Log in

View Full Version : Need Recommendations for Banana Taste Diversity


Brebarian
02-27-2020, 11:40 PM
I live in Santa Barbara, and currently have a small, longstanding mat of FHIA-01 Goldfinger, purchased from a grower in Carpinteria many years ago. It produces reliably and is a great banana, but I'd like to expand my collection to other varieties.

I'd like two more varieties with the dessert-type, dwarfing, cold- and wind-resistant characteristics of the Goldfinger, but with a somewhat different taste profile. Is that possible?

I'm looking at Dwarf Namwah, Dwarf Brazilian and Pisang Ceylon as possibilities, but I'm worried that their fruit will be virtually indistinguishable from the Goldfinger's.

Any advice? Are there varieties that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!

beam2050
02-28-2020, 01:03 AM
good luck

Backyard Banana Joe
02-28-2020, 08:31 AM
I live in Santa Barbara, and currently have a small, longstanding mat of FHIA-01 Goldfinger, purchased from a grower in Carpinteria many years ago. It produces reliably and is a great banana, but I'd like to expand my collection to other varieties.

I'd like two more varieties with the dessert-type, dwarfing, cold- and wind-resistant characteristics of the Goldfinger, but with a somewhat different taste profile. Is that possible?

I'm looking at Dwarf Namwah, Dwarf Brazilian and Pisang Ceylon as possibilities, but I'm worried that their fruit will be virtually indistinguishable from the Goldfinger's.

Any advice? Are there varieties that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!





I think that they would all taste different. Pisang Ceylon is not too wind hardy tho

Best day
02-28-2020, 10:24 AM
I agree with your logic of, why grow another banana if it tastes the same? I would highly recommend Dwarf Namwa. The fruit is sweeter and denser. Dwarf Brazilian is amazing but I think tastes similar to Gold Finger.

I don’t know how cold it gets in your part of Santa Barbara. But if you can, you should grow Dwarf Red. It stays small. It is a beautiful plant with beautiful fruit. Even if you think the fruit tastes similar to Gold Finger. The plant looks so different and beautiful you will be happy you grow it. The only problem is it is somewhat cold sensitive. It takes temps down to 40 with no problem. But under that it’s leaves will start browning.

I’m interested to see what other varieties people recommend.

Bill

Mark Dragt
02-28-2020, 10:36 AM
I would add a Raja Puri to that list.

Mark Dragt
02-29-2020, 12:22 AM
There this known fact among banana growers. You can always plant 1 more. Dwarf Orinoco should also be on your list.

Brebarian
02-29-2020, 02:18 AM
I think that they would all taste different. Pisang Ceylon is not too wind hardy tho

Thanks for the tip Joe, I'll take it off the list.


I don’t know how cold it gets in your part of Santa Barbara. But if you can, you should grow Dwarf Red. It stays small. It is a beautiful plant with beautiful fruit. Even if you think the fruit tastes similar to Gold Finger. The plant looks so different and beautiful you will be happy you grow it. The only problem is it is somewhat cold sensitive. It takes temps down to 40 with no problem. But under that it’s leaves will start browning.
Bill

I'd love to be able to grow something like Dward Red, but from your description, it would definitely get too cold. Santa Barbara is pretty solidly zone 10a, it got into the mid-30's this winter. For the that reason, I'm also apprehensive about trying varieties like Gros Michel "Highgate." There don't seem to be many reviews for Highgate, but I might have to get one as an experiment.

Bill, thanks for your vote to Dwarf Namwah, it's definitely on my list now.

There this known fact among banana growers. You can always plant 1 more. Dwarf Orinoco should also be on your list.

Haha, I'm getting there. Mark, thanks for the recommendation. I'll do some research into Dwarf Orinoco.

Best day
02-29-2020, 10:46 AM
As far as cold hardiness for Dwarf Red goes, in Long Beach we had an early onset of a cold winter. But we didn’t get really cold. We had a lot of nights that got down to 40-45F. We probably had 10-20 nights that got down to 38. The Dwarf Red had zero damage while my Gros Michel had brown spots all over its leaves. About 7-8 years ago we had a very cold winter. Many, many nights got down to mid thirties. The coldest night got down to 29! The Dwarf Red looked horrible. I thought it was dead. But come spring it came back to life. By mid summer it was beautiful again. So it might do fine at your house. I don’t know.

