View Full Version : hardy and edible but tasty classification
lucailmoro
04-23-2014, 07:04 PM
Hi who did try dwarf orinoco, dwarf nawmah, rajapuri, chini champa, dwarf brazilian....
what is a classification by hardiness between them?
I found contradicting infos about their hardiness. If possible i wanted to know also the minimum temperature they can withstand.
Abnshrek
04-23-2014, 07:17 PM
Hi who did try dwarf orinoco, dwarf nawmah, rajapuri, chini champa, dwarf brazilian....
what is a classification by hardiness between them?
I found contradicting infos about their hardiness. If possible i wanted to know also the minimum temperature they can withstand.
If you list your growing zone or general location you can get greater input on how to mitigate your weather possibly, and this might help you make a more informed choice.. If it were me I'd choose D. Namwah & Raja Puri.. :^)
Pancrazio
04-23-2014, 08:07 PM
If you ask me, i don't think a precise classification regarding frost hardiness is possible (at least in the way you are asking). People give contradictory information because experience between growers are rarely comparable: I grow all my plant in a similar environment but there are subtle difference that can make for a hardier or a more tender plant. What makes your question more problematic is the fact that in a mediterranean environment the cold damp soil plays a big factor and even the hardiest plant can die from rot, even if its critical temperature isn't even approached.
Rajapuri however have had poor results when grown by me and rick2001, so i advice against it: probably it doesn't like the italian winter, or who knows what. I have no experience from chinichampa but it should become a relatively tall plant (3 meters) so i would put that one out too: it doesn't seem easy to protect in case of emergency. I would suggest Dwarf namwah and dwarf orinoco: of those two dwarf orinoco seems the hardiest to me, but the fruit takes forever to ripen.
lucailmoro
04-24-2014, 03:49 PM
Hi Pancrazio ... it's curious i asked a similar question in "compagnia del giardinaggio" italian forum and you replied me. The contradictory infos were mainly between DO and DN, about their hardiness.
Also in Italy DN is told harder by rick and DO harder by you. :D
Pancrazio
04-24-2014, 08:08 PM
Yeah, i remember that question. I just thought to add my 2 cents here for future reference.
You have gotten two different replies for two different guys growing the different bananas in different places. If you add the fact that those two bananas have similar cold hardiness (we aren't differentiating between a Kru and an Orinoco, but between a Namwah and an Orinoco) those different replies don't seem so strange.
You know, I always say something in cases like this one: please experiment. I know, is costly, is risky, and you may end with a bummer. But we indeed are growing bananas in place intended for olives, for grapes, for lilies: we are growing those plant in places where those plants aren't supposed to grow:so we can't rely on any well codified knowledge. If you are searching for a safe crop, i suggest you to forget bananas and go towards tomatoes. But since i think to have seen in you the same interest that I share for the unusual and exciting experience of growing something nobody else grows, the the best results are achieved with a bit of experimentation. You don't have much choice after all: either you trust me blindly (since you won't find anyone closer to your environment than me) or you do experiment. So, if you are unsure between Orinoco and namwah, give a try with both: in few months you'll have your own idea and the next time you'll see this kind of topic you will be able to add your own two cents.
Now, i can't speak for rick2001, but if you ask my experience with those two i can say that: dwarf namwah is overall more vigorous than dwarf orinoco. But my dwarf orinoco have survived to extended time with temperature just 1°C above zero (I'm speaking of days with a snow-covered unheated greenhouse here). I don't know if namwah could have done this. Maybe yes, maybe no, i haven't had the luck to experiment. So I'm pretty happy with both but i think that orinoco has some edge over namwah. Keep in mind also that i have grown those in a colder environment that the one of rick2001, so he may be more inclined to report good performance than absolute resistance.
But neither of us has fruited his plants: maybe dwarf orinoco cold show itself as sitting duck once we come at ripening the fruits. We both don't know!
I haven't much more to add. Good luck!
lucailmoro
04-26-2014, 08:31 AM
Ok ...so Do and Dn is a better narrower choice to start.
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