View Full Version : G,Day to all you musaheads !
barney
04-19-2012, 10:03 AM
I have been reading the Banana,org posts for quite some time, but unable to register & join in due to a Paypay problem. Now that the rego is free, you`ll have to put up with riff raff like me!:0517:
I live reasonably close to the Indian Ocean in SW Western Australia, about 3 miles away, so we are lucky in not having frosts here! However cold icy winds from the Southern Ocean are often prevailing in the winter & both humans & Banana trees dont like`em!
When I get over the fact that ive just been made a grandpa to my first baby grandson tonight I will send some photos, but in the meantime CHEERS everyone!!:bananas_b
Barney
The Hollyberry Lady
04-19-2012, 10:15 AM
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo193/hollyberrylady08/2nd%20album/thwelcome3.gif
: )
harveyc
04-19-2012, 10:59 AM
Welcome, Barney. What varieties do you grow there? I've heard that bananas are heavily regulated there so you can't get very many varieties for fear of spreading diseases to commercial growers.
barney
04-19-2012, 08:32 PM
Thank you everyone for such a warm welcome! The only variety I have is Cavendish. yes we are very restricted in Aust.re. what we can buy. In fact I believe ordinary folks in Qld cannot go to a nursery & buy a musa of any description. In WA we seem to have 2 legal choices, kavendish & Lady finger, thats all, but its better than nothing.
harveyc
04-19-2012, 10:35 PM
I wish I had a some sort of legal restriction on what I could buy. Sometimes self control isn't what it should be. I think I've bought at least 40 varieties by now, way more than someone in my climate should be trying to mess with. I'm a bit thankful that this past cold winter took out 4 or 5 of my plants so I have room for some other things. :)
barney
04-19-2012, 11:54 PM
I wish I had a some sort of legal restriction on what I could buy. Sometimes self control isn't what it should be. I think I've bought at least 40 varieties by now, way more than someone in my climate should be trying to mess with. I'm a bit thankful that this past cold winter took out 4 or 5 of my plants so I have room for some other things. :)
40 varieties is quite something harveyc ! Do you have any pics of them as a group & do you get frost in your neck of the woods?
harveyc
04-20-2012, 01:38 AM
Yes, you could say we get some frost! ;)
While much of the USA had a mild winter, northern California and the northwest had a cold winter. I'd guess we normally get 4-8 days of frost in a year and get down to 28F. This winter we had 35 days with frost and got down to 22F. Pretty tough year.
Here is where I posted a photo after the first frosts in December:
http://www.bananas.org/f9/current-weather-3545-57.html#post183721
Here's a more recent frost that shows the destruction!
http://www.bananas.org/f2/harveys-hardy-banana-15032.html
Both photos just show a portion of my banana plantings with more bananas to the far right where I have some older plants that fared pretty well. One of them hasn't put out any new leaves but has flowered and is maybe up to 80 fingers and it's going to be fun to see if adjoining plants will nourish them and allow them to develop reasonably well. I've never had a banana flower for me in March before. I sure wish it had at least a couple of new leaves emerge.
barney
04-20-2012, 07:08 AM
Harveyc, obviously California is a lengthy state like Western Australia with just about every climate possible! I admire your tenacity regarding growing musa in such a cold winter climate. Next question is have you had a harvest yet?
barney
04-20-2012, 07:15 AM
A big thank you to everyone today who have also welcomed me to Bananas.org. I know I will be amongst like minded friends here!
Narnia
04-20-2012, 07:25 AM
Congrats Granpa Dave! Over here Lismore NSW we had no trouble obtaining Tisssue Cultures from DPI Theres a few varieties available over here so far we just grow Cavindish,Dwarf Cav,Gold Finger and Lady Finger The DPI Regional Office gave us a permit to get some suckers from an approved grower in our area. You could easily get a list of available varieties then ask the nearest Office if they could tell you where to get some.The DPI in Murwillumbah is always very helpful in providing info . Your Grandson's name?
harveyc
04-20-2012, 09:46 AM
Yes, I have bananas every year, but last year's summer was even cool so many did not mature (think I had 6 bunches). Some are more reliable than others. My best so far is some unknown (mislabeled) variety that grows to 10-11' which I have given the name "Mystery Busy Bee banana" (I once posted a photo with the flower fully of busy bees....real creative). A few winters ago we had just 3-4 frosts and down to 28F and most bananas still had some green leaves by spring so that was much better than this winter!
