RandyGHO

I ran across this at an Aussie banana site. I wonder if you have late fruiting if bags might give you faster ripening?
Frequently asked questions about planting bananas | Primary industries & fisheries | Queensland Government

"In southern Queensland and New South Wales the insulation of the cover is essential for enhancing fruit quality during the cooler months.

Bags can also increase yield by 5% to 25%. Temperatures under the cover can be 2°C to 6°C warmer, and during the cool times of the year this can increase fruit length and hasten fruit filling (harvest 4 to 14 days earlier). The yield benefits are much less during the warmer months and special care needs to be taken to avoid sunburn under the covers during these warmer months. This involves the use of reflective silver covers and pulling down a leaf over the cover. Perforated covers are commonly used to reduce sunburn damage for export production overseas."

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Thinking outside the peel always.

sunfish

caliboy1994

Where can you get these? I live in California, and there's no commercial banana industry here, just a bunch of home growers

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Nicolas Naranja

This is a way to make your own. I have a bunch of them.

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustaina...n%20Banana.pdf

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

RandyGHO

Tony I read the thread you posted but there was no mention of the bags used for helping with cool temperatures like the Aussie article mentioned. I was thinking a cheap plastic paint drop cloth.

Randy

__________________
Thinking outside the peel always.

sunfish

Banana Pre-Harvest Loom Cover Bags
Banana Pre-Harvest Loom Cover Bags
We are offer banana pre-harvest loom cover bags which are manufactured using qualitative loom material of high quality standards. These bags are used in the pre harvest stage of bananas and resist them from heat and sunlight. Available in various sizes, these are perfect to protect the pre harvest bananas from worms and frost.
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sunfish

Top Bunch™ banana covers

The Original Banana Bag Australia / New Zealand - Keeps Bananas Fresh For Longer

Nicolas Naranja

The stuff I made my bags out of is frost cloth, it comes in several different weights.


Lightweight

__________________
Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

freediver

Hi all, I am looking for some general advice on this. Not sure if bags are the answer.

Do the bags speed up the ripening process, and does it come at the expense of taste? I live in southern QLD, Australia. So subtropical. The fruit seems to ripen year round, just more slowly in winter.

I have some dwarf cavendish that always have problems. I am thinking of getting rid of them. The trees need propping up or they cannot support the bunch. The fruit splits down the side well before they ripen. This might be something to do with all the rain we have had recently. The pests get into them - mostly rats and fruit bats I think. Probably because it splits.

I have just picked my third bunch. The first one went spotty and did not ripen. The second one got attacked by pests. I picked it when about half of them had been destroyed. They were not ripe yet. I ate a small number of them and threw the rest out. They didn't taste real good. I just picked the third bunch. Lost maybe one quarter to pests. Some were turning yellow so fingers crossed they are at least ripe, but a lot were still green and splitting.

Is this just a bad variety? Will those bags to cover the fruit help me? There are two other varieties growing nearby that do well, but they are in flatter, wetter ground. The bunches on the dwarf cavendish are big and there has been plenty of rain, and the fruit is splitting, so I I doubt water is the issue.

I have been killing the rats slowly, but they just keep coming. It is illegal to harm or interfere with fruit bats here, so you just have to put up with them.