.

Darkman
11-14-2011, 08:02 PM
Dan,

Let's hope for a late or no frost this year.

bananimal
11-16-2011, 12:40 AM
Charles----------- wierd weather here --- today, tues we hit 87F.