burris

What time of the year can we expect our friends at Florida Hill Nursery to start offering TC plants? Anyone remember?

meizzwang

Burris:just a word of caution:
1) Florida Hill Nursery is infamous for not sending the variety you ordered. Acquiring the right variety is EVERYTHING if you want to successfully produce fruit outside of the tropics. I personally bought 5 different varieties from them, not a single plant turned out so far to be what I ordered.
2) It takes some experience to successfully harden off these Tissue culture plants and get them to blooming size. If you grow indoors, be careful as I received some plants from FHN with spider mites. This isn't really an issue if you harden them off outdoors.
3) Many members (but not all) on this forum offer significantly better, larger, and healthier starting material that is accurately labeled. Verified sellers have feedback on this forum (forgot how to find it, but it's there). You may pay a little more (not always), but it's worth every cent because years of time and effort is saved by getting the right plant in the first place.
4) best time to start/plant bananas is when it starts getting warm outside and the nights aren't freezing cold.

Kat2

I have never purchased from FL Hill and do not work for them but in all fairness they are merely resellers of TC musa plants that they purchase from growers who apparently are not very careful about what they've propagated. Therefore, IMO, anyone who buys from any TC seller should expect errors will occur particularly when it comes to Blue Java and some of the other "hot" varieties. With few exceptions, I'm content to fill my yard with mysteries from flea markets (cheap), local growers (often free but otherwise cheap) and the big box stores (not too pricey). However, if you have limited space and really care about what you're growing, do yourself a favor and buy from known sources here.

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Snarkie

Kat, that is a very good point, but when a "professional" company sells an item, it should be what they are selling. If the issue is with the supplier, then get a new supplier.

This is how lawsuits work. You sue the supplier along with the retailer, and both have to pay. I went through this with Food Lion and Gunnoe's Sausage back in 1995, when I got botulism from some bad Italian sausage. Both were legally culpable.

If Florida Hill is selling plants that they KNOW may NOT be what they are selling, they are also legally culpable under a civil suit, and could also possibly be charged with fraud in a criminal court, if this is a recurring problem.

Either way, it's bad juju.

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

meizzwang

While I wouldn't touch any of these companies with a 10 foot pole, I wouldn't recommend anyone go out and Sue Florida Hill Nursery, Greenearth Publishing, Wellsprings Garden, etc. You'll stifle the distribution of banana plants in the US to home growers, as these are major outlets. It'll also discourage agristarts from continuing their banana program, so while these companies continue to "commit fraud" you have to ask yourself if the good outweighs the bad.

Without these shady companies who continue to ignore our feedback, I wouldn't have any of these plants which have brought a lot of joy to our family:



Getting the right variety in the first place from reputable sources on this forum, however, brings much more joy, so if we can steer everyone in this direction, we won't need the TC suppliers anymore

Snarkie

Very good point, but when I place an order for SS109 NATO green tips with a carbide core, I'd damned well better get what the hell I ordered. I don't want some ball ammo instead. I want what I ordered!

If I get .223 jacketed hollowpoint, I'm gonna be pissed. Actually, I'm going to be more than pissed, because I was sent an inferior product to what I ordered and EXPECTED.

When it comes to ammo, I want what the hell I ordered. For all of you, NONE of you should expect any less than WHAT YOU ORDERED!

If I order a banana and get an orange, you're darn right I'm going to be pissed. Wouldn't you?

If I order a banana and get a flowering plantain, I'm going to be furious! Someone bent me over and gave me a nice dose of Vaseline.

Bottom line here Folks: If you pay for something, you have a reasonable expectation to receive your product in a timely manner. If you ordered a smart phone and got a jar of Vaseline instead, you know what I am talking about. How's that cut-rate China phone NOT working for ya?

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Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Snarkie

I'm off my soapbox now.

__________________
Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

sputinc7

I agree, but what are you gonna do? Is a $20 banana plant worth the headaches (and fees) of court?
I call em and tell em it's the wrong variety and they send me two more (different) wrong varieties to replace it... Never seen the like. That way you have 3 bananas you didn't really want instead of one.

I just get them from members here, now.

