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Cold Hardy Bananas This forum is dedicated to the discussion of bananas that are able to grow and thrive in cold areas. You'll find lots of tips and discussions about keeping your bananas over the winter. |
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05-02-2009, 11:01 AM | #21 (permalink) | |
Been nuts, gone bananas
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Hey, Chong, chill, dude! :P
Just joking, but I want to make sure you didn't "suspect" I was directing my comments specifically towards you. After all, you were clear in your comment above: Quote:
Hey, Bob, get 10 of each so we can have a really good comparison with some statistical significance! I can assure you with 95% confidence that California Cold Hardy is not very similar to Dwarf Orinoco or California Gold. It is a taller plant and produces large bunches. The closest relationship may be in the relationship of the two guys promoting them. I'm trying to get my hands on a Texas Star also so that I can compare them, but not under scientific conditions, just for fun so I can say they "seem" similar, different, or whatever. |
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05-02-2009, 11:10 AM | #22 (permalink) |
Orang Puteh
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Hey Harvey, If I had room(and better climate) for 10 of each I would do it. I am actually looking for more land to grow on. The current economy might work in my favor there.
Are you sure you want a Chong mugshot? Those Seattle types can be scary(it's the 11 months of rain I think). Delete this last paragraph when you see it so Chong doesn't suspect anything......... |
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05-02-2009, 01:14 PM | #23 (permalink) |
Ensete nut
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
After reading this thread out of my personal boredom, I am gonna dive in and tell y'all what I think.
In the case of this cultivar and that, the only way is to create a data base of the physical aspects of the plant. This is what I have done since I got into 'naners. You get a plant, record it photographically from the first stage of growth as a pup. Then do it till it fruits. The following are the important things you have to record. Juvenile stage 1. Leaf shape in growth. 2. Leaf markings. Adult stage 1. Overall view of plant. 2. Close up of top and bottom surface of the leaf. 3. Comparison shot of the leaf apex and leaf base with petiole. 4. General color of the plant. 5. Close up of the top and whole p-stem 6. Flower bud 7. Immature fruit 8. Matured fruit - whole - sliced length wise with skin - sliced across with skin. 9. Record the taste of the fruit with a particular one as the comparison. Always used the selected fruit as a comparison to the later ones you taste. This gives you a standard of measure of sort. From the above pix you can access the characteristics such as the waxyness of the leaf, color of the p-stem in different stages of growth, especially adult stage. Once you get this data, it's not hard to identify a non fruiting plant. Remember my Drwaf Friuting thingy? I kept asking about the p-stem color diff between the SDC and the DC and no one responded? I realised that no one did actually noticed this characteristic on cultivars. Of course Gabe came in and showed pix of the plant in question and solved the whole thing. With what I have done on the M'sian cultivars, now I can say I can tell apart the cultivars at a distance just by looking at them and spotting their unique characteristics. Next thing I am doing is I am going to do the same for the Thai ones and then compare them to the M'sian ones. It's fun! Try it and you will enjoy looking at 'naner plants more. Btw, I can distinguish the all local species from a distance of 500 metres away. I will always tell my business partner, Francis, as we are driving around what species or cultivars in the village or jungle areas are, and I am correct 90% of the time. It has become a game to me and I enjoy it very much. No jokes, not that I am good as some will say, but I took the trouble to be observant. Ok, do it like the way you look at chicks and try to figure out their stats..... |
05-02-2009, 01:46 PM | #24 (permalink) |
Been nuts, gone bananas
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
LOL, I try not to look that closely, Tog, I am happily married and want to keep it that way!!!
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05-02-2009, 07:57 PM | #25 (permalink) | ||
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Quote:
Quote:
| V | | V | | V Please do not circulate this around. People might mistake me for someone else. |
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05-03-2009, 04:18 AM | #26 (permalink) |
Ensete nut
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Quote:
I insist you do it again with a true to type now pix. This time use a photostat machine. You can close your eyes and then paint them in later. It's better than a camera cos you don't need someone else to do it and then blame them for any short comings. One of my crazy friends once photostated his private parts and sent the pix to all the girls he knows anonymously. I told him, it's a great idea, but how about a group pix... |
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05-03-2009, 10:20 AM | #27 (permalink) |
Been nuts, gone bananas
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Back on subject (okay?), I have been in contact with the Utah grower, Kevin, and we will trade pups/corms, so I will try to make a comparison of it to California Gold.
