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Blue Java
09-19-2007, 03:21 AM
I am very interested in this plant!

Is there anyone who is familiar with it?
or currently growing it?

I have tried searching for information on this
interesting plant but have found very little.

klemmthamm
09-19-2007, 03:38 AM
Don't know much about them but if you are looking for one...

www.going-bananas.com

also (if you haven't checked already) you might do a search in the banana wiki for it and see what you come up with

flywoman
09-21-2007, 11:29 AM
I have an African Rhino horn. But I have only had it about 2 weeks, so I cannot be much help. I'd be happy to update you as it grows. It will winter in a greenhouse here. I should see some growth, but not a huge amount until next spring/summer.

Blue Java
09-21-2007, 05:50 PM
Thank you very much.

please do! :)

pitangadiego
09-21-2007, 10:04 PM
I have had one bunch, but plant was weak and they did not survive to ripening. Seem more old sensitive than the green ones. Pix at http://webebananas.com Will probably have another flower next season, Pups break the soil but to not grow until after flowering, and then there are dozens.

MediaHound
09-22-2007, 12:23 PM
http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Musa_African_Rhino_Horn
Feel free to add to the page you guys...

Rmplmnz
09-23-2007, 10:54 PM
The only comment I have about this plant....there is one pic (from Bill Lessard's book)..that appears all over the web...sorta reminiscent of the Burmese Blue pic..someone somewhere got a good raceme...but everyone else....

Blue Java
09-24-2007, 12:24 AM
I guess I'll have to be a rebel and order one!

Rmplmnz
09-24-2007, 08:11 AM
In conversation with Don Chafin, he has mentioned that these are particularly susceptible to nematodes...which (correct me if I am wrong) is not a problem in CA...so good luck!!

flywoman
09-25-2007, 02:25 PM
I ordered 3 bananas from GreenEarth and received them about a week ago. The Ice Cream and MySore have put out new leaves. The African Rhino has not yet. It still looks ok, though, but the leaves are a little beat from the shipping. I'll continue to update.

Gabe15
09-25-2007, 02:44 PM
This is the only true horn plantain I have seen in the USA that is easily available. Like most horn plantains, it makes one hand of very large fruit and lacks a male bud, once it sets out the one and only hand of female flowers, the bud terminates (or rather is never really made, but in any case it is completely absent).

frog7994
09-27-2007, 10:06 AM
I was at Don's places yesterday( Going Bananas) and I purchased a African Rhino Horn from him. I was told they are more prone to nematodes than some of the other variaties.

fish2026
09-27-2007, 07:57 PM
I ordered 72 of them from Agristarts. They do pretty well in the greenhouse with 75% surviving after a few months. Some have gotten pretty big. Outside even in South Texas, they haven't done so well. They seem too fragile.

Rmplmnz
09-27-2007, 08:15 PM
There are definitely better bananas to grow,.........

frog7994
09-28-2007, 03:44 PM
I would agree there is probly better bananas to grow but not as interresting as the African Rhino Horn.:2212:

Marc
10-01-2007, 07:18 AM
I grew them for five or so years before I lost the mat. They are definately a challenge with pests and wind. They were definately worth the unusual fruit they produced. I 'd like to try them again.

frog7994
10-01-2007, 04:59 PM
Ok I was talking to a friend of mine at work she grew up in Delray beach FL. Does any one know or heard of a banana that tast like a pineapple? She told me that there used to be some from a tree in her gandpaps yard.

NANAMAN
10-01-2007, 07:17 PM
Pisang Raja is reported to have a pineapple aftertaste.

frog7994
10-01-2007, 07:23 PM
thanks a lot. Now I,m going to look for it. I'm sure some one has it for sale.:nanadrink:

NANAMAN
10-01-2007, 07:35 PM
thanks a lot. Now I,m going to look for it. I'm sure some one has it for sale.:nanadrink:

Going Bananas has it and stokes has Belle. Belle is a sport of Pisang Raja, here's the links:
http://www.going-bananas.com/catalog.htm
http://www.stokestropicals.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=7

Rmplmnz
10-01-2007, 07:40 PM
I grew this banana for about ten years....very nice selection (it got squeezed out by some bamboo).

