View Full Version : How about banana fruit ripening time?
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 09:56 AM
Hi,
I am struggling for days on the web trying to find what kind of banana plant fruits ripen in a variety of hardiness zones such as zone 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A etc. and most important - WHEN do the fruits ripen? Aren't bananas mostly about their fruit (some decorative)? But no info WHEN the fruits ripen? For example:
MUSA DWARF NAMWAH - I find info that these are zone 8-11 plants, then another website lists them as zone 9-11 plants...hmmm, but no info whatsoever when the fruits ripen in each half-zone?
Does anyone know when Musah Dwarf Namwah fruits ripen approximately in zone 8A and 8B? Is it in August or October or...?
Thanks
sunfish
05-16-2012, 10:37 AM
Hi,
I am struggling for days on the web trying to find what kind of banana plant fruits ripen in a variety of hardiness zones such as zone 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A etc. and most important - WHEN do the fruits ripen? Aren't bananas mostly about their fruit (some decorative)? But no info WHEN the fruits ripen? For example:
MUSA DWARF NAMWAH - I find info that these are zone 8-11 plants, then another website lists them as zone 9-11 plants...hmmm, but no info whatsoever when the fruits ripen in each half-zone?
Does anyone know when Musah Dwarf Namwah fruits ripen approximately in zone 8A and 8B? Is it in August or October or...?
Thanks
Bananas have no set time of year for blooming. They can bloom anytime of year.
venturabananas
05-16-2012, 11:42 AM
Bananas have no set time of year for blooming. They can bloom anytime of year.
And so they can ripen any time of year. But if you live in a zone where it gets below freezing in the winter and you don't keep your plants in a green house, you are going to have to get lucky and have one bloom in spring/early summer in order to get ripe fruit before the cold weather kills the leaves and fruit bunch.
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 11:47 AM
Bananas have no set time of year for blooming. They can bloom anytime of year.
Good to know, thanks. Please everyone share when your banana bloomed, what kind of banana plant and in what Zone?
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 11:59 AM
And so they can ripen any time of year. But if you live in a zone where it gets below freezing in the winter and you don't keep your plants in a green house, you are going to have to get lucky and have one bloom in spring/early summer in order to get ripe fruit before the cold weather kills the leaves and fruit bunch.
I bought it last summer 2011 and kept it in a pot in a sun room all winter when temps dipper to 22F one night, but I kept it above freezing in the sun room and planted into the ground in March this year 2012. It grew 2 leaves (had 5 when planted now has 7) since, but no signs of bloom yet.
I am going to let it stay in the ground out in the open overwintering from now on, but I hope to see some blooming and even banana fruits this summer or autumn.
Also what are the watering patterns? I noticed it likes to be watered every day, is it true? It gets kind of yellowish during hot weather and i suspect the growth slows or even stops. Some of the stem is very soft like a rot brown.
Is this plant zone 9 or zone 8 afterall? So many questions, I hope they can be addressed and Thanks. Sorry for bad English, I hope you understand it.
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 12:04 PM
Bananas have no set time of year for blooming. They can bloom anytime of year.
You must own a large piece of land going up the mountain if you are situated all across zones 9 through 11. I would also like to hear from banana growers in Zones 8 and even 7. My zone in 1990s used to be very close to 7B but now it has become just 15-20 miles from the new USDA zone 8B and last winter we had only one night of 22F and the rest was Z9B weather. There is a pattern of climate warming up where almost every winter in the past 5 years we get a half zone warmer. ;-)
caliboy1994
05-16-2012, 12:33 PM
When it comes to ripening it really depends on the variety. Some varieties can take as little as 60 days from bloom while others as long as 11 months. Unfortunately, a lot of the ones that ripen quickly are not cold hardy.
