Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Well, I just moved to north Florida from the Midwest a couple years ago, so imagine my surprise when it got 18 degrees one night!

Now, I have lots of plants, including citrus and gingers, and the only thing that is really, really sensitive to anything below 32 degrees are the bananas. It just pains me so much when the leaves wilt and turn to brown paper when they are so glorious in the summer. The first year I planted them I was able to tent and bulb them over the cold nights because they were only four feet tall, but last summer they shot up and became absolute monsters. The only way I could tent them now would be finding an old hot air balloon on e-bay... :birthdaynana:

Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Thanks, Mitchel, but one of my banana varieties IS Rajipura, and that rascal is about 13 feet tall!!! No way to bag that sucker...

I began fertilizing them last year with murate of potassium, and that's when they shot up. Maybe I overshot a bit?.... Nah!! :D

Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Wow that's weird. Is it in full sun?

Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Yeah, more or less. There's a huge live oak about 25 feet from it, but it gets a lot of sun during the day normally.

Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Dwarf cavendish, dwarf orinoco fruit at head height or less - easy to protect and easy to harvest. I don't know about other dwarf varieties but there must be others that would be a convenient size.

Re: Blue Java: Predicted cold weather tonight, should I cut fruit?
 

Dwarf Brazilian, California Gold are my 2 dwarfs that bear fruit at 4-5 feet. but with the leaves the tip of the leaves can extend to 12 feet.
Super Dwarf Cavendish is a little shorter.
And I think double or Mahoi is shorter too.
I am happy with the dwarf kinds. I can move them around when planted in pots and I can protect them easily during winter. Specially if you have a small yard to work on. It's only the height that makes it different. The girth and the canopy are of the same size.
They look pretty bananas nonetheless in bunches in my opinion.