A few shots from around the yard
 

It's been a great summer for me. My mom would be proud. I wish she were still around so we could talk about it all. She was masterful both as a floral designer and a gardener.

Black Thai

20210803_163720 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Truly Tiny

20210803_162853 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Orinoco (pup from Valor X)

20210803_162932 by William Strickland, on Flickr



Lacatan (viente cohol behind it)

20210803_163005 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Dwarf Namwah

20210803_163052 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Unknown, was told it was a dwarf cavendish. What say you?

20210803_163742 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Amazing yard, Looking good brother!! I'm sure your mom would be very proud :nanadrink:
The last picture definitely looks like Dwarf Cavendish, looks identical to mine.
The p-stem color and black spotting give it away. They like putting out big fat wide leaves and are very thick.
They also like stacking a lot of leaves but obviously not as much as Super Dwarfs/Truly Tiny
Seems to be a Cavendish trait because my Cali Gold or Veinte Cohol don't do that and they're short growing as well.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

That Black Thai looks pretty cool. Looking forward to see how he progresses. Thanks for sharing!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Everything looks great! Excellent job.

Take more pics of the last one. I see a lot of red in the petiols/trunk so maybe Dwarf Red?

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

the thai black looks like it is gaining some momentum !

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Those are very nice looking plants, well done!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Here are my Dwarf Cavendish, they have a lot of Red/Pink + Black Spotting (at least when young)
You can also see mine has open petioles just like his does if you zoom in his Flickr link

EDIT: Fixed size

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I don't know I just notice a lot more red in the other pic. He'll have to post more pictures so we can all see a little better.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I'll get some more soon. Thanks for the help. I'm not sure I will ever get fruit off of it. Last year the main plant got pretty big, maybe 5' of pstem. It died back to the ground never to return but shot up some pups. I kept those 2 in the ground and potted up other 3. Short of digging it up I don't believe I can get it through the winter.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I got in close. Maybe this will show something.

20210806_114107 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210806_114158 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

What do you guys think about this one? It doesn't seem to want to grow tall. This is the second year:

20210806_114122 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210806_114140 by William Strickland, on Flickr


20210806_114135 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

And a few more:

Praying Hands:

20210806_113929 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Patupi:

20210806_113957 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Blue Java (pup from Akula)

20210806_114051 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Lou Ferrigno :)

20210806_114032 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

My best guess is Dwarf Red. You can look at the photos of Dwarf Red I have on my Flickr to compare.



This looks like a Dwarf Cavendish.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Thanks Joe. Maybe I'll pull out all the stops to get fruit from each next year. Then we'll know for sure.

Is the dwarf red special in any way? Never really heard of it? Also I'll say that this plant pups like crazy and when young the pstems are a deep purple color. I have 3 or 4 potted up and don't really know what to do with any more. I expected my big TC haul to dwindle but instead I'm (over)loaded...

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I got a few shots from another angle (in the pool) Definitely looks cool from that side:

20210807_115105 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210807_115134 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210807_115154 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

It grows slowly (2 years to fruit in South Florida from a pup) and is cold sensitive. Not a good combination for South Carolina. But it is a beautiful plant so there is that!


www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKKIX2WRXdk&t=14s

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

The pstems are particularly gorgeous right now. I may just go all out and protect it over the winter. If it comes through like last year all I'll need is 3 months.

So are these things particularly hard to come by or as run of the mill as a Cavendish?

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

:bananas_b
I'm not really sure. I found it at our cousins house.... It wasn't even on my radar.... then there it was! So I haven't ever looked around for one. My guess is, it's not super common, but not very rare either. But that's speculation on my part ;)

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Thanks just trying to see how lucky I got. I'll gift some I guess because they pup like it's their job

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Dwarf red is pretty uncommon IMO. It took me a long while to find one, but cincinanna came through for me with a beautiful pup last year. I now have several, two of which are approaching 6ft of pstem. Mine made it through last winter in the ground with just frost cloth. Yours does look similar to my dwarf reds. The pups shound be the dead giveaway.. they are srtaight up red. None of my dwarf cavendish look anything like my dwarf reds.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Sweet.....:08:
Great presentation....

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

pic of the six footer please?

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Note the solid red of the pups pstem. None of my cavendish have ever pupped like that.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

A beauty!! Definitely the same coloring but mine seems to be a bit more "bunchy" (not in a diseased sort of way). Maybe they will gain some separation later on. Not sure it will make it that long though. Thanks for the pic!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I have another one that size in my main patch that gets full sun and its leaves are bunchy. This one under 2 mature citrus in dapples sun.. that may explain the different leaf patterns. I believe the one in full sun puts outs leaves faster.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Yeah mine is in full sun and does pump out leaves.

When you're locked down
 

and everyone in the house has covid, you just take what you're given...

