RAINFOREZT

Dwarf super plantain

Planted one and half months ago 4/1/12.
Thanks Nick for the pups.

GreenFin

At what height do these tend to flower?

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Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com

Nicolas Naranja

They are very short down here 6 to 6.5 feet.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

GreenFin

Wow, I didn't realize there were plantains that were that short. For some reason I had just assumed that they were all like big extra vigorous banana plants.

__________________
Set out runnin', but I'll take my time; a friend of bananas is a friend of mine.

www.GreenFinGardens.com

Nicolas Naranja

Accessions with Descriptor and Evaluation

In Mayaguez, PR this is how tall they got. From what I gather, dwarf puerto rican is "Common dwarf" and agristarts giant plantain is "Maricongo". Anyways, on my farm Dwarf Super Plantain was about 6'-6.5', Dwarf Puerto Rican was about 7'-8', Hua Moa was about 12'-14' and Giant Plantain is about 14' tall. Now, 20 miles down the road in Belle Glade a friend of mine has some Giant Plantain that is at least 16' tall.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Bananaman88

Do you think these would be winter hardy in Houston (Zone 9 a/b)? Our typical low can get to 32 degrees a few nights each winter but occasionally dipping lower. I wouldn't mind trying one sometime.

Nicolas Naranja

They are fairly sensitive to cold in general. They won't die necessarily as mine made it through the very disastrous December 2010. But if it hits 32 you are going to lose all your leaves.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Bananaman88

Nick- I lose all my leaves every winter anyhow. I've never had a winter here yet where my banana leaves escaped total damage from frost. I normally wrap the pstems with several layers of frost cloth to protect from cold damage. I am pretty successful in doing this so maybe I could overwinter one of the Dwarf Super Plantains using this method as well.

Nicolas Naranja

You should be fine then, I know "bananimal" has already fruited a pup that I gave him last summer so it has a pretty quick cycling time. From a field ready tissue culture plant it h 14 months to flower and 3 months from flower to harvest. Definitely prune the bunch to 4 hands. The fruit tends to get cigar-end rot so you will likely want to spray the bunch with serenade or copper. I noticed a lot of snapped stalks on plants I didn't prune the bunches on. It's really not a great variety except for the fact that it produces a lot of plantains and it's really short.

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Some people go bananas, I went plantains.

Bananaman88

Thanks, Nick. Now if I just had a little more space.

AaronTT

I just picked up one of these, and have heard conflicting reports about it. I have heard since it's a french horn type it's one of the best tasting. Also heard it produces a lot, but requires really good soil and minerals for the best harvest.
On the flip side some have had bad experiences with it, such as rot on some of the plantains.
Anyone growing it?

garek007

Can you describe how you planted it? Just curious because I can't make it out from the pic.