barney
04-20-2012, 09:51 AM
Thanks Narnia! New bab`s name is Cooper! Re. bananas WA quarantine is like the Gestapo so unlikely to succeed with tissue cultures but maybe worth a try!
barnetmill
04-20-2012, 09:59 AM
Thanks Narnia! New bab`s name is Cooper! Re. bananas WA quarantine is like the Gestapo so unlikely to succeed with tissue cultures but maybe worth a try!
In the US some states on the major interstate highways have agricultural inspection points for certain items. For example I know you are not suppose to bring in citrus products to my state of Florida. Do you have simlar restrictions between your provinces in Australia? Prior to the high cost of gas (petrol) many people here would drive coast to coast for vacations and to see family.
Narnia
04-23-2012, 08:14 PM
In the US some states on the major interstate highways have agricultural inspection points for certain items. For example I know you are not suppose to bring in citrus products to my state of Florida. Do you have simlar restrictions between your provinces in Australia? Prior to the high cost of gas (petrol) many people here would drive coast to coast for vacations and to see family.
Recently our visitors from Victoria declined taking bananas home because they can't take fruit over the boarder
We used to have tick gates at various points in country areas = an inspection point for livestock passing through, at that point also, any produce had to be declared.
In recent years East Coast Aust has had trouble with a disease on frangipani trees. And another major concern is a thing called Myrtle Rust.
barney
04-23-2012, 08:30 PM
At the border between WA & SA on the Nullarbor at Eucla the quarantine is very strict. No fruit , vegies, ( even peeled onions) or honey are allowed into WA. They can strip your vehicle if they suspect anything!
CMatt527
04-24-2012, 01:24 AM
Congratulations on becoming a grandfather!
barney
04-24-2012, 05:04 AM
Please tell me dear musacians! To post a photo do I click on the envelope thingy between the whatyoumacallit & the doodaa?
NSW Bananas
04-24-2012, 07:40 AM
Welcome to Bananas.org From another Aussie you might be able to order tissue cultures from bluesky backyard bananas Blue Sky Backyard Bananas | Banana Plants for backyards | Australian Bananas (http://www.backyardbananas.com.au/)
They sell tissue cultured tube stock Not sure about to WA but you could ask.:nanadrink:
harveyc
04-24-2012, 01:04 PM
Please tell me dear musacians! To post a photo do I click on the envelope thingy between the whatyoumacallit & the doodaa?
Depends on if you have your photo hosted somewhere (stored on the Internet) already. If not, you can upload it to your gallery here at the org (until you run out of storage space allocated to you) and then post the BB link you get from there. If you already have it hosted somewhere, click on the little button in the reply box that has an image of mountains and the sun on it and then paste the link to your photo there.
barney
04-25-2012, 02:02 AM
Thanks for the info NSW Bananas & Harveyc. I havent tried tissue culture of any kind so it would certainly be a learning curve for me. Will check to see whats involved. I will attempt to send a photo of my cavendish in its protective frame & you might recognise it NSW B
from Daleys forum!
Not as easy as Daleys either cos I am asked to enter the URL of my image instead of browsing thru my Picassa 'pictures'
NSW Bananas
04-26-2012, 06:03 AM
Yes its me the same nswbananas from daleys as well.:nanadrink:
barney
04-26-2012, 06:23 AM
I know mate, & I am the dreaded SG! Now unofficial moderator, but it seems to be working so far!:2738:
NSW Bananas
04-26-2012, 11:04 AM
Tissue cultured Plantlets are similar to raising say tomatoes from seed a lot of work at first but as plants devolop not as much work.
The website I gave in previous post of mine does tc plantlets for $10 au each and it takes about 2 months for them to be grown and sent to you.
When a person gets these they are in a 5 cm sealed jar growing in clear agar like a plant jelly at this stage they are very fragile.
But if they are alowed to ship to WA i would be worth it to get new varietys
It takes about 5 mounths of care before a TC Plantlet will be ready for planting in the ground.:2738::banana-computer::bananarow:
Regards NSW Bananas
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