How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
In other words, for those that actually grow D. Namwah, what is the minimum temp it has endured before dying to the ground? The cold hardy list at Wadd's Creek lists it similar to D. Cavendish: Cold Hardy Banana list - I can say from experience that my D. Cavendish tend to die to the ground at around 27F.
On the other hand, my Praying Hands, Goldfinger, and Ice Cream all came through fine unprotected at 27F. Ice Cream definitely endured 24F with psuedostems intact (I can't speak for PH or GF as they weren't part of my collection when it reached 24F). Of course, microclimates can have an effect, but I'm talking about if all things are held equal. So, does anyone want to weigh in on the D. Namwah? Thanks! Nate |
Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
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Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
I have maybe a dozen nights per year where the temperatures briefly hits freezing for a half hour or so before dawn. Dwarf Namwa has never shown any negative response to this, whereas a few other varieties I'm growing here take 2 months to recover.
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Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
For my area in St Lucie county I can rely on DN, DB, PK, RP and Gfinger to come thru frosts better than others. They show decent cold tolerance. Cold hardy is a term I reserve for oak trees.
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That's good news. I hadn't realized the DN was that forgiving. I'm glad I got those two from you. I'll protect them well this winter and try to get a June bloom and some pups. The DN could be the primary banana I grow if this works well. |
Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
Here's my little word of caution. It froze at my banana farm last december, it hit 28-29 degrees. Dwarf Namwah did well. It actually was the best of what I had. That being said, the areas of the farm where I had pruned and desuckered recently absolutely got hammered so my advice would be to not desucker late in the year like I did. I had desuckered my first planting in MArch and April and the rest of the plantings in September and October. The late desuckering made the planting look really nice and clean and then it froze out and I ended up losing an entire season of fruit.
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Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
Last year all the leafs died but DN was the first to show green again. When all the others were just showing 1 leaf DN had 3 green ones showing.
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Thanks everyone,
Seems like everyone likes this one! |
Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
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Re: How cold hardy is Dwarf Namwah?
Dan, I think that might be a little excessive for you area. I do not do anything to protect my Bananas anymore. Only Banana I ever lost was Williams.
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I don't protect any of my bananas anymore, since I have 10 or 12 different clumps - it's too labor intensive. I'm more into growing cool-tolerant varieties and seeing what happens. I can't say that I like sub-freezing winter temps, but in a way, it is valuable because I can see firsthand what can truly make it. Praying Hands surprised me - it made it through as well as Goldfinger and Ice Cream. We've been enjoying a harvest of PH bananas for the past week or so - man, I definitely recommend! Similar to Ice Cream, less sweet, but very creamy and smooth. They're not very hard to separate either, once they get ripe enough. And, of course, the fruit is just so cool looking... Based on the reviews of D Namwah, I think I'll be removing my last remaining clump of D Cavendish and subbing in D Namwah. Thanks, everyone for the feedback - very helpful conversation! Nate |
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