Jarred, Gabe and the rest of the moderator team and members have done such an amazing job expanding the board that thread volume can be overwhelming....so what do I do...add another thread..lol..

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that Tony and some other members started threads titled as specific edible banana species..so I am jumping in the deep end of the pool:

Dwarf Brazilian:

I have two mattes of Dwarf Brazilians. I have never fertilized them (not even with horse poop or fish meal), they are never watered except by rain (they are not in the main garden area), they are mulched.

I measured one yesterday, the top of the highest leaf was 15 feet 10 inches, the top of the pseudostem was right at nine feet, the circumference was 37 inches and this one is a ways from throwing out a flag leaf.

The pics with the eight foot ladder (for scale) I took this week, the others are from 2008.

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This post is a duplicate posting of:
http://www.bananas.org/f2/best-tasti...tml#post134377

Main Banana Patch in better days...August 2008

These are heavily mulched with horse poop and tree mulch and occasionally are watered.

After Picture
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Before Picture
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Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Really a beautiful banana!:woohoonaner:

Thanks Ivan....your DB looks awesome as well;-)

DB Corm:

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Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

wow what a big banana corm !!!!!! Is that a Dwarf Brazilian ?

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

If it is Greg my lil DB is only half that size.. In the hopes of someday being a monster like that one.. :^)

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

I did not think a dwarf would get that big !!!!!!!

Yep it is without a doubt a DB corm. Many members have misconceptions about DB's (one reason I started this thread) DB's are not really "dwarfs" (as we think of the 5 foot or less bananas that many dwarfs are; rather it is a Dwarf of a normally monster 20' banana).

This corm may have been a little bigger because it was not a sucker per se.....it was growing as a "single"....with no pups...about 5 feet of pseudostem.

See the post:

http://www.bananas.org/f2/best-tasti...tml#post133883


Dwarf Brazilian is a great tasting banana...but is not a true dwarf (7 -14 feet depending on conditions)...just a smaller version of the Brazilian (20 plus feet).

Everything comes down to climate....in Florida we can grow big bananas, till the freeze (In Tampa this past Winter was the worst winter ever; at least since they have been keeping records) or Hurricanes hit. Ironically May & June were the hottest May & Junes since they have been keeping records. We are definitively undergoing significant climate change.

I have a picture I need to scan in of a 20 foot Red Iholena...I added several hundred pounds of Shrimp Shells (nematodes love Iholenas) and several hundred pounds of Horse Poop....allowed it to compost and put in a Sword sucker..the first generation hit over 20 feet!! I gave a picture (in 1994) to Don Chafin (Going Bananas) and he carried it with him in a little book of pictures he took to plant shows for over ten years. Don did not believe a Red Iholena would get that big....the distinctive bloom corroborated that it was indeed a RI.

Many Board members have seen these DB's in person:
Caloosamusa
Lagniape
K4YD
Chumley Robert
Hey Now
Sailfish
Scott
hydrojeff
and too many others (dozens) to list right now....:nanadrink:

And of of course you and Abnshrek have an open invite to stop by any time and pick out your own DB corm......

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Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

cool!

YouTube - Dwarf Brazilian.MOV

YouTube - Dwarf Red.MOV

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Excellent Video Banana Diary :^)

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Thanks for the You Tube clips.:goteam:

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

excellent is right ! thanks for doing this i find it much better /helpful then pictures especially on here :)

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Try and picture his place before multiple consecutive 'thinning' partyz!
Then try to picture his place before our record freeze of 2010!
Quite the collection....his video only shows about 1/6th of growth there.
Looks great Rmplmnz!

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

So what your saying Scott is; Chris built the "Jungle Floor" and then it came.. :^)

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Scott you are so right my friend!

This past winter was the worst on record in Tampa...

We lost all of our Coconut Palms, Mamey Sapote, Sugar Apples, Jack Fruit, Macadamia Nut, etc.......

Dwarf Brazilian January 31, 2010
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Dwarf Reds
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February 14, 2010
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June 17, 2010
Dwarf Reds
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Dwarf Brazilian
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Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

I know that hurt.

Unfortunately thats the view many of us have every winter.

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Wow that's straight up depressing.. , but a lot of compost, not that it helps.

Well this was a little different..I have spent the last six months cutting down trees...20' Macadamia Nut tree.....20' Strawberry Trees..bearing cocounut Palms..... and oh so many other tropical trees that I have planted the last 18 or so years (being a member of the Rare Fruit Clubs and traveling).....I have Never lost a single plant to the cold in all my years...plenty of other crazy reasons...Hurricanes...Tropical Storms...Stupid Gardening ideas....this winter was a different climate....

I am totally empathetic to what the majority of the members go through...and that is one of the many reasons that I have shared 100's of corms for free or close to free with so many members....

But in any case...thanks for sharing my pain....:nanadrink:

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Dave,
San Antonio is a nice City...another member posted some nice banana pics from the River-walk area some time back...can't recall where they are on the board.

A large group of us from Tampa and St Augustine ran the Inaugural San Antonio Rock N' Roll marathon in 2008, very nice time had by all!

If you are ever in Tampa stop by.

I definitely wasn't trying to minimize the tremendous loss you experienced this past winter. I understand that loosing a few leaves or even the pstems on a banana that will grow back in a few months is nothing compared to loosing plants that took years to grow and that will not come back.

We all have a vision on what we are trying to achieve with our plantings and one of the many things we have in common is that emptiness felt when you see it destroyed.

Best wishes

Dave

Thanks! I will take you up on that if I get over your way. My home is open to you and your family when ever you are in SA.

Dave

Re: Dwarf Brazilian
 

Amen.. Dave.. couldn't have said it better :^)