What color was the pulp of the fruit you ate?

Pisang Raja is a light orange color...

frog7994
10-03-2007, 10:01 AM
Hi does any one have any idea as to the use of comercial fertilizer ver. organic and if so where do you get it from? I was told to use 6-12-6. How importan are the numbers ?

modenacart
10-03-2007, 05:25 PM
I buy the 40 lb bag of 10-10-10 at lowes for about 6 dollars. It works really well.

JoeReal
10-03-2007, 06:54 PM
Hi does any one have any idea as to the use of comercial fertilizer ver. organic and if so where do you get it from? I was told to use 6-12-6. How importan are the numbers ?

Very important. You definitely want the medium N, low P and high K ratio. Banana need more potassium than N and P. If your soil is generally poor, you can use a ratio 1-1-4 (like 9-9-36 fertilizer). The most widely suitable ratio is 3-1-6 (6-2-12, 9-3-18, 12-4-24, 15-5-30, etc). The 3-1-6 ratio is assuming that you are carting away the fruits and the pseudostem. That's close to the ratio of the nutrients that are taken from the soil, and so you must put it back. As always, it is good to supplement with fertilizers that have micronutrients such as S, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, etc.

"Organic" fertilizers would usually have the micronutrients, but pound per pound of the major nutrients, they are the most expensive to use to grow your bananas. Unless the organic sources are from your own compost pile, or freebies given by the city, then you can use them and there are many advantages. Most organic fertilizers major nutrient ratios are unreliable and highly variable. I would compost my spent banana stems, peels, leaves, and place them back. That way I wouldn't use too much fertilizers. But still I would stick to the ratio of 3-1-6 if you feed them.

For me, I would only go as far as pesticide free, but not fertilizer free. If ammonium is formed by Haber-Bosch process or was extracted from guano or cow manure or urine, it is the same chemical. Much the same way you can combine water from hydrogen and oxygen, or you have distilled it from the ocean, or falls off as rain, it is the same water. Thus the fertilizers, are mostly simple chemicals whose effects we have quantified and studied much longer.

But the pesticides, they are complex molecules that have many unknown effects on long term health and the environment. So as far as organic growing go, it would only be pesticide free for me.

So I'd buy very cheap fertilizers (whatever is on sale), then try to mix them together to come up close to the 3-1-6 ratio, add some STEM or micronutrient sources, or even some composted steer manure, and apply them.

I would apply fertilizer each week during the late spring to early fall. I would stop fertilizer by about mid August in our area. My bananas are inground in zone 9 and they are reliable producers of fruit annually.

frog7994
10-03-2007, 07:11 PM
thanks

modenacart
10-03-2007, 08:01 PM
You should check out www.webebananas.com.

The guy that runs that site using the cheap stuff too, which I think he gets 16-16-16 and he has a very impressive banana plantation. I believe he adds 4 inches of compost twice a year too. The banana plants I saw there when I bought some of mine were unbelievable in size.

The specific information on what he uses is found under http://www.webebananas.com/culture.html.

fish2026
10-03-2007, 08:20 PM
A pineapple tastes like a pineapple... I've seen people growing them by cutting off the top.

I planted one of my AFR's in the middle of a forest of cannas and wild bananas maybe that will shield them from the wind and some of the cold.

frog7994
10-07-2007, 09:08 PM
just over the past 2 weeks we have gotten a lot of rain a real lot of rain. here in palm beach county. Now I have noticed that one or two of my bananas have turned brown and died not the whole hand just one or two. Does any one have a idea if some thing is wrong or this happens once in a while?

mdossaji
06-07-2009, 10:34 AM
Hi,

I recently purchased a golden African banana mother bulb from Willis orchard and received it 3 weeks ago. I planted in per instructions supplied with the bulb. In few days the first leaf began to bloom and since then it has weakened and pretty much stopped producing more leaves. The stem seems to be shrinking in diameter. Can someone provide any ideas if its dying or is in shock?