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If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

barbc

Thumbs up here for Florida Hill. I bought Mahoi in the spring wth a 6" p-stem. My first banana. Potted it up, slowly hardened off, grew it outside for the summer and brought it into my heated basement when temps dropped to upper 30's at night, and it has started accelerating growth again. P-stem is probably 30" tall, nearly 3" diameter at the bottom and it has a pup. Mama's still throwing leaves rapidly. My TC Basjoos from another source have also done really well, better than the actual offset pups I bought from another source. So I have no issues with TCs at the moment. They've done super for me. Huge and beautiful in my daylight basement. My floor is has radiant heat set to 74 degrees and they think they've moved to the tropics. THey may get short on light by spring but for now all the leaves are dark green and amazing.

Snarkie

I've had a huge success by contacting local news media. They love to run with these stories, and the villains usually cave to avoid bad publicity.

Simply put, call them out!

__________________
Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Kat2

Calling them out does nothing. Look at that GA company...er companies...if you want to see what complaining does when it comes to stopping them. (TyTy (sp?) and their subs.) Caveat emptor! Always in all matters is my motto. Sometimes I get snookered (as in the $17 chop saw I purchased used that may need more than brushes but will hopefully last long enough to cut the 60 FREE fenceposts I picked up after Matthew.)

Want a banana plant, buy a banana plant cheap. Want a particular musa? Buy from a known source. She may/will probably cost more but you get what you want and a pup not a TC. BTW, best fig I ever raised came from Michigan Bulb for $3 ages ago. No clue what she was but ficophiles adored her flowers and were gifted lots of figlets I'd started.

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burris

Anyone?

Snarkie

I paid $200 for my chopsaw back in 1995, and it's still making me money. Of course, it was a DeWalt, so the quality is there. IDK what brand you bought.

Calling them out does make a difference. You just have to stick with it and contact the right people. It can be as simple as calling in to a local radio show, or filing a report with one of those TV investigations.

__________________
Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Kat2

It's a Tradesman. Obscure brand from CT. I have a tiny task--trimming the rotten ends off of 60 fence posts I plan to use for lining my driveway and garden beds. No other need. (My neighbor would do it but I'm saving his kindness for more important stuff--he's a finish carpenter.) I have a chainsaw and Sawzall but wanted cleaner cut. Ron says it smells like the motor is going; there are sparks which I know imply brushes. I have an ancient compound miter (Craftsman) that will do 2 x 4s but not 4 x 4s.

BTW, I thought FL Hill was year round. Interesting...

ETA: They're offering banana "tree" plants now!

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Snarkie

There is nothing else in this world, that smells like ozone.

__________________
Doug (D.A. Hänks) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2955582/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1


The Only Eastern Redwood Forest in America




"Nuke my 'nanners, will you?!"

Kat2

I need to get out more; that's not a scent I know.

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beam2050

contact pukpukz he deals in figs, knows a lot about them. especially the exotics.

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npk of wood ash 0/1/3 to 0/3/7

npk of banana leaf ash 1.75/0.75/0.5

Kat2

Did figs--43 or more varieties at one point--but am done now. The one in question I called Blackie; many folks have her growing. Best guess was a Violet de Bourdeaux but who knows? I never assigned a name to my mystery figlets. Hated it when peeps did. Kinda like musas...

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sputinc7

Dropped figs like a bad habit, huh? Why?

How are those 4 pups doing? Mine are all pushing their first leaves and just started pushing about 5 days ago. It took em a while to adjust considering they had plenty of rootstock left on them and mine were planted, at least the Paggi, within 24 hours.

__________________

If you lose your head and give up, you neither live nor win.

https://sputinc7.wixsite.com/covwc

Varieties I supposedly bought: Manzano, Cavendish, Blue Java, Sweetheart, and Gros Michel.
What it seems I actually have: Brazilian, Cavendish, Namwah, Dwarf Red, Gros Michel, Pisang Ceylon, Veinte Cohol and SH 3640, and American Goldfinger. FHIA 1, Paggi and FHIA 17... Always room for one more.

burris

Yep - but most varieties are sold out this time of year. It won't be long now.