Bananas in the open
 

Hi all,

I live in USDA zone 10a. (Rainbow California)

I have had my Orinoco and RajaPuri fruit for me planted close to the house.

My wife has kicked my banana plants out away from the house (I tried and tried but lost that fight),

I have gophers and I am putting my plants in pseudo raised beds (wire mesh in the ground).

How large do the mats get?

What will grow and survive and fruit out in the open in zone 10a?

I have the following - (Orinoco, Raja Puri, MisiLuki in the open, the rest in pots at the moment)..:waving:

Orinoco
Rajapuri
Misiluki
Williams
Ice Cream
Dwarf Cavendish
Dwarf Brazillian
Gran Nain
Cali Gold
Gold Finger
Maybe a Gros Michel

Thanks...Eddie

Re: Bananas in the open
 

You can add Red Iholena to that list.. it survives Z9 winters. Namwah is a given. :^)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

I live in Z10a in the Los Angeles area and grow my Namwah/Ice Cream (very similar to the Misi Luki that is being sold here in the states), Raja Puri, Orinoco, and Pisang Klotek (similar to Mysore) outside in the ground and they make it through it just fine. The only ones on that list you would have issues with are Dwarf Cavendish, Gran Nain, and Gros Michel (especially Gros Michel).

You can expect Orinoco to get 10-15' tall and slender, Misi Luki 10-12' tall, and Raja Puri 5-7' tall. All three have an exceptional level of cold hardiness and make it through California winters just fine. You should expect harvests from all three of them about two years after planting onwards.

As for the gophers, you're going to want to get rid of them. Hire a gopher trapper or exterminator. They will eat the corms of your plants if you don't do so. We got rid of the gophers at our house several years before planting our bananas, and now they are doing just fine.

As for the mats, the Orinoco and Misi Luki mats can get huge if you don't manage them. Raja Puri forms smaller mats because it's a much smaller plant. I believe all three of those varieties are heavy puppers, so be prepared.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

I want to get namwa for sure. .

I ask about the mats because I want to put lathing mesh down first. Home Depot sells
them for 5 bucks for a 27" x 96" sheet..thinking that 2 side by side on the ground would be good. I read that after 7 - 10 years the mats should be dug out.

I have a few acres so the gophers aren't going away...

Eddie

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Your Misi Luki is almost certainly a Namwah type.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

No. 1 - Get a new wife.

No 2. - I would allow at least a 6 x 6 planting area, and preferably 10 x 10.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

New wife - too expensive!!

3 sheets of lathing gives me 6' x 8'...

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Get an LGD and keep the wife. LGD will handle the gophers. Plus is that you can have a few chickens and maybe a goat or 2 on your few acres if zoning permits.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Excuse my ignorance but what is an LGD?

chickens I have. ..goats eat everything. ..

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Livestock Guardian Dog. Great Pyrenees is perhaps the best known breed but there are others. They live with their "flock" so bond which means they protect it/them quite ferociously.

EX BF had sheep, goats, chickens and feeder pigs (well, they did grow up) in coyote country (NE OH); he never lost an animal to them or any other predator. His garden needed no protection even from deer much less rabbits, groundhogs or even birds.

I had chickens at his place after he stopped farming and had found Bear a new home. I lost quite a few of my layers (I appreciated that 3 roosters who insisted on flogging me got their just rewards) to a mink, 3 raccoons and a skunk; we trapped them and he shot them to feed to the buzzards which was quite legal there. He removed 4 trapped animals but told me the skunk filled cage was mine to relocate. Huh? I did so quite carefully after doing a little research so I didn't get sprayed but...did I happen to mention that he's my EX BF? ;)

Goats browse; I have no idea if they like banana leaves but I do know that, though they are very fond of brambles, your wife's pretty flowers and poison ivy, they don't eat grass unless very hungry.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

They eat everything is right.. Wires, plants you name it.. They will try it.. :^)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Perhaps but cheese made from their milk is delicious. And they taste really yummy, too. Pick your poison. :ha:

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Goat Chops are quite Delic.. I have a Shoulder I need to do.. :^)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Recipe? I really like a gentle Jamaican curry (by gentle I mean tomatoes in the sauce) but jerked is also good as is roasted.

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Sounds Good, but goats unless penned well will reek havoc on banana's just like pigs.. So best have a fool proof plan.. Goats are good (to eat), but I want my bounty from my Banana's too.. :^)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

Okay, if I ever get my little acre again, no goats because they don't respect hot wires as well as pigs. And I'd take my chance on the latter because I dearly love my bacon. What about sheep and bananas? Any clue? (I do know that chickens will find a way into your garden to eat anything red or blue but doubt they'd forage on banana leaves. Of course they might dine on the green frogs...rethinking this all now....)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

I'd leave at least a 2.5'x 2.5' center for your mat.. will allow for your material to go further.. :^)

Re: Bananas in the open
 

My horinoco out in open getting a lot of Sun has grown more in 4 months than the momma
Plant did all last year getting about 6 - 8 hours of sun..

Re: Bananas in the open
 

My orinoco out in open getting a lot of Sun has grown more in 4 months than the momma
Plant did all last year getting about 6 - 8 hours of sun..

Re: Bananas in the open
 

They eat everything is right.. Wires, plants you name it.. They will try it.. :^)
Laughed when I read that Abnshrek.