bencelest

and my fuji apple 9 28 10

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Banana Nut

Kent

Hey Benny,

Have you had success getting fruit from any of your wine barrel potted bananas? If so, what varieties and how many fingers?

Kent

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Kent
a.k.a. SonomaCitrus

bencelest

Kent: No. I was able to fruit them but the fruit did not grow big. They just withered and died. I attribute this to the weather in Salinas. We never have enough warmth long enoughduring the summer for the fruit to grow. Even now night tempt deeps down to low 50's. I guess bananas don't like that.
This is just my opinion and not a fact.

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Banana Nut

bencelest

Thanks to
BB73, Jananas Bananas, kaczercat, The Hollyberry Lady, Worm_Farmer
for saying Thanks to my post. It's an encouragement for me to post more.

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Banana Nut

Dalmatiansoap

U had a looong pause Benny!
Nice to see U back.

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https://abnb.me/AXJty518xib

bencelest

Thanks Ante.

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Banana Nut

hammer

That is very nice.

harveyc

Hi Benny, been busy with chestnut harvest so missed your post until now. One thing about your climate is that it sure helps your Fuji color up nicely! Maybe you can make it over this way some time. I've got five bunches right now, including one on a California Gold, and another flower is ready to emerge any day.

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bencelest

Thanks Harvey. I'll keep that in mind. But it's a long shot. I almost always go to San Diego where one of my sons is studying. But one more year my other son may want to go to UOP in Stockton then I would be going your way.
Congrats to your bunches. My neck of the woods is not conducive growing bananas for sure.
Benny

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Banana Nut

bencelest

Kent:
I just saw this posted from one of my friends in another forum. This adds from my suspicion why my bananas are not fruiting nicely here.

All growth stops at less than 55F.
We have lots of tempts lesser than that including summers night.


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Hershell, The Grand Nain bananas that I have grown in my greenhouse (see my Avatar), grew about 7 feet tall and 5 ft wide, and commonly began fruiting after the 15th+- leaf. They are the most widely grown commercial banana in the world today. It is the "Chiquita" banana sold in most supermarkets. Commercially in South America a Grand Nain produces bunches up to 150-lbs. Mine, grown in my Colorado greenhouse did not produce a bunch that heavy. Bananas grow best in slightly acid soils with a pH around 6.5. Acidified fertilizers can be used a couple times a year if your soil has a higher pH. Bananas are heavy feeders and drinkers. Best results are obtained with a hand full of slow release fertilizer thrown in with the planting. Then liquid high potassium fertilizers applied throughout the growing season (6-2-12 or 9-3-27). All growth stops at temperatures <55F. Good luck - Millet (834-)

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Banana Nut

harveyc

Yeah, the cool weather this past summer even had quite a few of my nights with temps below 55F. It's been nice and warm lately, though. My sister worked/lived in Salinas for several years and decided she had to move as she wanted some short sleeve weather for at least part of the year! You can grow some great lettuce, though!

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bencelest

ha-ha-ha. who wants to grow lettuce?
I am eying San diego though. 2 of my sons will be studying there and I believe I can save on boarding house rent if I buy a house there. But again it is a long shot. I still have to sort out my expenses and income right now. If only my wife can ask to move her job in San Diego that will be perfect. She does not want to stay alone in our house here. There are so much things to do in San Diego like fishing and boating and scuba, not only growing bananas and cherimoyas.
I already looked for a house in San Diego but my wife was against it.

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Banana Nut

Kent

Benny,

You had me concerned for a moment because I thought your summer temps were about the same as what we get, but then I compared the averages. From May through Sept. our avg. highs are 6-10 deg. F. warmer than what you get in Salinas. Our average lows during the same period are about the same though. I suspect we generally have fewer hours below 55 deg. F. than you. Then again, you tend to stay warmer in the winter due to the greater maritime influence.

I am hoping that relocating my bananas to where the can now get more hours of direct sun will lead to fruit next year. I guess I missed Millet's comments on the Citrus forum, but keep in mind that the plant and soil/potting media won't cool as quickly as the air. Then again I suppose the fog doesn't burn off until later in the day for you during the summer. Hopefully my problems have been due to the original marginal location.

