birdman

I was looking on a web site that sold banana plants. The site said that Dwarf Orinoco was reffered to as the Cal gold, and the texas star. Are all of these the same kind of plant?

damaclese

Birdman there all prity closley related iv hear that the cal gold is a sport of the orinono not sure on the tex stare Chong is good with botany id ask meda hound would now for sure too i dont realy belev my self that the CG is a real sub spesheas my self i think its just a clever marketing scam but theres lots of pepol that have them on the org i dont think any ones realy looked at its genetic make up to know for sure

birdman

Thanks for the info.

harveyc

I would probably say away from any such nursery.

Jeff Earl, the person who is considered by most the person who "discovered" California Gold, bought it from a Texas Nursery maybe 15 years ago or so. That nursery went out of business a long time ago. As I recall Jeff saying that the man was Hispanic and said that the banana came from Mexico and there wasn't a formal name for it.

It sure acts differently than the Dwarf Orinoco most people have grown. There is an old discussion on here that got pretty ugly which I'd rather not dig up right now, but there is some more background there if you want to find it. In short, California Gold fruits for folks in USDA zone 9 much more reliably than Dwarf Orinoco.

I never heard of Texas Star before.

I chat with Jeff Earl fairly frequently about other plants and I gather he's sold about a dozen California Gold this pups, all pretty close to $100. I would speculate that a nursery with Dwarf Orinoco would like to get more for their plants and just might bring up a name of a banana that commands higher prices.

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chong

Harvey,
I don't think Birdman is referring to TyTy Nursery. I believe he read the description from Greenearth, Inc., and I think it's just conjecture on their part. Here's the link, look under Dwarf Orinoco:
Banana Trees Banana Plants

Additionally, WeBeBananas states in their description of the CA Gold, that it is a Dwarf Orinoco, that has acclimatized in cold areas. Here's a quote from the description of the CA Gold, "I don't think its' a mutation of Dwarf Orinoco. I think it IS Dwarf Orinoco." . . . from the following link:
ENCANTO FARMS

The debate continues . . . .

I've had very good experience with Ty Ty Nursery in the early 90s, but recent reviews on the web discourages me from ordering a Texas Star from them now. They used to charge quite a bit for them before, so I couldn't afford them. Now that the price is more reasonable, I hesitate to order from them because of those reviews.

Chong

PAJ53

The orinico that have been growing here for over ten years seems to have adapted to bloom more often than it used to here in zone 7b it also seems to be getting more adapted to high heat and dry air and the cold winters. I sold over 70 in my yard sales this year and still have many potted and plenty to dig up and pot I think It origionally came from Mexico via a local plant dealer to here. I have been selling locally for 5 to 10 for ones too big to ship. I probably have over a hundred in the ground in the back yard If some one would like to come and get some PM me for directions/details

harveyc

Hi Chong,

I'm very familiar with Jon's pages and I've been to his place a couple of times. I believe you've confused things with your post, though.

What Jon says about California Gold is:

Below Jon's own comments are quotes from numerous sources. The comment that says "I think this IS Dwarf Orinoco" is not Jon's comment.

It might be a mutation of a Dwarf Orinoco, but that does not make it a Dwarf Orinoco. Mutation is one way, besides breeding, that we get new varieties, right? Many of us have Dwarf Orinoco and California Gold and it's the California Gold that is much more reliable in fruiting. My two Dwarf Ornico are about 9-10 feet tall and I'm still waiting for them to bloom.

Regarding your comment about Ty Ty, I would also suggest to stay away. Many people have been ripped off and they create new names to get a second chance of ripping you off. On another forum a member has an interesting signature line that goes something like "WalMart is a place to buy cheap plastic crap. Ty Ty is a place to get ripped off."

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harveyc

Wow, it would be nice to see some photos of your jungle!

You could sell/ship corms, can't you? I notice Jarred is doing that for saba, etc. and I've bought corms from Stokes previously. Much easier way to work it, it seems.

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