Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

LOL...that makes more sense to me now. Those look much more ice creamy to me. :ha:

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Bryan, you have a really good eye for distinguishing between varieties. I am not able to do that yet. I'm going to need your help and some other members help in the future to figure out which ones are which when they bloom and bear fruit because I've moved some of mine at least once and twice in some cases, and so I've lost the identification on them that I once had.

Kostas, I didn't mean to hijack your thread! Your banana is awesome, and Michael was really nice to send it to you! Are you by chance the same Kostas from Greece that has plumerias too and posts over at the Florida Plumeria Society forum? If so, your place is awesome!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Eh, I'm no expert by any means....just do my best with the things I've picked up from my time here. Every time I see a picture, I try to guess what it is...it's a fun game. The wiki is a great resource for getting a knowledge base of plant ID's (or just doing an image search on the site).

And on the topic of banana identification....pretty sure Gabe makes us ALL look bad :ha:

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences with this cultivar!

I am happy your pup is recovering palmtree!:woohoonaner:

Clare,thank you very much for sharing your photos! The first ones indeed are shouting everything else than Ice Cream with their fat pseudostems and broad leafs! As Bryan said,just watching many photos of a certain cultivar help with iding it when you see it! Reading the id forum is an even greater help as it is often thoroughly explained what differentiates certain cultivar and what makes the poster think that banana is what he said.
No hijacking problems here,i am happy you posted!!! I am not a member of that society and havent got any Plumeria yet but its great to hear that someone else from Greece(and with the same name! Although Konstantinos isnt really a very unusual name in Greece....Kostas is a short version of Konstantinos) is seriously involved with tropical plants!!! Very few people here have unusual tropical plants unfortunately although our climate allows for many of them to grow and flourish!
Here is the thread of my Garden in Pyrgos! I hope you like it!!!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Excellent! Thanks so much for the info. on the I.D.'ing. I'll go check out that forum to get a sense of the characteristics of the bananas that I currently have.

The other Kostas that I know is Kostas Akalestos, and he is in Paros Island, Greece and has a nice collection of tropical plants. He is a very nice man if you are close to Paros Island. I believe he also has a fellow gardener in Greece that he trades plants with.

I am short on time right now so I will check out your link again tomorrow. I started to look at the pictures, and it looks like it was a very big job to get the land in the right condition for planting. That is so great! I will check it out again tomorrow because I want to read about all that you've done and see the pictures. Thanks so much!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

I'm happy to hear your IC pup is all right! :D And I'm very happy to hear that your thai black banana is doing fantastic! I live in zone 7, too, and have a thai black on the way in the mail. Do you have any photos posted yet?

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Bryan...my guess would be that yours looks a bit droopy due to the indoor lighting conditions you are growing it under. It probably hasn't pupped due to being in a pot. If you had that bad boy in the ground, it would probably pup within a month! Not that it can't pup in a pot but if root space is limited I think that could be causing it.

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

You do raise many valid points, Brent. Though I was basing my comparisons mostly on what my plant looked like when it was younger (aka last summer/fall) after it had been growing outdoors in full sun all season. The leaves of mine have never really pointed upright (horizontal at most) at any point in its growth (with the exceptions of when it was tiny or the leaf was recently put on). If you look at the pic of the plant that quoted post was referring to (which later was revealed to actually be raja puri, not ice cream) all of the leaves point upward.

As far as the pupping goes, you're likely correct that growing in a pot has helped to inhibit this. But if I compare it to my other plants, the Ice Cream is the ONLY one that has not pupped (and I've had it almost a year and a half...and always in larger than necessary pots). I really wish I did have a place to plant it in the ground, though. Not for pupping, but simply to see how much faster/stronger it would grow!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Good to know that Claire!
Paros is not very close to Athens or Pyrgos but as i tour the islands with my boat during my summer vacations,i may pass from there...Antiparos is quite beautyfull! Paros is too windy and dry generally although there is an excellent shipwreck for diving between Paros and Naxos where many tropical fishes can be found! The currents there form a favourable spot for these tropical fishes that entered the Mediterranean from the Red Sea:woohoonaner:

I am glad you find my project interesting! It has finally progressed to a good degree,although there are certainly still lots to be done and plants to be planted, and this year,i am expecting a couple of my palms to trunk!!!:woohoonaner:



Btw,my IC banana opened the leaf in the photo and just opened another one which is much bigger looking! It has a leaf blade 20cm long and 1/3 times bigger from the last one! Looking forward to the next one!!!!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

I have 4 pups from my potted IC...and, 5 pups currently on my Truly Tiny & pups on dbl Mahoi - all potted. It must have something to do with the lighting. Or, maybe they'd have more if inground.

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Patty, How did your bunch come out--how many hands?

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Check her contest page for the full details. Basically, it's a bit disappointing....all male flowers :( At least she got a bloom, though! Props either way!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Hi everybody,

here's a pic of another Ice Cream living in Greece! It's been planted to the ground about a month ago and had a bit of a problem unfolding the leaves after transplanting, but now everything is fine.
It's amazing what a growth speed in the ground can be seen - compared to container grown nanners!
It's now about 70 cm high (2' 4"). I got it last September. It overwintered on my balcony in a pot with little protection. We had light freezes, but it survived. Now it'll be a big banana very soon.
If you want to visit it, you have to come to the island of Skiathos. It's one of the places where the movie Mamma Mia was shot! And the place, where my IC is living is for rent in summer! I will turn that place slowly into a banana jungle.
This plant was a first try, together with an Ititnerans Gigantea. But this one had a tough time, because it's not watered automatically as the Ice Cream, so it suffered a bit in the last three weeks. But it's still alive!
The problem is, that I'm not on the island all summer long and our guests won't water my nanners. But if you wish to do so, I'll give you a discount :-)



Picture was taken with my iPhone! I think I should clean the lens :-)

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Thank you very much all of you for your replys!

Brent,

Its great to see another member from Greece!!! Your IC is awesome looking and sure gonna be big soon now in the ground:woohoonaner: Mine has tripled in size from when i got it but has a long way to go to reach flowering size... If it gets a meter tall before winter,i will be very happy!

Well,what a coincidence,this year i will be going to Skiathos for vacations again as i have been doing 4-5years now and as i was doing in the past for 7summers in row:woohoonaner: I love this island!!! Where is your rental property located?
I will be coming with my boat which also acts as a hotel so i wont be needing a rental property unfortunately,otherwise yours would be my choice probably! I remember 10years back when i was in a hotel in Florida,i was eating breakfast under bananas every day and was loving it so your banana jungle is gonna be very popular when it starts forming! Unfortunately the plantings of hotels and rentals in Greece is poor in many cases.
If your rental is close to the port,i would gladly visit and water the bananas if you like during my stay(most of August)!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Here is my Blue Java growing in 112F heat. It's a pretty tough variety!!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Its beautyfull Adam,thanks for sharing!!!

Wish you get a flower early next year!:woohoonaner:
Mine has not seen 112F yet i think but it will probably do see them too eventually! I love how the leafs droop in the high heat! Mine does that in some degree too even though is very small!

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

My IC was getting a little root bound and roots were growing out of the pot and in the ground so i decided to just ground plant it where it is in my garden in Melissia. And so i did this morning! Here are some pictures of it!!!:woohoonaner:









Its mostly mound planted on the grass to assure excellent drainage in winter as the soil of the garden is mostly clay and not well draining at all...The mound is of excellent quality,fast draining,organic rich soil which i think it will enjoy! As you see its also mulched. The stones are for decoration for the planted to be well approoved from the other residents of the building i live in. Personally i hate using stones in such an unnatural manner but since this is not solely my garden,i am doing what i have to plant the banana there!

I hope you like it!:woohoonaner:

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

Hey, Kosta's she looks Happy with her 7 lucky rocks :^) Nice Pic's

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

very healthy !

Re: My Ice Cream/Blue Java!
 

The small one from last year (now the biggest) - also it had to cut all the way to the ground in January. Purchased as a 6" pup last summer!