austinl01

It's growing very nicely! It's probably getting a nice big corm forming too.

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Austin
Arkansas River Valley

Average January Low: 31°F, Average August High: 92°F
Extreme Winter Lows: 5-15°F, Extreme Summer Highs: 100-112°F, Annual Precipitation: 52 inches

Kostas

Thank you very much Austin


My Musa 'Tall Orinoco' which I got from a local hospital as an unknown variety,flowered somewhen this August and seems not to actually be an Orinoco as I first though. I had asked for help with ID of the mat and none challenged the Orinoco ID so I had though that's what it is but seeing Mitchel's Texas banana thread with large bananas and how much smaller but full mine are and the mother mat's have been,it must actually be a Pisang Awak or something else. Here are some photos of it now!








What do you think these are?

Thank you very much in advance!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

Kostas

This is the best photo of the bunch I managed to take!


I hope it helps for the ID

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

They don't really look like Namwah (Pisang Awak) or Orinoco to me. They seem too angular and not waxy enough for a Namwah variety and they seem too small and tightly packed for Orinoco. Not sure what they are.

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Kostas

Yes,they are exactly as you say and they appear. These are small bananas and they were produced during August with the most leafs the pseudostem can hold,so supposedly under favorable conditions.
What would help in IDing the variety?

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

Having someone who knows more than I do look at it!

Seriously though, detailed photos of the flowers, petioles, fruit, counts of fingers per hand, peel thickness, etc. Even with all that, I think I'm out of my depth here. When I look at it, it doesn't remind me of any variety I know.

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Kostas

Thank you very much Mark! I never thought a variety I got from a 30year old clump at a local hospital would be that unusual and difficult to ID,I thought it would be as common as it gets! So I am very pleasantly surprised that its something you have never seen before!

I have posted detailed photos of the flowers at the thread I link to at the first post of this one as I have seen the mother mat flower a few times before. I will take detailed photos of the other things you mention when I get to Pyrgos again and when the bunch is ready,probably in December.

Thank you very much again!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

Kostas

Harvested Musa "Orinoco"(?)(locally obtained and doesn't seem like Orinoco) last weekend This is the first bunch of this mat and its pseudostem broke from strong winds in the fall.


The bunch was left to overwinter laying on a pathway stone,on the ground,and it filled considerably during the last months. I found and ate the first yellow from it,so I harvested the bunch and finally cleared the walkway! The bunch weighed 8,8kg,it's certainly not as filled up and big as it could be but think its quite satisfying for a bunch maturing over winter in the ground!
Here are some pictures of it!








What variety do you think this one really is? The taste was sweet with a little sour,flesh white. Center was slightly hard in parts but melted in the mouth to normal taste. Maybe that's what I hear as "corky" center? Anyway,good overall,can't wait for the rest to mature!!!!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

I don't see anything that screams "not Orinoco". What characteristics do you see that don't match Orinoco or some other Bluggoe variety?

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Kostas

Thank you very much for your reply Mark!

See your older posts higher up this page. The finger size is small(check the picture with my hand for scale,compared to Dwarf Cavendish bananas,they are much wider, bulkier and a little longer, at least from the ones i bought),the number of fingers high and the single,ripe banana on the bunch was bright yellow and soft,not orange(will wait for more to ripen to check the ripe color though). I think it does seem like a Bluggoe variety of some kind though. What do you think?

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

OK, yes, I was thinking vaguely, along the lines of Orinoco is just another name for Bluggoe (but that's not true) when I wrote that last comment. I'd agree, some sort of Bluggoe, but probably not the cultivar Orinoco, which at least here in Southern California has much less compact bunches than yours. Post a photo of a cross section through a ripe fruit when you have a ripe one.

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Kostas

Thank you Mark I finally found some time to finish uploading some photos of a ripe finger i took a couple weeks ago. This finger was a little below average size but one of the bigger ones that have ripened so far from this bunch.










Taste was sweet with some sour mixed in and texture really airy,like a mousse. This finger needed maybe 3 more days to mature more evenly,some parts were great and some needed a few more days. What variety could this one be?

I have only had 5 of the tiniest bananas ripen and 2 of a tad below average size. No more bananas have ripened during the last 2 weeks,still waiting on the rest and most are much bigger than the ones i ate so far. Here is a photo of the bunch taken about a week ago:


Still green and i am waiting them out....

__________________
''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

Your description of the flavor and especially the texture are consistent with some Bluggoe varieties, including Orinoco, though this one does not look like Orinoco, as we've discussed.

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Kostas

Thank you very much Mark! So we are pretty certain on the subgroup. Is there any way we can put a name on it?

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

venturabananas

I don't recognize it. You could search through all Bluggoe subgroup bananas on the MGIS database and see if you can find a match.

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Kostas

Thanks a lot Mark,I will do!

Its nice it turned out to be something out of the ordinary!

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''To try,is to risk failure......To not try,is to guarantee it''

pnwpdf

Very interesting. I'm glad you got it to fruit. I wonder why it's taking so long to ripen them though?

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Going Bananas...
-M Basjoo
-M xishuangbannaensis 'Mekong Giant'
-M sikkimensis 'Red Tiger'
-M 'Texas Star'
-M 'Dwarf Orinoco'
-M 'Thai Black'
-Musella lasiocarpa

keikikid

I'm totally new at this, but the fruit look like Saba, which does take forever to ripen!

venturabananas

The compact bunch does look like the Saba, but the fruit seem too angular for Saba to me, but maybe.

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keikikid

Fruit from the dense Saba bunches I've had were very angular, even rectangular in cross section. Most had the chewy core but a wonderful flavor, with sweet/tart to compensate for the uneven texture. I've never had Orinoco, so can't compare, and it will be a long time 'til my Dwarf Orinoco keiki is producing!