As for the growing zone thing, the hardiness zone finder that some people use on this website uses their zipcode, and gives them the entire range of zones in their area. For example, if I used that one it would tell me zone 9-11, but I'm really in 10a.
sunfish
05-16-2012, 12:46 PM
I think ripening depends on the weather
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 01:19 PM
When it comes to ripening it really depends on the variety. Some varieties can take as little as 60 days from bloom while others as long as 11 months. Unfortunately, a lot of the ones that ripen quickly are not cold hardy.
As for the growing zone thing, the hardiness zone finder that some people use on this website uses their zipcode, and gives them the entire range of zones in their area. For example, if I used that one it would tell me zone 9-11, but I'm really in 10a.
I wrote variety in my original email: Musa Dwarf Namwah.
I did not mean that way about zones.
For example, someone lives in zone 8A and their Musa Dwarf Namwah has bloomed during XX month/day and then fruit ripened in XX month/day. Would be nice if someone share such info and experiences.
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 01:20 PM
I think ripening depends on the weather
I understand that ripening depends on weather. ;-)
RandyGHO
05-16-2012, 07:12 PM
Apple people have a site to note bloom and harvest dates. Do a search for orange Pippen.
banana-monkey-banana
05-16-2012, 08:21 PM
RandyGHO - I understand that this is a bananas forum, not apples, or am I missing something? So at least in general, do bananas usually ripen/bloom in summer, autumn, early winter or late spring in USDA Zone 8?
caliboy1994
05-16-2012, 09:57 PM
Bananas can flower at any time of year if conditions or right. I think the ripening time from bloom for D. Namwah is in the 6 month range if conditions are good, although I could be wrong. If you want them to ripen faster try taking off a few of the bottom hands. It would be hard to get fruit in your zone, but it can be done if you overwinter it properly.
RandyGHO
05-17-2012, 06:16 AM
RandyGHO - I understand that this is a bananas forum, not apples, or am I missing something? So at least in general, do bananas usually ripen/bloom in summer, autumn, early winter or late spring in USDA Zone 8?
It was meant to show as an example of how information about banana bloom and harvest information could be collected by location to build a data base.
International register of fruit trees (http://www.orangepippin.com/trees.aspx)
venturabananas
05-17-2012, 11:36 AM
RandyGHO - So at least in general, do bananas usually ripen/bloom in summer, autumn, early winter or late spring in USDA Zone 8?
I could be wrong because I don't live in zone 8, but I think the answer is that they hardly ever ripen in Zone 8 without protection because the plants or bunches get killed by freezes. In that zone, there are probably more blooms in late summer - fall because you've had several months of good conditions for plant growth, but these get killed by winter freezes. If you can get a plant to flower in spring, you could get ripe bananas in fall. Otherwise, without greenhouse-style protection, you will never get ripe fruit.
They will bloom in any season provided they are big enough and actively growing. They are not inherently a seasonal plant -- you need to provide adequate conditions for a non-seasonal, tropical plant in a non-tropical environment. If you had them in a temperature-controlled greenhouse -- i.e., constant temperature -- they would bloom and ripen any time of year. I think there is evidence they would bloom a bit more in spring and summer, probably because there are more hours of sunlight to drive photosynthesis and growth.
TommyMacLuckie
05-18-2012, 08:55 AM
The reason you never see information on when the fruit ripens in whatever zone is mainly because in order for bananas to mature and bloom the ground temperature must be 70F and above for 24 hours 365 days and for best fruit production it needs to stay in the mid to upper 80s (F) from what I understand. Once that is not the case then when they will bloom becomes more about chaos just because of that one key requirement.
Throw in a few freezes...there you go. It can take as many as 3 years for one to bloom. There also seems to be a certain number of fronds they will put out that leads to blooming. That's why after a winter you prune the dead fronds off and it starts back (hopefully) from where it left off it can, depending on how tall/mature is is, immediately set out a bloom without leaves. Which leads to fruit that is never good to eat.
So that's a reason you never read about when they fruit. They fruit when the plant is ready, not because of a time of year.
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