cool hardy sucrier types
 

I'd like to plant a sucrier type banana, but my impression is that many of the varieties in this group need truly tropical conditions to do well. Can anyone point me to a sucrier variety that might do well in zone 10?

Thanks

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

The Sucrier are all fairly uniform as far as I have seen, are you set on a Sucrier or just small sweet dessert type?

'Rose' makes a somewhat similar fruit and I have seen it grown successfully in Southern California.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Gabe, I was interested in sucrier types because I'd read some raves about the flavor of orito, senorita, nino, etc., which I think are all in the sucrier group. I thought it might be nice to have one of this group as something different from what I have already planted. But I don't want to plant something that just isn't going to be able to hack the Southern California climate.

Should I take your response to mean that all sucrier types pretty much need tropical climates?

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

'Senorita' is not a Sucrier, but an Inarnibal. I don't have experience with Sucrier outside of Hawaii so I can't comment on how well it does on the mainland in cooler climates.

But like I said, I've seen 'Rose' do pretty well in Southern California (San Diego) and it has a similar fruit (small, sweet, flavorful). It is also a very vigorous plant that produces many suckers and can fruit many times at once.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Thanks Gabe, maybe I'll give rose a try. Just out of curiosity, what are some of the sucrier types that are commonly available to someone in the US?

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Nino, Datil

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Rose did well potted here in Indiana, until I sold them all.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

I've grown Nino,Senorita, and am still growing Datil. So far I'm not real impressed with the flavor of either. Maybe because of the climate, the flavor doesn't develop fully, or maybe what I taste is how they are supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, they are good! Just sweet and a little bland. But I guess I just prefer bananas with more sub-acid flavor.The Senorita also took a bit longer to produce and ripen it's fruit than is reported in the tropics.. I'm also growing the Rose, and just as Gabe said, they are vigorous and produce fast! Can't tell ya what they taste like yet, this will be the first harvest.

The first picture is from May 30th.
Rose





This is 2 mo. later, now the pup from the first picture has a flower, and this bunch is about twice that size.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Hey nanaman do you have any sources for datil. (other than the ones you grow)

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

No, a friend who is a tropical plant collector, gave me most of the varieties that I've grown. I work out of town, and am only home 4 days a month, so it's hard to find the time to do anything with them. I'm stuck in Wonderful Los Angeles as we speak!

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

That's amazingly fast! Park Lake is a little north and west from my island and it's usually a bit warmer here so I might get that to put even faster! I'd love to get my hands on a Rose :D

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Brian, what was your take on the flavor of Rose? Similar to Sucrier?

I have a nice little patch of Rose growing (from Jon, Pitangadiego). They do pup a lot. They are attractive and do OK with our cool (not cold) winters. I'm hoping I'll get a flower or two this year but the plants are still on the small side.

I did end up planting a Sucrier variety, "Kluai Khai". It has done OK, but definitely doesn't like winter. It too, is still small. Maybe someday it'll fruit for me.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

That's great to hear Ventura! How old is the Rose mat you have? :D

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Well, it's about a year and a half old, but given that I started it and fall and the two original pups nearly died that winter, it is effectively younger. In "tropical years" it's about 0.5 years. :ha:

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Cool! I'd love to see how that does in my climate lol :D

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

How did the Sucrier fare for you in winter? What difference did you see in how it handled the winter from the rest of your bananas? How much cold has it seen? I have a Sucrier cv(Pisang Buntal) i am growing some months now and i debating where to plant it.

Thank you very much in advance! :)

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Well, it's doing fine now. It didn't like winter -- the leaves it made over winter were much smaller than the ones it had been been making before winter, but now they are back to what they were before. Compared to many other types I have (e.g., Pisang Awak varieties, Dwarf Brazilian, Rajapuri, Manzano, Orinoco, Mysore varieties, etc.), it didn't like winter. On the other hand, it didn't do any worse than all the Cavendish varieties I have. That said, by many standards, we don't get much cold in Ventura. We had no frost this winter. Several nights were in the mid to high 30's (i.e., 1-2 C plus).

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

I'm sorry I missed this post before!

I still have not tried the Rose. I removed the plant to make room for others. I do have one in bloom right now though, so I should get to try it this year.

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

Thank you very much Mark for sharing the details! I will select the warmest spot,as I will do for my AAA's :)

Re: cool hardy sucrier types
 

I know no one will know what I'm talking about if I ask this...

Does anyone In cooler areas ever have a problem with these things not filing out properly? not just sucrier... i seem to See that a lot Of this mostly in bananas with red coloring on the p stem. A lot of aa/ aaa etc. I had 2 gran nain with approx 190 fruit between the two that didnt get as big as I hoped. I think I recall someone in florida having similar issues.