20210811_081555 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210811_081540 by William Strickland, on Flickr


this little corner deck was the best thing we did back there this year

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Gorgeous!

Thanks for sharing the pics with us all :bananas_b

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Thanks. That plant closest to the deck is the pup I planted at the end of April. The pstem has gained about 3 feet. It literally started growing immediately.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Some bonus species. Tangelo is doing really well as well as the key limes. The orange is healthy but just less mature. It's happy though.

Key Limes:

20210814_091601 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091556 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Tangelo:

20210814_091359 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091407 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091414 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091420 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091438 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091450 by William Strickland, on Flickr


Orange:

20210814_091518 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091510 by William Strickland, on Flickr

20210814_091525 by William Strickland, on Flickr

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Are you able to post your side yard ....or did I miss it:ha:

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

The whole thing is quite small but tomorrow I will photograph all 1500 Sq ft of it 😀😃🙂

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

All good only 750 sq ft will do:)

I had seen the front with the band and block party....

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Oh yea you have!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Your citrus looks fantastic.

I have had terrible luck with my citrus. This year will be the first year I get a decent harvest in quantity but the plants look ragged. Leaves are diseased due to fungus, leaf miners, and whatever else. I think they may have the "green" virus. I really tried to stay on top of them this year and they have improved but it has been a struggle.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Thanks as proud as I am about a fruiting banana the citrus makes me the happiest. I didn't think it was possible. We did get 2 pies worth of key limes last year but didn't think those would produce again. The tangelo is really taking off and the orange is steady. My Lisbon lemon and pink variegated lemons took a hit over winter but came back pretty nicely but no fruit.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Wow, very impressed you're able to grow Key Limes up in SC! They're known for being just about the most cold sensitive of all citrus varieties.

A lot of citrus are really prone to alternate bearing where some years are super heavy and other years they produce very few fruits, so don't worry if this year isn't as productive as last. My Key Lime tree produced hundreds of fruits last summer and only a handful this year. It's just the way it goes!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

My 2 Key Limes produced dozens not hundreds but we did have enough for 2 AWESOME pies. I did read about alternating years but it looks like we will have some anyway. Hopefully at least 1 pie's worth :)

My backyard really is warmer than most places in town. The hours of exposure and the way my windows reflect back in to the yard make for a very tropical environment and I believe lessens the wintertime stress. It won't keep a cavendish pstem viable though :)

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I cant grow cavendish here either, nor do i want to! Too many other great varieties!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

But now I want to fruit a cavendish because it can't be done ;)

I'd really like to see if one of my plants are Dwarf Reds too. Lofty goals from 8-B......

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

That's gonna be tough. I honestly thought it couldn't be done even here in Central Florida.

I've been lucky to have gotten 4 or 5 bunches off the Dwarf Cavendish at this point and all of them barely made it thru winter with 2-3 leaves despite never seeing temps below 37F (though admittedly I didn't do anything to protect them.) Even after it heats up, most end up collapsing due to partially rotting pstems a month or so before I would have ideally harvested them.

I'm sure you could get fruit off one in SC eventually if you put a lot of effort into overwinter protection and staking, but it'll probably require a good deal of patience!

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I talk a big game now, in August. Come November I'll give that idea the finger and let the chips fall where they may until March.....

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

August does tend to inspire overconfidence :ha::ha::ha:

Lately I've also been trying to get ahold of some types that, if I were honest with myself, are probably too cold sensitive for the climate we have around here. But I guess that's part of the fun...

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Definitely is. In addition to the cavendish and reds I have a praying hands that's just exploding, patupi, lacatan, truly tiny, X Cross, Thai Black and viente cohol. I'm just hoping they all will pup at least. Next hope is that the corm makes it over the winter. As I am generally lazy in addition to being pretty busy I don't think fruit will be produced by any of these. Honestly I bought them early spring when I was bored. I never expected every single one to do so well.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I definitely understand that mindset, I went on a similar banana buying spree this spring and a few of the ones I got are marginal at best for this climate.

I think I'm going to need to do some overwintering on my patupi to get fruit off of this pstem. Don't think it's gonna be fruiting this year but I worry that none of the pups are big enough to fruit next year, so I'm kinda in a weird middle ground.

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Any fruit I get is a bonus. I just like having banana plants everywhere :)

It's tough to expect too much where I'm at

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

My Thai's getting black

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

Sweet.......
Look at the awesome stem separation and placement........10.
:08:

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

I have high hopes for......




Wait for it.......



Ali

Re: A few shots from around the yard
 

That's awesome! Mine still has a green stem with black petiole edges. It's growing like crazy and getting pretty tall though.

It has the same leaf curl towards the bottom of the leaves like yours is getting, apparently that's a Thai Black trait.