Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

I have a banana plant that was gifted to me about 2 years ago. My SIL planted it on the side of my property and although I have not cared for it, the plant grew well and as of today the mother has about 10 pups of various sizes. This winter it had some slight freeze damage on the leaves but in the spring it came back and shortly put up a flower. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the flower then. It proceeded in putting a few small hands and then male flowers took over.

I have a series of pictures in my album of this unknown variety. I will try to post in this thread but I have literally spent 2 days trying just to figure out how to upload pictures on this site so if I can not load them here, please visit my gallery.

1) I would like to get your expert opinion of what I might have. I have pictures of the mother and the many pups.

2) The banana rack is very small, but is starting to turn yellow on the top of the bananas with some small dark spots forming. The underneath of the banana has a blue greenish tint. Is this normal for the Bananas to turn yellow on the top and not around the circumference of the fruit? We have also had a lot of rain this past week.

3) The bananas are not really plump but have been growing for 3 to 4 months now. Any idea on when I should cut the bunch off.

4) There is one set of bananas that are fused together, maybe this is indicative of a certain variety. If not, I am not sure this is normal.

5) A second set of questions I would like your opinion on is which pup(s) I should keep after I harvest the small bunch. Most are growing in a straight line but one is at nearly 90 degrees away from the mother but pretty close to the mother. Most, if not all, of the really small pups appear to be sword suckers.

6) I plan to cut down the mother once I harvest the bunch. Should I leave the big pup at 90 degrees as the new mother or take the smaller pups in the staight line and leave the largest pup at the end of the corm?

Any help would be appreciated.

Scott















Other pictures are in my gallery

Re: Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

Orinoco? Blue Java? The plant's growth is pretty stunted from lack of nutrients/fertilizer so difficult to tell.

Re: Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

I talked to the grower where the unknown variety was grown. He believes that the banana plant is a Blue Java. I will be headed out to his plantation next weekend to learn more. The Bananas that I harvested were dense when they were first yellow with a standard flavor profile of the store bought banana. We riper they were sweeter and more custard like when the skins started to blacken.

The pups are growing very fast now that the mother has been removed and I have been fertilizing and doing chop and drops at the base.

Re: Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

Update on that mystery banana?

Re: Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

It's clearly Orinoco. It's rather malnourised, needs some more fert, water, or both.

Re: Unknown Variety - Help Identifying
 

Thanks @Gabe15. Yes the plant was under fertilized and was not on a watering system. I have addressed the fertilization and this year rain was pretty plentiful. Next year the mat will be moved to a better location.

The bananas tasted good, had the texture of a cavendish (dense and not mushy) and had thin skin. The flavor was better once the skin turned brown but the banana was never mushy.

Scott