View Full Version : Dwarf super plantain
RAINFOREZT
05-14-2012, 06:23 PM
Dwarf super plantain
Planted one and half months ago 4/1/12.
Thanks Nick for the pups.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=48833&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=48833)
GreenFin
05-14-2012, 07:08 PM
At what height do these tend to flower?
Nicolas Naranja
05-14-2012, 08:30 PM
At what height do these tend to flower?
They are very short down here 6 to 6.5 feet.
GreenFin
05-14-2012, 08:43 PM
They are very short down here 6 to 6.5 feet.
Wow, I didn't realize there were plantains that were that short. For some reason I had just assumed that they were all like big extra vigorous banana plants.
Nicolas Naranja
05-14-2012, 10:07 PM
Accessions with Descriptor and Evaluation (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/dno_eval_acc.pl?215005+491649+27)
In Mayaguez, PR this is how tall they got. From what I gather, dwarf puerto rican is "Common dwarf" and agristarts giant plantain is "Maricongo". Anyways, on my farm Dwarf Super Plantain was about 6'-6.5', Dwarf Puerto Rican was about 7'-8', Hua Moa was about 12'-14' and Giant Plantain is about 14' tall. Now, 20 miles down the road in Belle Glade a friend of mine has some Giant Plantain that is at least 16' tall.
Bananaman88
05-15-2012, 09:49 AM
Do you think these would be winter hardy in Houston (Zone 9 a/b)? Our typical low can get to 32 degrees a few nights each winter but occasionally dipping lower. I wouldn't mind trying one sometime.
Nicolas Naranja
05-15-2012, 08:04 PM
Do you think these would be winter hardy in Houston (Zone 9 a/b)? Our typical low can get to 32 degrees a few nights each winter but occasionally dipping lower. I wouldn't mind trying one sometime.
They are fairly sensitive to cold in general. They won't die necessarily as mine made it through the very disastrous December 2010. But if it hits 32 you are going to lose all your leaves.
Bananaman88
05-23-2012, 03:31 PM
Nick- I lose all my leaves every winter anyhow. I've never had a winter here yet where my banana leaves escaped total damage from frost. I normally wrap the pstems with several layers of frost cloth to protect from cold damage. I am pretty successful in doing this so maybe I could overwinter one of the Dwarf Super Plantains using this method as well.
Nicolas Naranja
05-23-2012, 07:07 PM
Nick- I lose all my leaves every winter anyhow. I've never had a winter here yet where my banana leaves escaped total damage from frost. I normally wrap the pstems with several layers of frost cloth to protect from cold damage. I am pretty successful in doing this so maybe I could overwinter one of the Dwarf Super Plantains using this method as well.
You should be fine then, I know "bananimal" has already fruited a pup that I gave him last summer so it has a pretty quick cycling time. From a field ready tissue culture plant it h 14 months to flower and 3 months from flower to harvest. Definitely prune the bunch to 4 hands. The fruit tends to get cigar-end rot so you will likely want to spray the bunch with serenade or copper. I noticed a lot of snapped stalks on plants I didn't prune the bunches on. It's really not a great variety except for the fact that it produces a lot of plantains and it's really short.
Bananaman88
05-29-2012, 09:17 AM
Thanks, Nick. Now if I just had a little more space.
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