View Full Version : Please help and identify this banana
ygator
08-13-2017, 06:51 PM
I was given a pup back in the early to mid 90's. In was sickly looking and was planted in mud. I didn't think it would grow. To my surprise over 20 years later and the lineage is still going strong. This is the first time I have had one starting to fruit. So hopefully I can finally find out what kind of banana it is. I will post pictures as it continues to grow to help you experts identify it.
Thanks
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62121&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62121&ppuser=19283)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62123&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62123&ppuser=19283)
Botanical_Bryce
08-13-2017, 07:05 PM
Looks orinoco to me
Tytaylor77
08-14-2017, 01:53 AM
It could be tall Orinoco. Post pictures after the 2nd hand opens and it will be easier to ID.
Congrats on the flower!
edwmax
08-14-2017, 04:11 PM
Please post an over-all picture of the plant. I've never seen an Orinoco bud that long in ratio to its width.
ygator
08-14-2017, 04:23 PM
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62131&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62131&ppuser=19283)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62125&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62125&ppuser=19283)
Tytaylor77
08-14-2017, 09:45 PM
Yes that's tall Orinoco. They do have long flowers. The dwarf form however has a big short thick flower!
Keep the pics coming! Looking good! You should get a few hands out of it. I'm guessing 4 hands!!! Anyone else guessing???
Where are you located Ygator?
Botanical_Bryce
08-14-2017, 10:09 PM
I think it still could be a dwarf. Those are all over Florida and never get over 10 feet. They don't stand as well as the talls and the fruit is way better. My favorite.
bananaT
08-15-2017, 07:56 AM
Interesting.
I'm curious to see the fruit.
ygator
08-15-2017, 11:59 AM
Where are you located Ygator?
Southwest Ohio
ygator
08-19-2017, 01:51 PM
Hope this helps.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62160&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62160&ppuser=19283)
Botanical_Bryce
08-19-2017, 02:00 PM
Hope this helps.
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62160&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62160&ppuser=19283)
As an orinoco collector it probably slightly helps. Many types but all pretty much same flowers. Safe bet tall or dwarf it's an orinoco. Having several types I find them so versatile. My talls I use for tostones and my dwarf I eat like a regular banana or make chips,
ygator
08-21-2017, 12:53 PM
Safe bet tall or dwarf it's an orinoco.
How can we narrow it down to which one?
beam2050
08-21-2017, 04:26 PM
I don't know but I would guess if you measure the p-stem? and how wide is it at the base.
Tytaylor77
08-22-2017, 07:05 AM
I'm 100% it's a tall Orinoco.
The pedicule is too long and droopy.
The pedicule is not wide and stout like dwarf.
The leaves are too long and narrow. Dwarf leaves are wide and thick.
The girth of the pstem is too narrow for dwarf.
I should have pictures of dwarf Orinoco in my profile. If not PM me with your email and I can send examples!!
ygator
08-22-2017, 01:21 PM
First Hand
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62180&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?
photo=62180&ppuser=19283)
Second Hand
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62181&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62181&ppuser=19283)
beam2050
08-22-2017, 01:38 PM
Second Hand
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=62181&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=62181&ppuser=19283)
don't know if would want to eat a second hand banana. :ha:
ygator
08-23-2017, 12:13 PM
I'm guessing 4 hands!!! Anyone else guessing???
I see two more hands today with 6 fingers each. So I am at a total of four hands now.
ygator
08-24-2017, 12:32 PM
Another hand today. That makes 5. However, hand 3 lost 3 fingers.
Tytaylor77
08-25-2017, 12:17 AM
It looks like i saw some male flowers on hand 2. So the ones dropping may by the males flowers. They will drop on Orinoco. I would have thought more than 1 hand but maybe it will be a big hand!! It's still WAY better than no hands!!
Hold your head high! Not many people fruit a tall Orinoco in Ohio!! Truly amazing job!! Its 100x harder to get 1 hand there vs 10 hands in FL, etc. congrats!!
ygator
08-28-2017, 06:58 PM
It looks like i saw some male flowers on hand 2. So the ones dropping may by the males flowers. They will drop on Orinoco. I would have thought more than 1 hand but maybe it will be a big hand!! It's still WAY better than no hands!!
How do you tell the difference on the flowers? I am not sure how many hands I have now, but the fingers end up falling off. Only the first two hands have retained the fingers.
I also have bumble bees around the flowers on the fingers. I take it that is okay though.
Hold your head high! Not many people fruit a tall Orinoco in Ohio!! Truly amazing job!! Its 100x harder to get 1 hand there vs 10 hands in FL, etc. congrats!!
Thanks. I usually keep them in pots, but the last several years I have planted the biggest one in the ground and dug it up in the fall. I then replant it in the ground again. I can't remember if this is the 2nd or 3rd year for this one. This time I have given it a bucket or two of water on most days. The only fertilizer I gave it is Osmocote for flower and vegetables.
I hope to get a banana to eat. These are okay to eat raw off the plant aren't they?
Tytaylor77
08-29-2017, 08:30 AM
It's pretty easy! The real fingers will always be much much larger! They will also spread out and start getting larger.
The male hands always come after the female, they will be tiny and depending on the variety will eventually dry up or fall off.
If the 2nd hand is holding any of those tiny fingers I would just snap them off. This will allow the 1st hand to fill faster! I find cutting the main bud really doesn't effect filling. Leave it on so you can watch/enjoy it.
Hopefully that first hand fills a little for you! Just before your first frost cut em off and either cook them as plantains or immediately put them in a bag with a couple apples. They should turn yellow and hopefully give you something to taste! Sucks they don't have much more time to fill before winter. If the first yellow one isn't good, I would take the peel off and fry them if you really want to eat them.
You can eat them anyway you want! Totally edible! But if not yellow or cooked they will taste very very astringent like a raw green plantain.
ygator
08-29-2017, 12:20 PM
Okay, so far there were 10 hands. Hand 1 has 5 bananas growing. I took the fingers off of hand 2. On the remaining hands the fingers fell off.
ygator
08-29-2017, 04:04 PM
Are the bract's edible as well? What about the stalk?
Tytaylor77
08-29-2017, 10:30 PM
Are the bract's edible as well? What about the stalk?
Someone correct me if I am wrong!! I'm pretty sure you can eat ANY part of the banana plant!! Taste is another thing!! I would t want to eat it haha. It would all be so astringent!! Next time your buying groceries. Buy a big green plantain. Peel it and fry it!! As your frying the pieces eat a green piece!! That is what I would think all the other parts of the banana plant would taste like. You may get some in your mouth but I bet you spit it out fast haha.
Look on YouTube how to clean and eat the bud!! That is pretty popular. I have tried to do this a couple times and it just wasn't for me. People eat it all around the world though. It's mostly the flowers! You just have to pull the hard plastic like part from them. Just YouTube it and see. if you do try the bud let me know what you think of the taste!!! I didn't like it! Lol
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