Bananagardendreamboy

I want to expand my collection and variety of bananas in central Florida (palm coast). I currently have many large fruiting namwah, some Orinoco, dwarf cavendish, and mahoi which produce 2 racks and 2 flowers. I also have an apple banana I believe.

I want to trade them (or buy) for different varieties like tall Brazilian, praying hands, blue java. How do you recommend I go about doing this?

cincinnana

When I am in your area one of my go to places is Craigslist/garden.
Persistant checking has yielded some real banana gems along the I- 95 corridor.

Do a post in the plants wanted section of this forum with your wish list too.

Good luck.

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75north

Best place is definitely on here. There are plenty of us in Central Florida. Just message around and keep an eye on the for sale section!

I'd say avoid as much as possible buying from websites or nursuries, especially if you're looking for a specific variety. They often don't have a clue what they're selling.

Bananagardendreamboy

Will do thanks guys! Based off what I have, what varieties would you say I’m missing that I really should go for?

Art_R

You might want to look into Raja Puri (somewhat cool tolerant and it cranks out fruit like clockwork) or Patupi a.k.a Kokopo (A short cycle banana with orange tinted fruit). Palm Coast is just up the road from where I am in Ormond Beach and both of these varieties do well in my yard. I got my Raja Puri from Going Bananas in Homestead, FL. Unfortunately they don't ship anymore so you would have to go there. I got my Patupi as a tissue culture plant from Sow Exotic, it's an on-line nursery, but I had a good purchase experience.

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Here's what I'm growing: Grand Naine, Namwa, Blue Java, Raja Puri, Patupi, & a mystery nanner

Bananagardendreamboy

Right on man thanks a lot!

75north

Dwarf Brazilian is a good all-rounder for Florida. Cold hardy, stout, fast grower, requires almost no maintenance, good flavor when nicely ripe.

Everyone who has tried Patupi seems to really love it. I haven't tasted it myself, but I've got a bunch that's about a month out right now. They are really beautiful plants but seem to be kinda finicky to grow here.

Veinte Cohol are cool because they're small and can produce fruit in a single growing season. People seem to be sorta love/hate with regard to the taste. I like them but have definitely had better.

Gros Michel if you want to try a piece of history and don't mind the fussiness of growing it in Central Florida. They are really good.

Mysore types make good fruit, nice and acidic with hints of berry flavor. My Pisang Ceylon does very well with cold, only issue is they are tall and thin and thus don't deal too well with wind.

As far as pure cold hardiness goes, anecdotally my FHIA3, FHIA18, Virupakshi, and Monthan were completely undamaged by the freeze in late January (I hit 32F). I have high hopes for the FHIA18, if its fruit is as good as advertised it might just jump into my overall top spot for Central FL growing.

Sorry for the long list. I started typing and before you know it I've written an essay If you want to buy or trade just let me know, I'm usually swimming in banana pups haha

Valor_X

I'm in southern Texas and was hit by a winter storm where it got down to 28 degrees and surprisingly my Veinte Cohol seems to be extremely cold hardy.

It was the first to start growing beating out Blue Java and my hardy Orinocos.
The Veinte Cohol stem was nearly undamaged unlike other varieties. The leaves were still burned of course but the plant itself seems completely fine and I didn't even cover it.

I have to look into those 4 varieties you mentioned. 32F and no damage that's amazing.

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Varieties I'm Growing

From Corm/Pup
Dwarf Cavendish ○ Super Dwarf Cavendish ○ Grand Nain ○ Niño ○ Manzano ○ Raja Puri ○ Tall Namwah ○ Blue Java ○ 1000 Fingers ○ Praying Hands ○ Orinoco ○ Variegated Florida ○ PR Red ○ California Gold ○ FHIA-03 Sweetheart

Plantains
Puerto Rican Dwarf Plantain ○ African Rhino Horn

From TC
Truly Tiny ○ Manzano ○ "Blue Java" ○ Dwarf Namwah ○ Thai Black ○ Veinte Cohol

Bananagardendreamboy

Thanks for all the info and recommendations! How close are you to palm coast?

75north

That's super interesting about the Veinte Cohol, they are not known to like the cold at all. But honestly, I sorta tend to forget that "cold hardiness" really encompasses several different factors. I also kinda think it's hard to really predict with any authority what might happen to a plant at a specific temperature - there are just so many factors - but it's definitely helpful to look for trends, especially when there are so many different growth habits between different varieties.

Sort of the opposite of your experience with the VC, I noticed that Patupi was more cold tolerant than I expected (I left a small plant unprotected just to see what would happen and it really didn't lose any leaves) but took almost a month of temps in the 80s and 90s to begin growing after the cold snap.

And yeah, like I said, I'm excited for FHIA18 and Virupakshi. As with anything, people seem to be all over the place in their reviews of the fruit but if the taste is even above average I think they will have earned a permanent spot in my collection for their performance that one night haha

75north

Happy to help! I am in Winter Park, just outside Orlando.