I feel less crazy for growing Ae Ae in USDA zone 9 now after chatting with Kevin! He is in zone 4, has had -45F, has palms, 3,000 cannas, as well as caladiums, etc. |
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05-03-2009, 02:10 PM | #28 (permalink) | |
PlantamAAn
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Quote:
i think with some sellers there is too much of same stuff renamed and repackaged. i wont just talk about people from certain south ga nurseries doing it either. Last edited by ron_mcb : 05-03-2009 at 10:44 PM. |
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05-06-2009, 02:38 AM | #29 (permalink) |
rhymechizel
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Getting back on the above topic I live just a few hours from Kevin (mentioned in the first post with the Trachy and the Texas star bananas) and have visited him. His styrofome structures with the low watt lights for heat are very simple and cost efficient but I believe it never gets close to freezing in these structures; it is hardly a test of hardiness. I am planning on using these structures to overwinter a variety of tropical plants. If a banana can survive without rot or freeze I think a lot of different plants can as well.
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05-08-2009, 08:39 AM | #30 (permalink) |
Metal Nanners!!
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
I would love to get drawings and schemas on these structures and maybe even a supplier list of certain things, i.e. styrofoam boards. Then I wont have to worry about purchasing a greenhouse for my hobby whan I can do the same thing cheaper. Also, I am suspecting but did not remember reading whether the lights stayed on 24/7 or if they werer kicked off at certain points. Would really like to know.
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05-08-2009, 01:42 PM | #31 (permalink) | ||
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Quote:
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From the above description by the author, it would appear that he may be leaving it the light on 24/7. A 100-watt light output fluorescent bulb only uses 17 Watts of electricity, the 60-watt fluorescent - only 13 Watts. Depending on the thickness of the S. board, with so little heat that it produces (17 Watts = 58 BTU/hour), turning the lamp off for several hours, equivalent to nighttime) will make it difficult for that tiny lamp to recover, or may never recover. I can try to calculate the heat loss through that smaller structure, which I think is about 2'x4'x2'high, and see how thick the wall needs to be in order to allow shutting down the lamp for, say, 8-hours a day. |
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05-08-2009, 03:21 PM | #32 (permalink) |
rhymechizel
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
He does keep them on 24/7 although I have heard of people wanting to try a thermastat.
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05-09-2009, 05:19 AM | #33 (permalink) |
Metal Nanners!!
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Thanks Chong fo rclarification..believe it or not, I am a handy person with a wonderful Imagination, but alas I have worked in quality control for long enough to where I don't build, cut, or bolt anything till I have full and proper paperwork. Kinda sucks at times. And especially with this setup, you can never really tell if the guy has anything structurewise on the inside which may have been done out of past experience which someday I could learn from that experience and possibly not lose a single nanner. My brain works in absolutely wonderful ways, just getting it on the right track proves difficult at times with all these tangents.
Now with the light situation....I know from experience growing veggies at least, that if giving the plant a light source 24/7 actually will kill the plant. Most plants that I know of need dark for a period of time each day to rest, or else like a person on a severe water and food binge, will eventually eat themselves to death. And, I personnally don't feel that if you get winds under 0 degrees anywhere in the world, 58 BTUs is not going to be enough to keep the ground from freezing under the structure unless the encasement used lets say a house as a wall in which you might get some radiant heat from. Just my pennies, don't spend it all in one place! Shaggy |
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05-14-2009, 11:45 PM | #34 (permalink) |
rhymechizel
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Kevin has built a simple frame out of 1x2 lumber and then attatched the styrofoam. Lights are kept on 24/7 and he has kept his trachy alive this way for 15 yrs. The bananas he has had for less time. When I build my structures this fall I will post some pics as I plan on doing my a little different.
Last edited by rhymechizel : 05-14-2009 at 11:52 PM. |
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05-14-2009, 11:51 PM | #35 (permalink) |
rhymechizel
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
for those interested, here is a pic of his palm this year
some bananas he brings in each year inside the structure |
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05-15-2009, 01:31 PM | #36 (permalink) |
Metal Nanners!!
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
so simple, yet so elegant!
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05-15-2009, 02:26 PM | #37 (permalink) |
Location: South of Boston, MA
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
For outside, does anyone insulate an area underground around the plant? IE the same size as the box. that way the earth stays warmer?
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05-15-2009, 03:01 PM | #38 (permalink) |
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Another thought would be to plant a banana very deep...say 2ft down or more in a hole... Let it grow and then cut it back flush will the hole come winter and fill the hole with mulch and cover with foam or something (keep water out)... Then let it grow back the following year. Would be an interesting experiment to try... You would have to make the hole pretty wide to let light get in there (which shouldn't be a problem in late spring with the sun so high in the air)...
I should really try this with one of my spare Sikkimensis... And i love digging holes! |
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05-15-2009, 03:16 PM | #39 (permalink) |
Metal Nanners!!
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
Frank you might want to check what the perma-frost depth is in your area, I am certain that in mine it's roughly 2 feet in the dead of winter, so even planting that deep would still be a fruitless adventure. But, nonetheless, if you feel like you may have a shot, go for it! Nothing wrong with a good experiment.
Shaggy |
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05-15-2009, 03:39 PM | #40 (permalink) | |
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Re: Still Think TX Star Can't Handle Zone6? - How About Zone 4?
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