To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

I have these two bunches that have been hanging for about 7 months and 9 months respectively now. As I'm going to be moving down south for the summer in a few weeks, I want to cut these down before I take off. Here's what we've got.

I have this healthy two year old Misi Luki mat. These have been hanging since around September of last year. They are pretty filled out, but the main p-stem lost most of its leaves to winter frost. The fruits are intact and pretty nicely filled out, but no signs of yellowing yet. Pics:









I also have this Blue Java/Ice Cream bunch that has been hanging since last summer. The mat is of the same age. This one has been an anemic grower, even though the soil it's growing in seems to be pretty good (it's a lot rockier than the Misi Luki's soil though) and I've been giving it fertilizer when I can. Some of the fruits have rotted off, but on the intact fruits the tips seem to be yellowing. Pics:







So is it safe to cut either of these bunches down? I don't want fruit quality to be too negatively affected. Or should I wait a few more weeks? I have until the second week of June.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

I'd wait for them to fill a bit more but I'm no expert...

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Definitely no expert so what I'm suggesting may be totally stupid but, if you will have no further access to ripe fruit from your patch when you leave, why not cut a few hands to take with you just before you hit the road and hope they ripen? I left my flourishing DC in Jacksonville; I'm sure she fruited this year but I have no way to know or even taste my 1st fruit. I have a plantain and 2 others in the ground at my house but I suspect it will be another year before they flower.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Hi Caliboy,

welcome back. It has been a year, right?
Here is what I would do now: cut a hand of bananas and let them ripen with some overripe apples in a paper bag. They should ripen just fine.
The remaining bananas I would leave until you move back south. They look that they could fill in a little more.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

I will do that then! Thanks for the advice everyone!

And yes, I haven't been on the forums for quite a while. School and work have been really rough on me and I haven't had much free time. My bananas and dragon fruit are doing very well though, they're growing in the campus garden and I check up on them every week.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

NO Yellow NO Pick

Unless you have the choice of cutting them down now or loosing them shortly.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Update: The Misi Lukis have started yellowing! :woohoonaner:

Pics coming soon.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Yellowing! :08:





Should I cut them all down at once or harvest it hand by hand?

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

I would probably cut them all at once, because your photos show that they already have started to split. This is not unusual for Namwah, but slightly impacts the quality of the fruit.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Done. 10 hands, 142 fingers.

Re: To harvest or not to harvest. That is the question.
 

Nice job. Congratulations.