Kent

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Kent
a.k.a. SonomaCitrus

bencelest

Kent:
I suspect that you have the same temperature during the summer months as Harvey or Joe Real. They live in Isleton and Davis respectably. Harvey just indicated he has 4 or 5 bunches ready now and Joe Real I have seen his bananas growing like crazy in person during the summer months (and fruiting) even though they had problems with their bananas dying during the winter months. But they grow back up again and fruited the next year. Whereas in Salinas, it never gets too high in the summer months for them to grow crazy because of the lower temperature. 6-10 degrees higher makes a lot of difference.

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Banana Nut

harveyc

Benny, just to clarify, my bunches are not ready and I'm not sure any of them will actually fully mature since the latest (Belle) just flowered 2-3 weeks ago. Today our forecast high is only 70F and a week ago we were 100F. Crazy.

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bencelest

Oh, OK Harvey. But were you able to fruit any of your bananas any of your bananas to ripeness? I thought you did.
I know Joe was. He showed it to us in the forum a while back. But I don't remember what variety it was.
The only variety that I was able to harvest was my California Gold. Yet I waited a long time for it because again I suspect because of the existing cool weather here.
I suspect that one of my Calif Gold is going to flower pretty soon. The leaves are getting shorter and the color were changing to somewhat tinge of purple.
And the winter is coming.
I'll take precautions when it comes. One day at a time.

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Banana Nut

Kent

Benny,

Speaking of Joe, have you communicated with him lately? I hope things are going well for Joe. I got a chance to visit him a year and a half ago when I returned to Davis for Picnic Day. It was a lot of fun to see his garden in person and taste some of his citrus, even though it was late in the season for most. Best I could do at the time to reciprocate was to bring him a Corpaci lemon and buy some AZ41. I wish that stuff was still available; I'm hooked.

I think Joe had the most success with Dwarf Brazilian, although didn't he have a CA Gold too? I know by the time I visited he had scaled back a bit on the bananas, because he had more varieties on his cold-hardy list than he had plants growing when I was there, if I remember correctly.

It was posts by you, Joe, Harvey, Patty and others over on the Citrus Growers Forum that got me interested in trying to grow bananas and led me to this forum. You are all to blame for this additional obsession of mine.

Kent

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Kent
a.k.a. SonomaCitrus

bencelest

Kent:
He invited me to go to his daughter's birthday party a while back but because of my previous commitment to take my son to San Diego I was not able to attend. Prior to this, I met him at the scion exchange in San Jose last January or February.Yes, it's been a while since I heard from him. The way I gathered he's been busy trying to get his wine commercialized and he's finding it out very very hard to get it going because of all the hazzles the county and the State of California's rules including licensure and time tolerance. Not counting the large expense involved. Including to his wine problem the extra cost of basic ingredients of making the AZ41 had gone up considerably. It's very complex.

Ha--ha-ha. I'll take the blame for having you addicted to banana growing.
Hey, you ought to learn how to graft. It's so easy and at the same time very rewarding.
Joe taught me how and you should see my fruits at the back of my yard. It's a jungle out there.

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Banana Nut

harveyc

Hi Benny,

Yes, I've got a few different ripe bananas and a few should ripen up okay this year, though I don't believe any of them will plump up to full size. One tall unknown banana of mine (10'-11', referred to as Mystery Busy Bee Banana as I took a photo of it with lots of bees one day) is my best-tasting one. I shared some of the ripe fruits with friends of mine on the Walk For Life WC in January 2008 and they all exclaimed they were the sweetest and best tasting bananas they had ever had.

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bencelest

Harvey: I love to hear nice stories like that. I feel great when I hear other people complimenting me their nice experience eating my Fuji apples and Fuyo persimmons.
Bananas? Nah!. It is too common fruit here. And I don't have one that good like yours.
If I live probably in San Diego....... tsk, tsk........(dreaming awake)

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Banana Nut