voyager

Last year I responded to a Craigslist ad and picked up 10 apple banana keikis.
He had several varieties available.
I wanted and specifically asked for a tall [12' to 15'] apple type banana.
The parent plants were in the size range of the one that is now flowering.
I went out with him to help dig them up. We separated them with an o'o.
When I got them home, I didn't have an area ready for them yet, so I laid them in a shady area on the lawn, covering the root end with a tarp.
I had asked him about not getting them into the ground right away and was told they would be OK for at least a couple of weeks.
One small one died.

The other 9 have been growing with various degrees of vigor.
One has very quickly out grown all the others.

It is now putting out a flower.
It don't look like any apple banana I've ever seen.

My guess is that it is a Cavendish type.
I haven't cut any leaves to look at the petiols yet.
If I need to I will.
But, I'd rather not.

Any informed guesses as to what type it is?

EDIT:
I have been ascribing its quick growth to the compost bin located right behind it, assuming that it was getting more nutrients from the composter than the other plants.

Narnia

They look like Lady Finger Banana.

Gabe15

Definitely not a Cavendish, they look like Tall Apple, I don't see anything that would suggest otherwise, but keep posting photos as the bunch develops.

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Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

a.hulva@coxinet.net

Great pics. What type camera? A hour

voyager

I had backed out of serious photography as digital began to take over and film processing became more difficult to get done.
I did buy a D70 so I could use my Nikon lenses, but never considered it to be a serious camera.
So for a good many years I have not been into much more than just snapshots.

I considered full frame 24MP to be the least I would consider for my next serious camera.
So, with the recent improvements in digital, I recently jumped for a D610.
I considered the D810 but decided it was beyond what I could effectively put to use, so not worth the extra cost, right now.
I was using my 30 year old lenses on it but noticed some imaging problems.
Since moving to Hawai'i, the lenses have begun to grow fungi on the interior of the lens elements. Not good!
I just bought a new 70-200 f2.8 and am scoping on a new replacement for the 28-70 f2.8.
There, that'll teach you to ask about the camera.

These were taken with the D610 and the old 28-70 f2.8, then Photoshopped to lighten the dark areas and darken the light areas and reduce the size for posting.

@ Gabe15
I will continue to follow their development closely. But, the proof will be in the first bite from a ripe banana from it.
I'm thinking about pulling a ladder out to get closeups of the flowers.
But, I'll probably wait for the male flowers to begin after the fruit stops emerging.
I can get pics of the petiol canal from leaves on the pup at the plant's base.

@Narnia
I considered lady fingers to be a possibility. Those were one of the varieties he said that he did have growing there.

It looks so different from the small 6' to 8' apple bananas I have growing in a couple of clumps already. Those fruit bunches are much smaller [fewer, shorter fruit, although they are "winter" developed under cooler temps], and stick out almost horizontal from the plant's top. The way these droop so close to vertical along with the much larger more elongated blossom that emerged, the distinctly yellow/white female flowers on the fruit with no red to be seen, their looking as if they'll develop more hands along with more fruit in each hand, and with their looking like they will be larger fruit had me worried.

a.hulva@coxinet.net

I guess that means my IPhone 6 won't make the cut. The pics are out standing!!
Thanks for sharing.

Gabe15

The short 6-8' are the dwarfs, commonly also just called 'Apple' in Hawaii, but also 'Dwarf Apple', 'Dwarf Brazilian', or 'Santa Catarina'. You have the tall version, which are also called just called 'Apple' in Hawaii, but also 'Tall Apple'. Along with the dwarf, this is the most common banana in the state, and chances are usually that some random unknown banana is a 'Tall Apple'.

"Ladyfinger" doesn't really exist, it's more or less used as a catch-all term for any unfamiliar short, sweet banana. In Hawaii, 'Silk', 'Mysore' and 'Sucrier' (none of which you have, and all of which are very distinct cultivars) are all commonly called Ladyfinger.

__________________
Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

voyager

Keep in mind that the eye behind the lens is more important than the gear in front of the eye.
Plus, Photoshop can coverup a multitude of screw-ups.

voyager

My hopes for having the tall apple bananas are much less in doubt now.
I was beginning to think about going back to confront my banana tree vendor.
I'll wait and see how this turns out now.

