Future of bananas
 

Re: Future of bananas
 

Copy and paste then take the f off the end and it will show up.

Re: Future of bananas
 

Thanks, edited it in the original post.
http://www.new-agri.co.uk/03-2/pov.html

Re: Future of bananas
 

I found this very interesting. I think this is a problem with most things we eat. They are expected to look all the same but I really don't think this is because of the consumers. Normally people really go for anything that is new, interesting and unusual. I think people get used to one form of fruits or vegetables because that is what is mostly available to them.
As for cavendish going down, I think people will accept whatever else comes up in the stores as long as it tastes good. They will buy it at first because it is different and they will stick with it later because it will probably be all there is and they will be used to it. Happened before and I amsure it will again. We are very good at repeating ourselves.
Funny thing is that I don't buy very many bananas. I think they are too expensive and only get them when they are in a bag. Then I dry or make banana bread or butter out of whatever we don't eat. Someday I hope to have our own bananas and we will be able to enjoy them more often and the different flavors are definitely a plus.

Re: Future of bananas
 

On the average, bananas are the cheapest fruits in the grocery stores. Costco sells them for $0.33/lb year round.

Re: Future of bananas
 

Well, they are about $.49 lb. here and yes maybe they are cheaper than most, now that you mention it but we unfortunately just don't have a lot of money for fruit at all, that is why we are trying to grow it ourselves.

Re: Future of bananas
 

Bananalover, we grow fruiting plants for a diversity of reasons. Not that one reason is more right than another, after all this is a forum that we share why we grow plants.

But honestly for me, lb per lb, the cost of production of fruits at my yard is 5-50 times more than the price I can get from the stores if i were to value all the time and resources involved and my opportunity costs elsewhere. However, the growing part is therapeutic for me and is quite priceless, and the fruits I consider as gifts from God. I for one are growing banana varieties that I cannot obtain from the stores. I grow pome and stone fruits because the taste of a properly tree-ripened fruit from these types are never attained by grocery store produce. I can also minimize using pesticides and other carcinogens. We really grow plants for various reasons. To some it could be economics, to others, could simply be spiritual or religious. We are such a diversified bunch and I respect the reasons of each one of us.

Re: Future of bananas
 

I read the same thing in Popular Science last month. Interesting how the corporations get their panties all in a wad over this stuff when history has shown that people will adapt to what is available at the local market.

Re: Future of bananas
 

Yup, I was the one who posted that article here too, way back earlier. This recent post shows that now in the UK and most elsewhere that worry about it seems not to grow bananas nor have tasted the different ones out there. For example, the best marketable banana found in the grocery stores both in Europe and the US are indeed very sweet but that's it, not even a hint of acidity nor complexity in flavor like Lakatan to name one of the many possible interesting tastes from various cultivars. Us banana lovers, growers and hobbyists need not worry one bit for now. As long as the price is right for any cultivar fruits that retails in the market, people will adjust, really there should be no big fuss.

Re: Future of bananas
 

Well, my cost for production of bananas is going to be pretty low. I buy everything ON SALE. Lets see the potting soil was on sale these last couple of weeks at Winn-Dixie which was going out of business, my plants were mostly bought on ebay at the lowest price I could get. My fertiziler cost 2.97 a box and lasts a good long while. I am pretty sure that extra pups will pay for the plants probably the second year. I DO NOT include labor which is ridiculous in something that is basically a hobby. Oh, I ammend the soil with the organic waste from chickens, ducks, guinea, quail and rabbits I have when I think it is better than soil I can buy at the store which for potted plants is not very often.
Yup, think I will come out ahead.We'll see but I don't think bananas are near as particular as you all are making them out to be.

Re: Future of bananas
 

I have a friend who spent $25,000 on a greenhouse and managed to only fit 2 bananas. It hasn't fruited yet, 2 years now. So you could imagine the cost of the first few hands of bananas going to be. :D The interest on finance would be $163.54/month. Imagine how many lbs of bananas you can have with that interest alone.

Include the electric and heating bills, my oh my! The only thing that will pay for itself under these type of growing scenarios are cannabis and other hallucinogenic plants, but those are illegal, especially if get caught.

Re: Future of bananas
 

And I thought we didn't care about fruit around here, but just like to watch them grow?
Joe, you are right it is much more expensive to grow your own. But like you I grow varieties you can not buy. It is very rewarding to grow a banana tree all the way though to harvest. Especially in an area where they say "you can't grow bananas here". Harvesting a bunch is worth every penny spent and it is a very enjoyable hobby.
Mike

Re: Future of bananas
 

That is true Mike! Some of us are content to watch them grow. Some of us would like the challenge of growing them when everyone else says you can't. Of course most of us will try to minimize our costs whenever we can. Just like bananalover, I do try to keep my costs down in various places, but then I balance this with quality materials versus the resources that I have, be it time or money as the constraints, or the wife's approval. I no longer wanted to plant tall varieties, nor the cold sensitive ones. If they will survive in the insulated pot or in the ground outside during the winter, then they stay, otherwise, I will send them off to people interested in this forum.

I save mostly with non-banana plants where I do grafting and budding when acquiring new varieties in exchanges. I get to test and taste them out in my yard conditions without buying the whole tree ($10 - $50 each).

I do produce fruits that lb for lb are a lot cheaper than the stores, and these are my persimmons, oranges, lemons, calamondins and kumquats. I basically let them be and have yielded plenty for me. Lemons especially, sometimes they go for more than $1 each fruit past spring time and I have them year round and they don't require much care unlike the rest of my fruiting plants.

I believe if I have enough space, bananas could be in the range where it can become cheaper, my comparison are not the sweet cavendish types, but the cooking types. Plantains usually sell for more than $1/lb, and most of the cold-hardy types that will fruit here are on the plantain side.

I just want to say that there are pluses and minuses and we are also here to share tips that could help us bring some costs down.

Re: Future of bananas
 

You know now that I think about it you are probably right, it does cost more when I add in everything, lol. Luckily I am one of those people who just loves to watch them grow too so I don't mind and I have to run the heat in the greenhouse for other plants too. I do love the look of banana plants and the fact that there aren't a lot of them growing around here. If I can get one to fruit it would be a real accomplishment and I get to feel good about that as well.