View Full Version : Hi, I'm Bobby... I'm new here
BobbyinNY
10-14-2005, 09:11 AM
Hi Everyone....
I'm new to this board. I just started growing bananas this year. I live on Long Island, NY and bought what said "African Red" on the label. This plant was about 1ft when I bought it in May. I re-potted into a much bigger pot and started fertilizing every 2 weeks with a time-release formula from Shultz. Well, this banana plant got to be 8ft tall and has since put on 3 big purple flowers and has small bananas growing. My question is: are these edible? and if so, how long till they'll get big. I don't have to worry about the cold as I have a heated greenhouse that I can keep above 80-F. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bobby
bigdog
10-14-2005, 11:43 AM
Your 'African Red' grew taller than mine, and mine's in the ground! I have had three blooms on mine this year also, but the pseudostem height (which is how you measure the height of a banana) is only about 3 feet. The bananas are not edible. I think I got a genetic dwarf somehow. There are more pictures in my gallery.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/bigfish5791/Octobershots008.jpg
tropicalkid
10-14-2005, 12:26 PM
Are these plants putting more than one flower/bunch each, like the "double-mahoi"? That would be interesting.
Carlos
BobbyinNY
10-14-2005, 12:39 PM
hey Bigdog..
Yup that is EXACTLY what mine looks like. I now have (3) inflorescance on mine. I will post a picture tomorrow.
Bobby
bigdog
10-14-2005, 02:27 PM
It's just one flower per pseudostem.
BobbyinNY
10-14-2005, 02:43 PM
Bigdog,
what would you say is the best banana to grow which is edible? Also, one that doesn't get too tall (like over 8ft)
Bobby
bigdog
10-14-2005, 06:48 PM
You should ask others with more experience. I've heard Raja Puri is very tasty, but my plant hasn't produced a bunch yet, and even if it does next year, my season is probably too short for the bunch to mature and ripen properly. Pseudostem height is usually under 8 feet, but overall height will be higher than that by several feet. That is if you plant it in the ground. I would post this topic in a separate thread, and get the opinion of many others.
BobbyinNY
10-15-2005, 07:37 AM
Thanks Bigdog....
I'll look for Raja Puri... I'm in a colder climate than you but I have Greenhouse setup in my backyard with 10ft of height and it's heated so hopefully I can keep these growing throuought the winter.
Bananavilla
10-15-2005, 12:24 PM
Raja Puri is #1 in my book but at only 10ft height in your greenhouse it would be stuffed in the rafters or pushing through your greenhouse poly by the time if fruited.
Raja can get up to 8ft (trunk + leaves). Southerngrower is walking a fine line keeping them in his greenhouse at 12ft.
Look at Dwarf Cavendish or Mauritaus.
Mike
tlturbo
10-15-2005, 12:52 PM
I have fruited Raja and Gran Nain both outdoors in S FL at under 10 ft total.
Terry
Bananavilla
10-15-2005, 01:15 PM
Terry, one must also not forget that they will get taller under greenhouse plastic.
Mike
BobbyinNY
10-15-2005, 03:19 PM
Just for positive ID... Here is a picture of My "African Red"
GATrops
10-15-2005, 10:04 PM
Bobby-Looks like an "African Red" to me and a very healthy one at that. In the way of shorter edible varieties, the shortest fruiter I have is Double Mahoi. Mine blooms consistenly at about 5 feet of pseudostem height. My Dwarf Cavendish usually blooms at about a foot taller. The "Double Mahoi" also produces a very nice stalk of fruit.
BobbyinNY
10-16-2005, 04:17 PM
GATrops,
Oh.. nice.. Double Mahoi.. I'll have to check that one out.. Can anyone possible identify this one that I bought at Home Depot.. It was 6 inches when I got it and It's growing like crazy.. but, as with all home depot's tropical plants, all they ever say on the tag is "Assorted Tropical Foliage"... Is this an edible type?...
Bananavilla
10-16-2005, 06:12 PM
Looks like a Cavendish of some sort with the semi-erect leaves. Maybe Dwarf Cavendish?
Mike
Gabe15
10-16-2005, 07:28 PM
Welcome Bobby! I agree with Mike on 'Dwarf Cavendish' on your Home Depot banana.
tropicalkid
10-17-2005, 11:37 AM
Bobby-Looks like an "African Red" to me and a very healthy one at that. In the way of shorter edible varieties, the shortest fruiter I have is Double Mahoi. Mine blooms consistenly at about 5 feet of pseudostem height. The "Double Mahoi" also produces a very nice stalk of fruit.
Did you already got more than a bunch per plant?
the one at my parent's home in Puerto Rico only have had two bunches per plant so far.I've read that you can even get three bunches when grown under appropriate conditions.
Carlos(tropicalkid):cool:
BobbyinNY
10-17-2005, 12:41 PM
Yeah, Carlos... I have (3) bunches already.
tropicalkid
10-17-2005, 04:15 PM
Sorry Bobby, but I meant to say about the "double mahoi".I should have made myself more clear.This one it's an edible variety that you can get more than a bunch of fruit at a time.Sometimes three.Cool, isn't it?