Chironex
06-07-2009, 02:23 PM
I have a corm that I got from Jarred. Still waiting for a leaf to come up. It might take it awhile. But, I can wait - guess there really isn't much choice.....

Rmplmnz
09-15-2009, 09:27 PM
This is the only true horn plantain I have seen in the USA that is easily available. Like most horn plantains, it makes one hand of very large fruit and lacks a male bud, once it sets out the one and only hand of female flowers, the bud terminates (or rather is never really made, but in any case it is completely absent).

Very cool...check out the terminal end:

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=22565&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=22565)

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=22567&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=22567)

More pics:
http://www.bananas.org/f2/red-iholene-african-rhino-horn-photos-8182.html

Richard
07-25-2010, 05:08 PM
Hey Jarred,

The African Rhino Horn you sent last year is doing great. It went through the winter here with no problems, and is certainly the most beautiful plant in my banana plat. Thanks!

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhino_Horn_1yr_300x400.jpg

I like it so much that I've started a whole colony of them!

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhino_Horn_TCs_400x300.jpg

sunfish
07-25-2010, 05:24 PM
Hey Jarred,

The African Rhino Horn you sent last year is doing great. It went through the winter here with no problems, and is certainly the most beautiful plant in my banana plat. Thanks!

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhino_Horn_1yr_300x400.jpg

I like it so much that I've started a whole colony of them!

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhino_Horn_TCs_400x300.jpg


Looks good. The planter is doing it's job

Abnshrek
07-25-2010, 08:56 PM
I like it so much that I've started a whole colony of them!

I second that motion on it being a very pretty plant, but did you need that many reproductions? Those look good too btw. :^)

Richard
07-26-2010, 11:38 AM
I second that motion on it being a very pretty plant, but did you need that many reproductions? Those look good too btw. :^)

Thanks! When the little plants have matured enough I will sell them to local nurseries and at 3 farmers markets here in San Diego.

cherokee_greg
07-26-2010, 11:46 AM
Nice plant very pertty plant.

Richard
07-28-2011, 08:42 PM
Bud fall.

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhinohorn_budfall_300x400.jpg

Richard
11-10-2011, 09:52 PM
The fruit has been turning from green to yellow the last few weeks but the night-time temperatures are starting to fall. I have cut the bunch and hung it in the garage where the temperatures stay above 60 F. The fingers are 5-6 inches in length and 1.5 inches wide.

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhinohorn_hung_450x600.jpg

Rmplmnz
11-13-2011, 12:44 AM
The fruit has been turning from green to yellow the last few weeks but the night-time temperatures are starting to fall. I have cut the bunch and hung it in the garage where the temperatures stay above 60 F. The fingers are 5-6 inches in length and 1.5 inches wide.

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhinohorn_hung_450x600.jpg

This ARH?

Looks different than the other ARH I have seen.

It has more bananas and the bloom is more distinct and larger?

caliboy1994
11-13-2011, 02:16 AM
I don't think that's ARH. Gabe said that ARH only produces one hand of bananas.

http://www.bananas.org/f2/african-rhino-horn-blooming-pic-intense-5366.html#post46427

Richard
11-13-2011, 01:38 PM
I don't think that's ARH. Gabe said that ARH only produces one hand of bananas.

http://www.bananas.org/f2/african-rhino-horn-blooming-pic-intense-5366.html#post46427

Interestingly enough, it is a pup of Jared's (Mediahound's) plant which is featured in the above link. It is definitely a horn type - having no male flowers. The fingers are very similar to those in Jared's pictures.

Here's the bunch hanging on the plant earlier this year:

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/AfricanRhinohornBunch_500x550.jpg

Richard
12-26-2011, 02:16 PM
The bunch I picked in November has been hanging for 7 weeks now. The peduncle (http://www.bananas.org/wiki/Info:Plant_Morphology) and fruit stems are black and withered. The fruit is slowly ripening. I picked the first hand this morning, and the finger I tried was almost there -- just a bit al dente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_dente) if you will. The color of the flesh has a slight orange hue.

http://www.plantsthatproduce.com/image_gallery/African_Rhino_Horn_al_dente_web.jpg