I stripped some of the old dead sheaths off the stem, baring the live leaf sheaths down to their bases. Didn't have time to get pics today and will be taking a day long excursion around the island's perimeter tomorrow. I'll get more pics to post, probably the day after tomorrow.

voyager

OK, here are the live leaf sheaths at the bottom of the "trunk".


I'd think that the reddish coloring on the sheaths might be indicative of something.

voyager

Walked out and looked at it again today.


The only one I know of that grows its bunch horizontally is the Apple Banana.

It looks as if it is done making fruit.
I looks to have begun making male flowers.
If those all develop, it'll be the largest bunch of apples I've seen so far.

sputinc7

From what I understand, I have a Brazilian, which is supposed to be the same as Hawaiian apple. That flower bud does not look like the one I have out there now... Mine seems to have more of a moderate imbrication and yours seems like it has less... See for yourself.



I can get a closer pic tomorrow if someone wants to compare more closely.

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If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

voyager

Hi sputinc7,
That is a very interesting difference between the plants.

From "The World of Bananas in Hawaii: Then and Now, Kepler & Rust", I have copied the simplified apple banana key:


Nothing is said about the characteristics of how the bracts lay on the growing blossom.
I will admit that all the Dwarf Brazilian blossoms I've seen look more like the one on the tall variety pictured here, but more rounded, not as elongated or pointed.

If it is important, and it may not be, I would think the key indicates that you may have something else.
Do not read my having any great knowledge about bananas into my reply. I'm just guessing from what my source seems to say.

The final proof will be in the fruit having a "nipple" end on it and the tangy apple banana taste.

sputinc7

B is what I have. Very little doubt. They are pretty good but small. They seem to flower around 8-9 feet.

Apparently when I was in Hawaii the ones I fell in love with were the A or tall Hawaiian apple. They were larger, but not as long as store bought, but were delicious. Those plus Hamura's Saimin are worth going back for by themselves. For some reason, you cannot get saimin anywhere outside Hawaii... Not even Hawaiian themed restaurants and luaus.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

voyager

@ sputinc7,

Just for comparison:
One of my Dwarf Brazilians began putting out a new blossom a day or two ago.
It now looks like this:

It is more like the blossom on the tall variety than the one in your photo.
Again, that may have no significant meaning.

I was looking at an older DB blossom with fruit formed in my other clump earlier today.
The rachis is "messy", old bracts and male flowers are still attached to it below the fruit.
Per text in the book sited above, that is a characteristic of the DB.
That's also the reason I usually end up cutting them off once they're well past the fruit.
The cone of bracts on the end of the older rachis is shaped more like I have described elswhere as "rounded".

EDIT:

The "messy" rachis:



Also, note how the nipple end is forming on the fruit.
Another DB/B characteristic.

Tytaylor77

Brazillians never have wine spots right? And Manzano does. I know there is better ways to tell them apart. My Manzano pups always have wine spots. Not a lot. Just 2-3 marks per leaf when small.

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sputinc7

I would cut that off as well. It is messy. The one on top looks very much like my blossom at that stage, even the distance between hands is a little more sparse than many bananas are.



Here is another shot of mine around the same time...



Other than a minor difference of color, mainly in the flag leaf they look very similar to me. Funny how the last one I had was completely clean and the new one has a few males left and then they began falling after that. It has the blooming characteristics of a tall but blooms at 9 feet, which is ok, easier to tend to.
Mine are quite small, again too. I remember in Hawaii they do get near Cavendish size, but your pummelos are big as soccer balls, too.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

voyager

I couldn't swear to it, but if memory serves me, the only place I've ever seen spotting on leaves labeled as being apples have been in HD or other big box stores.
From other threads around here, I gather that you can't bee too sure of what you're actually getting at those types of places.

If they do get spots, they probably disappear as the young plant gets older.

-----------------------
In the second photo, the way the stem is growing out more horizontally with the fruit sticking up almost vertically makes me think DB/B.

sputinc7

Gabe told me mine were Brazilians, even though when I bought them it was supposed to be Manzano. I know mine never had spots and I got it as a small TC plant.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

venturabananas

Brazilians do sometimes have light wine spots on water suckers and small TC plants.

For me, Brazilian and Manzano are very hard to tell apart until they bloom -- and even then it isn't easy for me. Gabe may know some failsafe ways of telling them apart. I only know what the Keppler and Rust books says.

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