Carlos(tropicalkid):cool:
BobbyinNY
10-18-2005, 07:48 AM
Cool... thanks Carlos.. I'll look for that one too.
GATrops
10-18-2005, 08:58 AM
Carlos-I have yet to have it bloom with more than one stalk but it is my fault. My understanding is that the plant only does that after the first stalk of fruit has been harvested. I keep transplanting my plant after the first bloom in an effort to find it a better home. (It blooms a little later than some and I am trying to get it into a more protected location.) I think I have finally got it settled into it's permanent location so I'm hoping next year....
Richard
BobbyinNY
10-19-2005, 03:02 PM
Looks like a Cavendish of some sort with the semi-erect leaves. Maybe Dwarf Cavendish?
Mike
Mike, from your experience, how long until I get a bloom out of this cavendish? It's already about 6ft in height.
Thanks,
Bobby
PhilMusa
10-19-2005, 03:11 PM
Hi Bobby,
Nice picture you have in your gallery. What is the palm plant you have in the background of that picture?
BobbyinNY
10-19-2005, 03:13 PM
Hi Bobby,
Nice picture you have in your gallery. What is the palm plant you have in the background of that picture?
__________________
PhilMusa
Phil, that is an Adonidia Merrilli Palm (Christmas Palm). I'm a huge Palm Collector & grower. I have 10 altogether
PhilMusa
10-19-2005, 03:17 PM
It’s a very nice specimen. Where do you store your palms in the winter?
BobbyinNY
10-19-2005, 03:18 PM
I rent a truck and I take some of them to a local arboretum, some to a friends' greenhouse and I put the other ones in my living room.
PhilMusa
10-19-2005, 03:22 PM
Wow, you have your hands full. I'm sure it's well with it.
Thanks
Phil
Southern-Grower
10-22-2005, 06:37 PM
most likely your problem is going to be the 10' CENTER height with 4' side walls.
which would mean that the plant will need to grow in center of gh. then you need to consider that the plant will lean when ready to fruit.
then when plant is pushing leaves out go straight up first, then lay over.
mike stated stretch factor which will effect the overall height also..
most folks here are in zone 9 and above and grow outdoors with no problems. their heights will give you a idea of min. to expect, but add at least a 1/2 to foot over. the only exceptions i have seen are on the first year plants which are around 4' then put into gh in ground to fruit..
my walls are 8' on one end and 12' center and the other end is 13' center and 9' side walls.. *it's on a down grade
the dwarf orinoco reached height of 7' on stem and when it fruited the paddle was pushing top of roof, as were last few leaves. i had to get on ladder and fix the leaves so they would fall over and lay correct.
the raja puri was 6' (first year plant) when fruited and leaves were touching the roof.
this plant as all has stated are erect at 45 angle which means will need more side height than the d.o., d.o. leaves are not erect.
the whole cavendish group are the same erect habit..
that said, i would look at plants that will match 3/4 side wall height. this will allow the 4-5' leaves to grow as they normally would. if you grow a plant up to 6' your only allowing for 4' in center for your leaves and giving no consideration to the stretch factor and leaves going straight up before they lay over..
some folks could care less but me i don't want the leaves craming up against my roof. i believe this will cause the plant to possibly start the leaves to not fully come out before the other new leaf starts, IMHO.
keep your ears open as i'll post pics of the 3 rajas second year plants on original mother corm, before fall sets in..
these are only MY THOUGHTS and learned growing pains..LOL
when i started the gh thing folks couldn't understand what i meant about air space. do you see what i'm saying??
mahoi, means double and this will happen on a second year plant on same mother corm. won't happen with first year plant.
here's a link to fruiting raja pics
http://spaces.msn.com/members/sgbananas/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaHandler=TWljcm9zb2Z0LlNwYW Nlcy5XZWIuUGFydHMuUGhvdG9BbGJ1bS5GdWxsTW9kZUNvbnRyb2xsZXI%24&_c11_PhotoAlbum_spaFolderID=cns!1pAQDvabFapWuMkiWAMykn2w!130&_c=PhotoAlbum
here's a link to my bananas
http://spaces.msn.com/members/sgbananas/
rsieminski
10-22-2005, 07:12 PM
Is that the same Banana as in my gallery?:
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=162&cat=500&ppuser=76
I'd desperately like to know what kind it is.
Southern-Grower
10-22-2005, 07:42 PM
if yur asking is yur plant a raja, nope
they don't have red on midrib..
solid green except a small red tinge around leaf..