Bill

Brebarian
03-01-2020, 09:23 PM
Interesting. I wouldn't have thought dwarf red would be hardier than gros michel.

Now that I've filled one of my two spots with a Dwarf Namwah, I still have one spot to fill.

I really like the idea of a Dwarf Orinoco, it's definitely produces a different banana than the Goldfinger/Namwah does, and I remember enjoying the taste of the Orinoco when I had one years ago.

From here, it seems I need to decide between Dwarf Orinoco, Cali Gold (which I've read is a sport of Dwarf Orinoco) and Monthan, which I recently found out about, and seems to be comparable, or even superior to Dwarf Orinoco in some respects.

Any opinions about how Cali Gold and Monthan stack up against Dwarf Orinoco?

momoese
03-01-2020, 09:46 PM
DB is very tasty.

Orinoco sucks IMO.

pitangadiego
03-01-2020, 11:49 PM
Variety in taste would include Saba or Praying Hands, a red banana, Lakatan (less sweet, stronger flavor) and Misi Luki or Namwah. Most of these are tall in inbetween.

The Fhias and Pisang Klotek, MPsang Ceylon, Poovan, etc mostly have the same flavor profile. Most of the Cavendish family are similar, and you can buy Cavendish at the grocery store. Most reds have the same flavor profile, and produce smaller bunches. Saba and Praying Hands are related.

It has nothing to do with height, but my favorites are all tall.

sammy121
03-02-2020, 05:29 AM
aaa

cincinnana
03-02-2020, 04:51 PM
Any advice? Are there varieties that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!

Forum member Robguz24 has done a few taste reports of the banana plants he grows.

Here is a link of one of his posts....there are many more.
http://www.bananas.org/268419-post1.html

Brebarian
03-03-2020, 02:21 PM
Forum member Robguz24 has done a few taste reports of the banana plants he grows.

I've seen a few of his reports, they're great! Very thorough. Unfortunately, nothing on Monthan/(Dwarf) Orinoco/Cali Gold.

Variety in taste would include Saba or Praying Hands, a red banana, Lakatan (less sweet, stronger flavor) and Misi Luki or Namwah. Most of these are tall in inbetween.

The Fhias and Pisang Klotek, MPsang Ceylon, Poovan, etc mostly have the same flavor profile. Most of the Cavendish family are similar, and you can buy Cavendish at the grocery store. Most reds have the same flavor profile, and produce smaller bunches. Saba and Praying Hands are related.

From the research I've done, it seems that Saba is part of of the ABB group, the same group as the Dwarf Orinoco. A few taste reports I've run across mention similarities between the flavor profiles of Saba and Orinoco, and the bananas also seem to resemble each other. Since it seems Dwarf Orinoco get close to Saba flavor-wise, I would probably prioritize it over Saba due to its short stature and legendary hardiness.

And Monthan is out because it appears it's on the taller side.

So, I think I'm down to choosing between Dwarf Orinoco and Dwarf Orinoco "Cali Gold." Are there any meaningful differences between those two varities?

pitangadiego
03-03-2020, 04:28 PM
Monthan is a nice banana, but definitely taller.

anhy123
03-09-2020, 04:38 AM
I live in Santa Barbara, and currently have a small, longstanding mat of FHIA-01 Goldfinger, purchased from a grower in Carpinteria many years ago. It produces reliably and is a great banana, but I'd like to expand my collection to other varieties.

I'd like two more varieties with the dessert-type, dwarfing, cold- and wind-resistant characteristics of the Goldfinger, but with a somewhat different taste profile. Is that possible?

I'm looking at Dwarf Namwah, Dwarf Brazilian and Pisang Ceylon as possibilities, but I'm worried that their fruit will be virtually indistinguishable from the Goldfinger's.

Any advice? Are there varieties that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!
I live in Santa Barbara, and currently have a small, longstanding mat of FHIA-01 Goldfinger, purchased from a grower in Carpinteria many years ago. It produces reliably and is a great banana, but I'd like to expand my collection to other varieties.

I'd like two more varieties with the dessert-type, dwarfing, cold- and wind-resistant characteristics of the Goldfinger, but with a somewhat different taste profile. Is that possible?

I'm looking at Dwarf Namwah, Dwarf Brazilian and Pisang Ceylon as possibilities, but I'm worried that their fruit will be virtually indistinguishable from the Goldfinger's.

Any advice? Are there varieties that I'm overlooking?

Thanks!