chickenfreak

Hello!

I'm obviously new around here, and I was hoping somebody could identify my mystery naner. I bought it in central Florida (north of Deland) from some Mexican people. The only English they could say was "short, fat, sweet". Since the woman didn't wink, I figure she was talking about the fruit and not me.

The flower popped out about 9 months after planting. Where it came out is about 7' high. About 5 months after I planted, hurricane Matthew blew through and tore up the leaves, but the stalk was unhurt, so it seems to have strong roots. The leaves get shredded VERY easily, as opposed to a dwarf Namwah I just planted where there hasn't been any shredding at all. The fruit took a little more than 4 months before it was rounded enough to harvest. The plant produced two hands, with 8 fruits each.

I've included pix below. The shot of naners on stalk was taken a couple weeks after they appeared. I ate the one in the picture and it was slightly tart in the middle, but that could've been because it was just a tiny bit not ripe.

If anyone could help, I would really appreciate it. I have limited space and don't want to buy the same thing again. Thank you!
(I tried to upload photos from my gallery, but they didn't appear.)

Attached Images

	naner 1.jpg (1.09 MB, 20 views)
	naner 2.jpg (1.20 MB, 19 views)
	naner 3.jpg (1.16 MB, 13 views)
	naner 4.jpg (522.0 KB, 18 views)
	naner 5.jpg (536.5 KB, 15 views)
	naner 6.jpg (1.17 MB, 21 views)

crazy banana

Looks like Orinoco to me.

Tytaylor77

I agree! Deffently Orinoco!

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edwmax

A Dwarf Orinoco. I think you had only 2 hands due to lack of (not enough) fertilizer and potassium. ... The Orinoco and variant Bluggoe bananas are favorites of Mexico & Central American people as it can be eaten as cooked (green) and as desert (fully ripe). ... As in your picture, a ripe Orinoco will show a fair amount of black on the skin.

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chickenfreak

Orinoco it is!

This makes a lot of sense because I remember reading that these are one of the more cold tolerant plants, and where I bought it was inland where it gets colder than the shore area.

Thanks for your time and replies! I liked the tip about not enough potassium being the reason for only 2 hands - I was wondering about that. Since March, I've been pushing the plant with 2 cups of 20-0-50 once a month. We'll have to see how the next soodostem performs.

Thanks again!

edwmax

Look at the fertilizer recommendations in the forum wiki (link at top). A banana plant only needs about 1 lb of nitrogen and 1 1/2 lb of potassium during the growing season. ... 5 lb of 20-0-50 will furnish 1 lb of nitrogen and 2 1/2 lb potassium. What micros are in the 20-0-50? ... If none, then these can be furnished by using a tomato supplement.

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