Southern-Grower
10-23-2005, 02:16 PM
hmm supposed i need to watch weather..
coming week is getting a bit low..so went ahead and covered 1 layer on gh today..
here's the raja as of date.
http://storage.msn.com/x1pGg9EMswqL-91HIgtio7sKj-oiZbi4ifuqudcBGKJ42fvDb735D9X87xxn4Y_dYoWqh-MqF0lS_Fk_0hyaP69JgCrT8k_sbl7m0JLva8hkzxRPtaqhxeUkSh5LyRl4DSD024 eEVGjeEVM5BZCJvUo-w
http://storage.msn.com/x1pGg9EMswqL-91HIgtio7sKj-oiZbi4ifuqudcBGKJ42feZUGszEx5fsPYKRDt8wQcN6T6NbmOhIqollFdH2q4_Xk qg3Td4EgLrPZDcaFVZFFqdYVBwIsyWhgzAf14x7hv_yb2F9Yw5WVYW2reGDbRJg
http://storage.msn.com/x1pGg9EMswqL-91HIgtio7sKj-oiZbi4ifuqudcBGKJ42f5ZE2Pix8yXpyj7MLw2Nt0nMj4zjHuBKPY8bG62GYKOC7 iyj8lg8kyadmZIHSDpVOiCuvWLmRpMVcqvBaDbR5LfOJkrULQATjE_cJzrP4UKQ
http://storage.msn.com/x1pGg9EMswqL-91HIgtio7sKj-oiZbi4ifuqudcBGKJ42dlUW1iEgtXqDzY6MIELxgKgIGcHYfYf5L6IkbAcydtzdn E8eWDFkQkcX4j6-7F2xEeS2sofo9tF59iJZB_b1wio8ix9oLv6vVOPbkBFzGehg
BobbyinNY
10-24-2005, 07:54 AM
that said, i would look at plants that will match 3/4 side wall height. this will allow the 4-5' leaves to grow as they normally would. if you grow a plant up to 6' your only allowing for 4' in center for your leaves and giving no consideration to the stretch factor and leaves going straight up before they lay over..
some folks could care less but me i don't want the leaves craming up against my roof. i believe this will cause the plant to possibly start the leaves to not fully come out before the other new leaf starts, IMHO
Oh, I didn't realize this.. That's depressing.... I really don't wanna lose this plant. What if I brought it indoors in my living room. I have 13ft ceilings in there and maybe I can get some plant lights to get it through the winter.
Bananavilla
10-24-2005, 09:50 AM
I'm not sure why some folks think that the banana needs light to "make it through" winter. If you just bring them in and stop watering them (keep barely moist/dry) they will store just fine. They pretty much go dormant. You will most likely do more damage than good with "plant lights" in my oppinion. Unless your talking at least 1000W of Metal Halide. To week of light is going to cause them to think they can grow but only produce spindly week growth.
I have stashed young plants that I didn't want any frost damage on in the garage (in the dark) several times. They look a bit ratty come spring but they are fine.
My 2 cents anyway.
Mike
BobbyinNY
10-24-2005, 10:03 AM
If you just bring them in and stop watering them (keep barely moist/dry) they will store just fine.
That's interesting, Mike.. I didn't know that. But if you bring them indoors to make them go dormant, don't you have to put them in a cool,dark room and cut off all of the leaves?. Can you just put it in regularly lit room with a window or something and leave the plant alone. I advocate grow-lights because I've had alot of success with them last year. I grew my coconut palms & orange trees in a room with Grow lights and kept a humidifier in there with temps in the 80's and they thought they were outdoors - so I just figured that bananas would do the same. I use like (10) 150-watt grow spots and my light levels are about 5-10K/candlefoot power in there.
Bananavilla
10-24-2005, 10:40 AM
Bobby, I wouldn't hesitate to just bring them in. I have a very large potted Raja Puri I am going to bring in by one of our south facing windows.
I guess it all comes down to what you are trying to accomplish. As long as you keep them from freezing they will survive. But active growth is another thing.
How large where the palms you over-wintered? I think you would be better off investing in a 1000W MH light than running 10 150W Spots. You would have more lumens and use less juice. I hope I don't seem to be discouraging you in any way. As you can see below I am all up for plant experimentation. :eek: All I am saying is that to keep an almost full size banana actively growing indoors would be a major commitment. One of my large bananas alone would take up the area that a 1000W light can cover.
Mike
http://members.aol.com/runboy7426/growroomme.jpg
BobbyinNY
10-24-2005, 10:56 AM
That's awesome, Mike....
Yeah, I can tell you're definitely committed - me too. Yeah, I thought about the Metal-Halide Light - These grow-lights cost me a fortune last year. for the Palms I just use Compact flourescants for and they seem to be ok with that. The whole problem I have with my house is that, although I have alot of room, I have very little light :(.. I have two rooms that have South-Facing windows with decent light but They're not rooms where I can put plants because one is my wife's room for her rabbits and the other is the bedroom and she's kill me if I got the carpet dirty. If I put it in my room that I have set-up for plants It'll probably take over the whole room. I cannot believe how big these plants have gotten - I never would've imagined that that little Dwarf-Cavendish that I bought in a 3-inch pot at the nursery would've gotten as big as it has. The palms that I over-wintered were all different sizes (5-12ft Adonidias, 1-20ft Queen, 4-3ft Cocos Nucifera, a few Washingtonias) and the ones that I have in my living room. Maybe I can just keep the banana in my living room with the compact flourescants - It's not that bright but it's decent. I guess I just have to come to terms with the fact that "Non-Active Growth" doesn't = Death.. that's my fear.
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