View Full Version : Hello from the Central Valley!
AverageJo
01-21-2014, 02:23 PM
:woohoonaner:
I'm just an AverageJo, trying to get my edible garden started. I love fruit and thought I'd investigate bananas.
I live in the San Joaquin Valley in Northern California, which is USDA Zone 9 and Sunset Zone 14. I'm not sure if I'll be able to grow bananas in my area because we get freezes every once in a while. Cold temperatures range in the 30░F to 65░F in winter and 80░F to 112░F in summer. As you can see, quite a swing in temperature at times.
I am a certified Master Gardener via the U.C. California Master Gardener program, but have been in the process of building up my soil, which is compacted clay, over the past four years with compost, cover crops and worm castings. I don't use pesticides.
I'm mostly interested in growing fruit and vegetables. I've always loved bananas and would like to see if they can be grown here.
Peace, love and tie dye!
AverageJo
Abnshrek
01-21-2014, 02:39 PM
Hello, Welcome & Happy Growing AverageJo.. I'm sure there is couple varieties you can grow w/o protecting in the winter, many you can grow w/ some protection in the Winter.. :^)
Welcome
http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac317/1tvg/acaa31f2-e9d7-4e3d-aa46-8525ade924ed_zpscfce017f.jpg%7Eoriginal
cincinnana
01-21-2014, 04:29 PM
From the Ohio river valley.
Welcome to the Jungle!!!! :woohoonaner:
Have fun here.
hanabananaman
01-21-2014, 06:04 PM
Welcome, I live in AZ in a very similar climate, this is my second winter with nanners and still have most of my leaves intact. Some winters you will lose your leaves to cold but the stem should be fine. I harvested my first bunch of Namwahs in October from a plant that lost all its leaves last winter. I have 3 that are soon to flower and I hope we have no more freezes because there may not be enough leaves to develop the bunch. There is a comment on a thread somewhere about when to let a pup develop so it is around 6 ft. when winter hits. This is a good size in case leaves get frozen, you wont get stuck the next summer with a flower and not enough leaves. I can already see that Namwah has tolerated the cold better than some others as I have read, and that first bunch was pretty good considering I had not been giving them enough fertilizer. I recommend getting your ground ready and buy from someone on this site when things get going here in a couple months. I have plants in containers and in the ground, plant in the ground if you can they grow so much better. Carefully choose your site considering afternoon shade in the heat if possible and early morning sun in the winter. I use water containers, big Christmas lights and propane heaters to try to save the leaves. In our climate the stem should never get killed to the ground so you can get away with not going to such extremes, but if the leaves can make it through the winter you might be eating bananas in July instead of October.
Good luck
AverageJo
01-22-2014, 01:35 PM
:08:
Thank you all! You totally ROCK!
Please, do post suggestions of bananas that you think I might be able to plant here and where to purchase them
Thank you so much!
AverageJo
Just An Average Asian Woman
AverageJo
01-22-2014, 02:01 PM
Hmmm....I received many "Welcomes" from many different bananaheads but I can't see their posts and can't figure out how to thank them.
Could somebody direct me to a place where I can learn how to achieve these goals?
<----NOT the sharpest tool in the shed!
Thank you,
AverageJo
The names listed under your thread just clicked to say "welcome"; we didn't write any messages. Others did. Does that help?
AverageJo
01-23-2014, 12:51 PM
Hello Kat2,
Yes, I think it helps. I just wanted to make sure that I thanked everybody for their kind greetings.
You all totally ROCK!
merce3
01-23-2014, 10:05 PM
enjoy your stay. in terms of varieties for your area you might want to start with the wiki link at the top of the page. there are a number of varieties listed with some background info and a map of where they're grown.
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