jpitt916

Well, once I saw the fruit on this plant I was thinking it was the Musa basjoo so I was searching through the forums and it doesn't seem to be the case. The petioles are closed, and the male bud is purplish and doesn't have a really long stem on it.

So without further ado:





Thank you! I have 5 separate main plants, and all have multiple pups and various stages of development. Two of them have flowers, and this plant is the furthest along. It's pretty dry here in San Diego and where I am there is a LOT of sun and wind so they get a little beat up but for the most part they seem happy. I am hoping this is an edible banana, but who knows.... hopefully some of you do!

Edit: The tallest ones are about 8.5' tall, and the leaves are roughly 40"x18".

edwmax

How many ribs does the fingers have? A closeup pic of the finger would help.

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Gabe15

It's 'Orinoco'

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

jpitt916

There are 5 ribs.

jpitt916

Guess my pics were too late! LOL Well, one of them looks pretty artistic so that's good.

Thanks for the info. Time to read all about the Orinoco, looks like they'll need a lot of dark spots before they'll be sweet....which is just how I like to eat my bananas. Cooking is apparently good too, and I do enjoy a good fried banana.

edwmax

Yes they are Orinoco. 3 ribs or Triangular shaped fingers. The fingers will plump up nice & round though. ... I was only concerned because the pstem seemed to be darker than usual more like a couple of other banana varieties. My Orinocos have much more green color on the pstem.

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jpitt916

Thanks, my only concern is that I felt 3 ribs on top, then there's the two bottom ribs that you can see in the picture, for a total of 5 ribs.

edwmax

I think you are counting the humps between the ribs. These are caused by the fattening of the finger. ... Look at this reference and the cut section of the finger. The ribs are sharp pointed and the peel is thicker; while the humps looks like a rib but are smoother ... ref:https://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/...ion/01USA10873

The rib best show when the Brac first opens.


Gabe above is an expert and does Banana research every day. So I don't doubt his determination.


Oh ... if you are interested, the wide spacing of the hands is because of lack of fertilizer (nitrogen & potassium). Double or triple the amount you are applying to get a much tighter bunch on the next year's bunch. This is my bunch from last year. http://caironet.com/banana/bunch1-10262017.2Ejpg

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jpitt916

Yeah my soil stinks, and finding fertilizers around here is a huge challenge for some reason. I read 4-4-7 is appropriate here on the forums. I've been using an organic fertilizer but it is 4-5-4 so definitely potassium deficient.

Thanks. Yes, I was feeling the top of the finger since I couldn't see it, so that's probably why.

I appreciate the help!

edwmax

See the forum Wiki for fertilizer info: Info:Fertilizer - Bananas Wiki


Use an off-the-self garden blend (or tomato fertilizer) which will have the micro elements needed. I use 10-10-10 (50 lbs is $12) and supplement potassium. Which makes these easy to use and to calculate the amounts needed. ( 10lbs of 10-10-10 & 1 lb of SOP per plant for the season)



.... I know availability depends on the Garden Center. Any of the triple NPK fertilizers will do. Potassium can be Sulfate of Potash (SOP) which is 0-0-50 (50lbs; $35); or Murate of Potash (MOP) which is 0-0-60 (50lbs; $15).

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bananaT

Orinoco is a very good variety. Delicious and easy to grow.
They have small hands/bunches but they make up for it with their dependability.
Your plants look good, they are that yellowish color normally. And it looks like you got a good size bunch too, for an Orinoco....

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