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Gabe15
03-13-2009, 02:35 AM
This is a little self guided tour of a banana farm in Hawai'i. It is all 'Dwarf Brazilian' (locally called 'Apple', but not to be confused with 'Manzano' which is a different plant). Click, hold and drag in the frame to move the view around. It looks like I missed a frame in the lower portion, so sorry about the big black spot.

http://www.bananas.org/gallery/data/500/bananas1.mov

Newly planted field
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16107&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16107&ppuser=5)

Mature plant
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=16109&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=16109&ppuser=5)

colldp68
03-13-2009, 03:34 AM
Is the last picture a tall Brazilian or a dwarf? I have a dwarf and am not sure how tall they get. Thanks for the awesome pics!

Gabe15
03-13-2009, 03:44 AM
Is the last picture a tall Brazilian or a dwarf? I have a dwarf and am not sure how tall they get. Thanks for the awesome pics!
They are all dwarf, though these ones are as tall as some of the talls, though the talls can get even taller. I have seen the dwarf anywhere from about 5-12ft, and the tall anywhere from about 8-20ft, it depends a lot on growing conditions.

Tog Tan
03-13-2009, 05:17 AM
Hey Gabe, nice! What's the total cultivated acreage of this place? Approx?

Bob
03-13-2009, 08:12 AM
Thanks for posting Gabe. Wish i could figure how to use the clock and drag photo for my screensaver.

momoese
03-13-2009, 09:26 AM
Very cool Gabe!

LilRaverBoi
03-13-2009, 09:32 AM
Wow...I really hope to visit a banana farm sometime. That looks really cool! Thanks for sharing the pics!

austinl01
03-13-2009, 10:01 AM
Awesome! I hope I see some bananas like this in Maui when I go on vacation!

Gabe15
03-13-2009, 12:35 PM
Hey Gabe, nice! What's the total cultivated acreage of this place? Approx?

About 35-40 acres.

lorax
03-13-2009, 02:57 PM
That's beyond cool.

How did you do the 360 pannable? I'd love to be able to do those for some of the forests I visit....

momoese
03-13-2009, 03:09 PM
In looking at the pic with the bunch I noticed they are not thinning the stands much if any. What is their method for dealing with the stands and getting large bunches?

Bob
03-13-2009, 04:30 PM
Is that Senator Fongs' plantation by any chance?

Bananaman88
03-13-2009, 04:33 PM
Great 360 degree view! Thanks, Gabe!

austinl01
03-13-2009, 04:43 PM
Gabe, what are the most common varieties grown in Hawaii? I hope I can find some different kinds on those road side fruit stands.

Gabe15
03-13-2009, 05:55 PM
That's beyond cool.

How did you do the 360 pannable? I'd love to be able to do those for some of the forests I visit....
It's with a photo stitching computer program called PTGui. It combines normal photographs into panaramic photos.

In looking at the pic with the bunch I noticed they are not thinning the stands much if any. What is their method for dealing with the stands and getting large bunches?
They only have 4 workers there right now and do have enough time to thin them out properly. Normally, they would keep them managed as one mature fruiting shoot with 3-4 smaller shoots of various sizes.

Is that Senator Fongs' plantation by any chance?
No. It is Kahuku Farms owned by Clyde Fukuyama and Mel Matsuda.

Gabe, what are the most common varieties grown in Hawaii? I hope I can find some different kinds on those road side fruit stands.
Commercially, almost everything is 'Dwarf Brazilian' or 'Williams' (pretty much the same as 'Gran Nain'). Other varieties are grown commercially in small amounts such as 'Namwah' (often sold as "Cambodia banana"), Saba (often called 'Dippig') and 'Ice Cream', but these are usually only found at farmers markets. Depending on where you are in the state and literally which stands you visit, you may find all sorts of things. I've seen a lot of different varieties sold by people just cutting bunches from their backyards, so who knows. There are many different varieties growing in peoples yards, along roadsides and in the forest, but by far the most common banana plants seen are still 'Brazilian' and 'Dwarf Brazilian'.

PR-Giants
10-13-2013, 12:46 PM
Bump

cheson74
10-13-2013, 03:54 PM
I drove by the farm yesterday when we went to Giovanni's shrimp truck. There's a papaya farm right next to it.