Geta

Hi,

Newbie here! Hello all, here's my first posting- with pictures to boot!

I'm very curious as to the identity of this banana. I bought what was supposed to be an Ice Cream from somebody in FL but.. not too sure about it now.

We have yet to actually get a bunch to ripen fully(flowers at wrong time, fell over, got sunburned etc.. sigh..) so I can't describe the taste(yet, hopefully!). It's VERY vigorous though. The main reasons for the skepticism is no "blue" on those plants at any time ever & Dad's friend in Costa Rica saw a picture of it and he told Dad that was not an eating banana, it was a cooking banana! Nnoooo! I scream for Ice Cream! Anyways here goes:

Close up of the female flowers(we were all shocked at how orchid-like the flowers were!):

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Overall picture of the flower:

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Closeup of a hand:

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Overall picture of the plant:

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That's a Rajapuri(is that one word or two?) in the back. Are there any closeup of Rajapuri flowers? Ours have flowered and it certainly is different from the Ice Cream so there's that.. LOL

modenacart

http://www.webebananas.com/bvar-G-I.html

Scroll down to Ice Cream and see if the pictures match.

Geta

Thanks, that's a nice huge website.

I have to say reading the descriptions & pictures they probably are not Ice Cream. Blue skin is repeatedly mentioned.. just never saw anything 'blue' on mine. Plus the pictures of the female flowers showed a pretty different flower type than on mine. http://webebananas.com/bpix/BP150-32.jpg The bananas, when more filled out didn't look so oddly blunt ended like in some of the fruit pictures. More like normal bananas, except much thicker than store bananas- and that's when they were still green (never got them to fully ripen yet).

Anybody have any guess to what they might be?

Is there someone local to Loma Linda or Riverside, Calif. who has actual, true Ice Creams? Perhaps I should ask for local experiences and opinions on if this variety produces good/decent quality fruit here, or if I should look at another variety.. I want to replace a clump of "Whateveritis" with true known Ice Cream or a locally compatible variety. I'm tired of this confusion & waiting(it's been three or four years by now I think). I do have a love for the unusual, really drool over the Praying Hands, seems their fruit is quite delicious too which is mighty nice.. but it seems this variety is one of the taller ones? Do they fruit well locally & how do they stand up against the wind..

Rajapuri OTOH seems to be a correct match for my Rajapuris, the pictures on that site didn't set off any alarm bells.

pitangadiego

My 2 cents: they look a lot more like Orinocco than Ice Cream.

I do believe that the male flowers are better for identifcation.

Raja Puri flowers, etc at http://www.webebananas.com/bvar-R-S.html

I am growing Praying Hands. The fruit is quite good. And yes, they are quite tall, but seemingly one of the most wind resistant varieties. Haven't lost one to the wind, yet, which is more than I can say for a lot of others.

I am not quite in Riverside, but if you are in San Diego, you are welcome to visit.

__________________
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http://encantofarms.com
We Be Bananas
http://webebananas.com

Geta

I think you are right about it being Orinoco. Just looked at the Orinoco pictures from that site(is it yours?).. while I can't remember what the male flowers looked like the pictures really do match in every other way. I'm going to go ahead and assume they are Orinocos. So.. I have a couple clumps to replace, they are not what I wanted.. might keep one clump and try cooking tostones but, eh. The Rajapuri male flowers I do remember being just like in the pictures on your site. Thanks for the identifications.

So Praying Hands handles wind well & produced good fruit relatively locally.. ok you convinced me. I do want one. I'm not too worried about the wind actually, was just afraid a much bigger banana might be prone to falling over, as the main location has full sun and exposure. Any other varieties I should try looking up?

I'll PM you via this site to see about your location & possible visiting.

pitangadiego

Yes, webebananas is my site. It grew out of my collecting info about my own plants. I collect info from wherever I can I can find it, and add pictures from my own plants as I have time. It got the short end of the stick last year because I put so much time into my fig collection and website http://figs4fun.com

I have never had to prop Praying hands, which is good because it is so tall. Saba is equally stout and strong.

__________________
Encanto Farms Nursery
http://encantofarms.com
We Be Bananas
http://webebananas.com

AnnaJW

Hi Geta,

I'm in Riverside and my Ice Cream bloomed several months ago. The bananas looked "fuzzy", and not such a bright green. I had to pick them early due to the Big Freeze.

I encourage you to visit Pitangodiego's plantation. It's absolutely amazing!

__________________
-Anna Banana -

Living my life in MMORPG's

Geta

Hi Anna,

Hello neighbor! What part of Riverside are you in? I'm in Sun City, unfortunately bananas don't do so good here so I had to give them to my father who lives in Loma Linda, close to the hospital. The plants are doing great- the pictures above were of the originals, there's now several stands of multiple big stalks.

Thanks for your input. I really doubt mine are Ice Creams, everything so far are suggesting they are Orinocos. Do you have any suggestions as to where I can find a reliable source? Not sure if Pitangodiego sells, but will be sure to say hello to him if I'm in his area if just to see the bananas..

AnnaJW

Hi Geta,

I'm near Lake Mathews. We have a definite micro-climate here. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

I get maybe 90% or more of my plants off of eBay. I've gotten some very nice plants from members of this forum, too. I got some great plants from Pitangodiego when I was there last summer.

Banana growing is very addicting! There should be some good varieties that would do well in Sun City. The "Best of the Best" banana growers are on this forum - they can surely suggest some that would do well for you!

If my Ice Cream pups make it back from the nasty winter, I'll save one for you if you'd like.

__________________
-Anna Banana -

Living my life in MMORPG's